«I miss everything about Vialli, starting from his unexpected and funny messages. I would have liked to play with him.” Gigi Buffon is the champion who inherited the role of head of the national delegation from the former striker. And she is one of the stars who went on stage at the Carlo Felice yesterday to pay homage to Vialli. Lucagol and Supergigi. Blue legends. But also friends, united by a passion for football, talent and innate leadership.
Buffon, what is the first memory you have of Vialli as a footballer?
«The 1986 World Cup, him with his hair shaved, his socks pulled down, nice to look at. In an Italy at the end of the cycle, in an unlucky tournament, Vialli was the child prodigy, the reason for hope, the symbol of the new course that would begin immediately afterwards in view of Italia '90.”
What did you admire about that young bomber?
«I was on the other side, a Genoa supporter, but the city's parochialism was not vulgar or offensive. And I must admit that Sampdoria was the friendly team like my Parma was in the 90s. There was this gang of kids, maybe some even more “wild”, all educated by Mantovani: they gave me the idea of a school class, it almost seemed like I could see them gathered in the classroom with the president acting as a professor. In that Samp team you could sense an energy, a will to win by breaking away from certain clichés and they succeeded very well. They were young, every now and then there could be some setbacks off the pitch but everything was compensated by their skill, by the class they showed on the pitch. Luca was one of the first to wear the earring, I remember his blonde hair after the championship. His Sampdoria wanted to dare. And he was the lead actor.”
And then one day he found himself as an opponent: the first and only time, Parma-Juve 1-1, 26 November 1995, his second match in Serie A.
«I remember a save with my feet that I made against him in the second half, on one of his shots that was a sure shot. And I remember his scenographic, charismatic presence. Juve's Vialli was different, not only in terms of football: he had definitively matured, even more of an all-round driver, without interruption. Playing against him you felt it.”
Over time he also got to know the man Vialli.
«In the last 7-8 years we started hanging out, talking, I keep our messages, our exchanges. Gian was a special person, he had laughter, lightness in certain ways of living, but also an ability to analyze situations, men, which made him authoritative at the same time. It's difficult for someone who likes to joke and be in a group to also have this authority: it's an immense gift.”
He inherited his role in blue but has already said that he will never be able to imitate it.
«For me it was a surprise, it is an honor to hold such an important position with predecessors like Gigi Riva and Vialli, mythological figures of Italian football. I can't imagine passing on what he gave to the team and staff, we have different ages, experience and moments of life. I can't have the same kind of sensitivity when analyzing certain things. The first right rule is not to imitate Gianluca and something you are not. I try to do, say and convey what comes to me, I don't prepare speeches but if at the moment I have something that fits well inside me I take it out.”
What did you feel when you saw Vialli and Mancini embracing at Wembley?
«So many emotions. It's not so much seeing that embrace but knowing what's behind it, the shared path of the two, first as footballers, then one as coach, the other as head of delegation experiencing a particular moment in his life. The sum of all this makes that image immortal. And it makes your skin crawl, regardless of the sport.”
Would you have liked to play together with Vialli?
“Very. Because unlike many people I like to surround myself, share and compare myself with the best not only on the pitch but also off it. If there is someone who can teach me something, to learn from, all the better to have him around.”
What do you miss most about him?
«The unexpected messages that we sometimes sent each other. One morning I was happy, I wanted to joke, and I said to him: “Bomber, if I sang to you about Luca Vialli and Bobby – they only score goals from the penalty spot, what would you answer me?”. He started answering me like the Dorians with the Genoans. So many laughs. And everything was born from nothing, from simplicity, from the freedom of knowing that I can always share something with him.”
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