Vialli on road to recovery after facing cancer fight

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

CHELSEA legend Gianluca Vialli has revealed he has been undergoing treatment for cancer for the past year, but insists he is now doing ‘very well’. The 54-year-old has written about his illness in his new book and he told Italian newspaper

Corriere della Sera that he hopes his story will help to inspire others. ‘I’m fine now. Very well, indeed,’ he said. ‘It’s been a year and I’m back to having a beastly physique, although I still have no certainty of how this match will end. ‘I hope my story can inspire people, who are at crucial intersections of their lives, and I hope mine is a book to keep on the bedside table so people can read one or two stories before falling asleep or in the morning as soon as they wake up. ‘I hope my story can help others to deal with what’s happening in the right way.’ Vialli, who won the FA Cup as a player and manager with Chelsea, revealed that he has undergone eight months of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiotherapy. The Italian admitted he hid the illness because of a ‘sense of shame’. ‘I would have gladly done without it. But it was not possible,’ he added. ‘And then I considered it simply a phase of my life that had to be lived with courage and from which to learn something. ‘I knew it was hard to have to tell others, to tell my family. ‘You would never want to hurt the people who love you: my parents, my brothers and my sister, my wife Cathryn, our little girls Olivia and Sofia. ‘And it takes you as a sense of shame, as if what happened to you was your fault. ‘I would wear a sweater under my shirt so others did not notice anything, that I would still be the Vialli they knew. ‘Then I decided to tell my story and put it in the book... I hope my story can inspire other people at difficult times in their life.’ Vialli (below) enjoyed a distinguished playing career, both in Italy and in England. He won Serie A and the Champions League with Juventus before joining Chelsea in 1996, becoming playermanager following the sacking of Ruud Gullit in February 1998. He went on to win the League Cup, UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup and the UEFA Super Cup, before securing his second FA Cup as permanent manager in 2000. He was dismissed later that year after a slow start to the new season, before going on to manage Watford for the 2001-2002 campaign. More recently, Vialli has worked as a pundit and analyst on Italian television.