"Gianluca told me that we had to win the 2026 World Cup and that he would be with us. He will certainly be very close to us and we hope to dedicate a great victory to him soon".
It is the memory of the blue coach Roberto Mancini speaking of Gianluca Vialli at 'Porta a Porta', broadcast tonight on Rai 1. "I went to see Luca the last time in London before the end of the year - added Mancini - I had a little scared. He woke up, we laughed, joked, we called Lombardo. He told me 'I'm serene, don't worry'. He cheered me up. He was very clear-headed, we found each other as we parted: well".
"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 sickness told me that 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. Until the end we hoped for a miracle".
The coach of the Italian national team, Roberto Mancini, told 'Porta a Porta' which will be broadcast tonight on Rai 1 talking about the day in which Vialli told him he was ill.