Gianluca Vialli

Lore & Background

Vialli started his club career at Cremonese in 1980, making 105 league appearances and scoring 23 goals. He was signed by Sampdoria in 1984, where he scored 85 league goals, won three Italian Cups, Serie A, and the European Cup Winners' Cup. In 1992, he transferred to Juventus for a world record £12.5 million, winning the Italian Cup, Serie A, Italian Supercup, UEFA Champions League, and UEFA Cup. In 1996, he joined Chelsea and became player-manager the following season, winning the FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and UEFA Super Cup. He is one of nine footballers to have won the three main European club competitions and the only forward to have done so; he is also the only player in European footballing history to hold both winners and runners-up medals in all three mainstream UEFA club competitions, including two winners medals for the now-defunct UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. At international level, Vialli represented Italy in two FIFA World Cups (1986 and 1990) and UEFA Euro 1988, helping his nation to a semi-final finish and being elected to the team of the tournament. He scored 259 goals at club level, 16 with the national team, and 11 with the Italy under-21 team, for a total of 286 goals in more than 500 appearances, making him the tenth-highest scoring Italian player in all competitions. After retiring, he went into management and punditry, and was part of the Italy national team non-playing staff as a coordinator when they won UEFA Euro 2020; he stepped back from this role days before his death from cancer.

In Their Own Story

The source does not contain any narrative or descriptive story about Gianluca Vialli. It only provides factual data: he scored 14 goals in Serie A for Sampdoria, the team finished fifth, won the Coppa Italia, and lost the Cup Winners' Cup final 2–0 to Barcelona.

Reader's Guide

Vialli's senior career started in 1980 at Cremonese in Serie C1, winning promotion to Serie B. After scoring ten goals in the 1983–84 Serie B season, he transferred to Sampdoria. At Sampdoria (1984–1992), he formed a prolific strike partnership with Roberto Mancini, earning the nickname 'The Goal Twins'. Sampdoria won their first Italian Cup in 1985, and won it again in 1988 and 1989, when Vialli scored a record 13 goals in the tournament. They lost the 1989 European Cup Winners' Cup final before winning the trophy in 1990, with Vialli scoring both goals in the final and finishing as top-scorer. The club won their first Serie A championship in the 1990–91 season, in which Vialli was league top scorer with 19 goals. The following season, Sampdoria won the Supercoppa Italiana and reached the European Cup final, losing 1–0 to Barcelona. Vialli moved to Juventus in 1992 for a world record £12.5 million. In his first season, he won the UEFA Cup. Under Marcello Lippi, he helped Juventus win the Scudetto and Italian Cup in 1995, scoring 17 league goals. In his final season, he captained Juventus to a Supercoppa Italiana victory and a Champions League final win over Ajax, scoring two goals in the semi-finals against Nantes. He joined Chelsea in 1996 on a free transfer. After Gullit's dismissal in early 1998, Vialli became player-manager, winning the Cup Winners' Cup and League Cup. He retired from playing at the end of the 1998–99 season to focus on managing Chelsea, winning the FA Cup in 2000 and the Charity Shield in 2000–01 before being sacked.

Did You Know?

• Vialli is the only forward to have won the three main European club competitions.
• He is the only player in European football history to hold both winners and runners-up medals in all three mainstream UEFA club competitions.
• Vialli scored both goals in Sampdoria's 1990 European Cup Winners' Cup final victory over Anderlecht.
• He was league top scorer with 19 goals in Sampdoria's 1990–91 Serie A title-winning season.
• At 33 years and 308 days old, Vialli became the youngest manager ever to win a UEFA competition when Chelsea won the 1998 Cup Winners' Cup.