BLAZERS OF GLORY
Dynamic duo Mancini & Vialli back in tandem as Italy look to ride a wave of emotion
HIS double act with Roberto Mancini first graced Wembley almost 30 years ago and the stage still suits him like Italy’s powder-grey blazers at Euro 2020.
Gianluca Vialli won the full set of club honours as a player or manager, from Serie A titles and the Champions League in his native country to four cups in two years with Chelsea.
And his celebration with Mancini on the Wembley touchline, as the Azzurri edged an extra-time thriller with Austria on Saturday, brought the old warriors’ passion bursting to the surface.
But for Vialli, who turns 57 next week, the greatest battle is yet to be won.
Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer four years ago, he has twice managed to bat it away.
While he was struggling with the illness, head coach
Mancini co-opted him on to Italy’s backroom staff as chief delegation officer – an executive consultant with a reserved seat on the bench. It was an inspired move.
Not only did it provide a legend with a front-row view of the Azzurri’s recordbreaking unbeaten run, 31 games (26 wins, five draws) ahead of Friday’s blockbuster quarter-final against Belgium in Munich, but it further cemented a relationship bordering on brotherhood.
Vialli has always been a class act – toasting his appointment as Chelsea player-boss in 1998 by sending his players out to overturn a 2-1 first-leg deficit in a League Cup semi-final against Arsenal after a halfglass of champagne.
He called on them to embrace “the start of a new adventure” - and the Gunners were bowled over 3-1.
Mancini’s gesture, tapping into his old friend’s expertise at a time when he needed diversion from an insidious enemy, was a masterstroke.
The double act finished on the losing side when their Sampdoria side lost in the 1992 European Cup Final against Barcelona at Wembley, torpedoed in extra-time by Ronald Koeman’s blistering free-kick.
But they could be back in town next week for the semi-finals and final.
What a birthday – and celebration of life itself – that would be.
Speaking of his bond with the former Manchester City manager, which has lasted a lifetime in football, Vialli said: “We liked each other as human beings, which helps a lot. When you have two strikers where one scores three and the other doesn’t care, it’s fantastic.
“What we wanted, above all, was for the team to win and to succeed.
“As a centre forward, I was very lucky because I played with Mancini, Roberto Baggio, Alessandro Del Piero and with Gianfranco Zola.
“I did a lot of running for them and in return they were making it easy for me to score.
“But off the pitch it helps if you are friends and you see things the same way. That’s how it is with Mancini.” Vialli endured gruelling chemotherapy treatment following his diagnosis four years ago. But he revealed in April last year that he was all-clear – although he accepts the respite may not last for ever. He said: “Cancer is always an unwanted travel companion but I can’t help it. “It got on the train with me and I have to travel with my head down, never giving up, hoping that one day this unwanted guest will get tired and leave.”