«Vialli told me he wanted to win the 2026 World Cup. He was calm»- Corriere.it

«Gianluca told me that we had to win the 2026 World Cup and that he would be with us». It is the memory of Roberto Mancini, who on the Italian bench won the European Championships in the summer of 2021 having his great friend at his side, at «Porta a Porta».

“He will certainly be very close to us and we hope to dedicate a great victory to him soon”, added the coach of the Azzurri. «I went to see Luca for the last time in London before the end of the year, I was a little scared. He woke up, we laughed, joked, called Attilio Lombardo. He told me “I’m serene, don’t worry”. He cheered me up. He was very lucid, we met as we parted: fine ».

Now that Vialli is gone, and the pain is still immense, Mancini has returned to talking about the embrace between the two at Wembley. The most beautiful image of the European Championships won on penalties against England, in which there is the true essence of friendship. The hug and the tears: «It was an embrace that encompassed everything on a sporting level and beyond. He wasn’t well yet, but I hope that moment lifted him a bit, for us Luca was a fundamental character for our victories. When he spoke to the players, they collected everything ».

In anticipation of the interview, Mancini spoke of the day in which he learned from Vialli of the disease: “He didn’t tell me about his illness at the beginning. He revealed it to me in 2019. He told me that he had this problem and that he was treating it. It was very positive because he has always been a fighter, but when he told me about this disease he told me he hadn’t done it before so as not to make me suffer. Many things have changed since that day, the time that passed and the hope that he would make it. Up until the end we hoped for a miracle.”