Genoa – “Marco… a photo”, “Marco… listen”, “Marco… look”… Also yesterday morning at the Ferraris, atinauguration of the Samp Doria Museum exhibition on Gianluca Vialli, Lanna was among the most solicited. Because he was the direct protagonist of the epic that made that Sampdoria squad enter the legend, because he has been the president of the Doria club for two years now. And even if he will soon change role, by choice of the new ownership, Lanna is part of Sampdoria's history and has known Gianluca like few others. The companions of that magical team.
«For us, January 5th is and will only be an anniversary. Maybe it represents a more significant date for the fans. I always have Gianluca in the office with me, every day. And we talk about it every day, or almost every day. It is right that he is remembered with initiatives that he would have liked too.”
How would she have lived them, in your opinion, considering her discretion?
«There are and will be events in his name that I would say are due, for the person Luca was. I think that from a certain point of view he would have liked to be remembered like this, with these initiatives. And I also believe that he imagined it when he was still alive that this movement would be activated. He was aware of what he did and what he had done, that no one would ever forget him. His transversal talent has earned him the affection and love of many people. From heaven he will enjoy it… maybe having a laugh, even hearing all the anecdotes that we bring up every time.”
But did the angry Vialli ever exist?
“Yes. Example: he always wanted to receive the ball from us low to the ground and on the foot furthest from the opponent. If you made a mistake, even without doing it on purpose, he turned into a puma. On this he was absolutely democratic, you could be a champion or a boot, but if you made a mistake you were finished. A perfectionist. On certain technical aspects he found it difficult to compromise. Then he passed him, but after a while. He wasn't like Mancio who maybe saved himself a lot of runs in the game, but if you missed a support he would willingly make a move from the attack to the defense to come and challenge it in your face. Luca froze you with his gaze. He hardly raised his voice, especially to any of us.”
And with the opponents?
«If there was a fight with them, he argued. But it didn't happen often, in fact it was rare. Precisely for this reason I believe that argument with Mazzone during a Sampdoria-Cagliari match became famous. Also because he was, regardless, extremely respectful, even more so towards the coaches and even more so towards the expert ones.”
Which defender was you most sensitive to?
«Not one in particular. Sometimes the competitive tension rose, I remember the Italian Cup final in Cremona with Napoli, a challenge from Francini had irritated him, but he had already suffered several harsh interventions before, even from others, and therefore he was a bit exasperated. He was a sportsman on the pitch, not the “bastard” who beat, not the good guy who collected. With his markers he always gave rise to sparkling duels. A bit like me with Casiraghi. We always fought each other, but in a sporting way. I remember a Samp-Juve, I went out with a cut on my forehead and he on the back of his neck.”
However, Vialli was always there in the mixes…
«Let's say that he would never have left one of us to argue alone with two or three opponents. If there was some disagreement on the pitch, it never happened, his somewhat “cockerel” nature emerged… because he had it. Well, from this point of view it was he who made that Mancio-style extension from attack to defense to come and calm things down or divide or take sides. He also knew how to deal with the referees. Roberto protested and was often warned, sometimes expelled. He, on the other hand, always knew how to protest with the right words, he always reached the limit, but managed not to annoy the referees. He knew how far he could go and above all he would never have forgiven himself for leaving the team with 10 men for a red card for protests.”
Vialli diplomat. On January 6th, like today, in 1991 the defeat at home against Torino which opened the small crisis in the year of the scudetto…
«Yes, Luca was the diplomat of the group. Others weren't at all. Two random names… Mancio and Pietro. After that defeat we suddenly became “immature”, those “good but who will never win anything”. We said to each other, let's stop, let's talk to each other, let's even send each other… We arrived at the Beccaccia dinner, which worked. Luca knew how to talk, he knew how to say difficult things well. He was a leader and a driver. When he spoke, you kept quiet and listened. It was like this until the end, even in his role with Mancini's national team. After the victory at the European Championship, Florenzi thanked Luca himself. He had an innate charisma. Here, I am often asked, what can we convey about Vialli? The values definitely. Unfortunately, no charisma, either you have it or you don't.”
Where will you go today?
«I'll take a ride to the Friendship Pier. Tomorrow in Rapallo for the inauguration of the road named after him. It will also be held in Genoa soon, but I think it will take a little longer after the summer. I proposed the new area that is emerging at Foce, the Levante Waterfront. Maybe the gardens. It must be a nice place, new, beautiful, clean. In all senses. Like him”.
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