Vialli left his position in the Italian national team to overcome his pancreatic cancer

The former Italian player Gianluca Vialli He left his position as head of the Italian soccer team delegation on Wednesday to focus on overcoming pancreatic cancer.

“At the end of a long and difficult ‘negotiation’ with my wonderful team of oncologists, I have decided to suspend, hopefully temporarily, my current and future professional commitments,” he explained in a statement released by a Italian Football Federation (FIGC).

Vialli58 years old, has been suffering from this disease since 2017. Born in cremone (north) is active in Juventus, Sampdoria and Cremonese Italians, but retired in 1999 in Chelsea English.

“The goal is to use all my strength to help my body overcome this phase of pain, to face new adventures as soon as possible and share them with all of you. A hug,” he concluded.

The former chief delegate of ‘azure’ was part of the Italian expedition that was crowned European champions last summer in Wembley after defeating England in a penalty shootout.

Vialli He has been friends with the coach for over thirty years Roberto Mancini with him in a dressing room at Sampdoria. In fact, the head of the Italian delegation was a kind of talisman of late eurocupwhere on the second day of the championship the bus mistakenly left the hotel without him and he had to turn around to pick him up.

The result earlier Switzerland that night he ritualized the decision that they repeated in the remaining games (Wales, Austria, Belgium, Spain and England) to increase champions.

For his part, the president of FIGC, Gabriele Gravinaexpressed his desire to have again Viallia history of the Italian team.

“Gianluca He is an absolute opponent of the Italian team and will be so in the future. Thanks to his exceptional integrity and the love of the entire federation family, I am convinced that he will soon return. You can count on each of us, because we are a team, on and off the pitch.”