Today, at the age of 59, the heart of the outstanding Italian forward Gianluca Vialli stopped beating. Oleksiy Mykhailichenko shared his memories of Gianluka, with whom they forged Sampdoria's sensational championship side by side.
— First of all, I want to express my condolences to the Vialli family and to all the fans of "Sampdoria". Of course, for me, as well as for everyone else, his death was a real shock, although he said that he had cancer and was very afraid of death, which is quite natural. As far as I know, he died in London surrounded by his family.
— When was the last time you talked?
— It seems that it was in April 2014 at the memorial service of our coach Vuyadin Boshkov in Genoa. He and I were not close friends, but I always followed his work both at Chelsea and in the Italian national team, where he acted as Roberto Mancini's assistant. Nothing said that he was sick.
— How do you remember him?
- Always cheerful and bright. Not only as a football player, but also as a person. In all the teams for which I was lucky enough to play, there was always a player who was its soul and set the general mood in the locker room and outside it. Such was Andrii Mykhailovych Bahl at Dynamo, Alistair McCoist at Glasgow Rangers, and Gianluca Vialli at Sampdoria.
— You must have known each other before you moved to Genoa? As a minimum, the bright semi-final of the 1988 European Championship, in which the USSR national team left no chance to the Italian team, is mentioned. You both then played 90 minutes.
— Of course, we knew each other, but we didn't communicate. Mainly because of the language barrier. I remember that when Vialli moved to Juventus, he gave me his shirt with his name written on it - the know-how of that time, because before that only numbers were put on the jersey.
— Do you still have it?
— Yes, kept at home as a memory of this great player.
— So the rumors that you had a bad relationship with Vialli and Mancini, who supposedly kept you out of Sampa, have nothing to do with reality?
— I'm already tired of explaining that no one set anyone against me. I left Italy because of the circumstances and fate. In Genoa, I had a good relationship not only with all football players and coaches, but also with the club management. I didn't have any conflict, and even more so, with Vialli, and there couldn't be any.
— Do you remember your first meeting with Vialli after the transfer to Sampdoria?
- Of course. The USSR national team under the leadership of Byshovets played with Sampdoria. I started the match in the form of the Soviet team, and ended it already in the Italian team. Vialli missed that meeting due to injury, but was at the stadium. He approached me while I was still in the dressing room, and then we took a picture with him and Mancini before going on the field. I have this photo somewhere.
Many moments were remembered. He was a very cheerful and carefree person who was equally good at relaxing and playing football. Never once saw him in a bad mood. Man-orchestra. If Mancini was the brains of that team, Vialli is its soul.
— Maybe he managed to teach you something? Maybe instilled a love for some Italian dish?
— I was open to experiments, so I tried almost everything. Besides, we were not very close with Vialli. For the first six months, I understood almost nothing. I talked mainly with Gianluca Pagliuca, who was my roommate.
— You spent only one season in Italy, but managed to become a champion. Neither before nor after this, "Sampdoria" has not succeeded in anything like this. What made the dream come true?
— Several key players missed the start of the season due to injuries, including Vialli, who, without looking at it, became the top scorer of that championship. Sometimes the result was pulled literally on the veins, sometimes we were lucky. But I'm very happy that everything worked out and club president Paulo Montovani achieved the goal of his team winning the championship in his lifetime.
— "Sampdoria" was not among the favorites in the championship race of the 1990/1991 season. When did you and your partners start looking towards gold medals?
— After the first part of the championship, when we managed not to lose either to "Milan" or "Napoli" with Maradona, who was then still in fantastic form. And the game with Inter became the key, when I was taken off the field, and my partners in the minority not only recovered, but also won.
— By the way, what did you get a straight red card for then?
— Giuseppe Bergomi provoked me throughout the game, deliberately stepping on my heels. At some point I brushed him off, but I didn't even touch him. Nevertheless, he fell on the lawn and clutched his face. It was enough for the referee who saw the episode to send me off the field.
— There is no doubt that Sampdoria will try to commemorate Vialli in some way. How did the fans treat him when he was still on the field?
- He was one of the favorites of typhus. And how could it be otherwise? In the championship season, he scored incredible goals. In general, it is very difficult when the guys you played with leave your life. Especially when they are even younger than you.
Artem Voytsekhovskyi