Gianluca Vialli: Roberto Mancini tribute to friend and former team-mate

Italy head coach Roberto Mancini says his "little brother" Gianluca Vialli was "a perfect and courageous man" following his death at the age of 58.

The former Chelsea and Italy striker, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2017, died on Friday.

Vialli played alongside Mancini for Sampdoria as well as Italy and was part of Mancini's coaching staff for the Azzurri's Euro 2020 triumph.

"We met at 16 years old and never left each other's side," said Mancini, 58.

"Italy's youth and senior teams, Samp, the highs, the lows, the victories and the defeats."

Vialli and Mancini formed a prolific forward partnership at Sampdoria and were nicknamed 'the goal twins'.

In eight years together they won Sampdoria's sole Serie A title in 1991, as well as three Coppa Italia trophies and the 1990 European Cup Winners' Cup.

Vialli was appointed by Mancini to Italy's backroom staff in October 2019 and their tearful embrace after victory over England on penalties at Wembley in the Euro 2020 final was one of the defining images of the tournament.

Both were part of the Sampdoria side that lost to Barcelona in the 1992 European Cup final at Wembley.

"Those two nights at Wembley - many years ago we cried with pain and bitterness, and then we cried with joy as though we were united by destiny before he passed away," Mancini told Corriere dello Sport.

"He played a key role in us winning the European Championship. The players loved him."

Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini embrace after Italy beat England to win Euro 2020

Vialli, who played 59 times for Italy, revealed in 2020 he had been given the all-clear, but was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer again in 2021.

"Gianluca gave us courage that we didn't know and which he used to fight his illness so hard that he managed to be with us as long as he possibly could," added Mancini.

"Gianluca was the best of us, a perfect, courageous man.

"It was a privilege to be his friend, his team-mate in football and life."

Vialli's death follows that of former AC Milan and Bologna manager Sinisa Mihajlovic, who also played alongside Mancini at Sampdoria.

He died at the age of 53 last month after being diagnosed with leukaemia in 2019.

"Only a few days after Sinisa passing away I've lost another brother, or little brother as I liked to call him," said Mancini.

Vialli left his role with Italy in December 2022 to focus on his health.

Mancini said he visited Vialli in hospital on 29 December and that his friend was "powerless, with little voice" but remained "very lucid".

He added: "We talked a bit about everything, he even asked me about the get-together in December with the youths. He wanted to know the developments of the project.

"With his strength, I'll go forward to dedicate to him something relevant, which we've been dreaming of for a lifetime."