Both born in 1964, Ivano Bonetti e Gianluca Vialli They knew each other as children, when the first was a youth player Brescia and the second a Cremona, a few tens of kilometers away. They started dating in Genoa in 1984, having arrived on opposite sides of the city in terms of football. In 1987 together with FerraraMauro, PegsBaldieri, PellegriniGambaro, CucchiNotarisfano and carbon they won the Military World Championship in Arezzo, then in 1990 Bonetti joined Vialli at Sampdoriawinning the scudetto together and reaching the final of Champions Cup. They remained brotherly friends until the end, until Vialli’s passing on January 6, 2023, exactly one year ago. In recent months they had spent a lot of time together in the hope of obtaining the presidency ofloved Doria. Today Ivano Bonetti lives in Romagna and prefers that of a private instructor to a career as a coach young footballers so “I teach the child to think for himself. If the child had the opportunity to play like we did, he would learn independently. He must express himself and bring out what he has. There are few real trainers around coaches in the youth teams they just want to win, but then go and coach the grown-ups.” And in the meantime he takes care of keeping the “Sampdoria brotherhood“.
“I designed a bracelet to give to my teammates in memory of the championship won in 1991, then many requests began to arrive: born from the heart, now it is a project that is also growing on a charitable level. With the proceeds and the help of Roberto Mancini we purchased his Cadillac from the Vialli family, which had been auctioned for charity. We will retire it in the next few days, we will build something around it, always in the name of Luca and the Sampdoria Brotherhood. To keep them alive.”
Was it a special car?
“Yes, I saw it at an auction and bought it on behalf of Luca in 1991, I have always been passionate about cars. We used it a lot during the championship days, even going to the pitch, even though it initially had a foreign license plate. Then Luca went to Juventus and brought her to Cremona. The two of us were bachelors and friends, we hung out every day.”
What was special about Vialli?
“He was in love with life and lived to feel good and to make others feel good. We had the same values. Positive and constructive boy. He always saw the glass half full, he lived in the hope that something positive would happen. Then in life the good doesn’t always come, but you lived that time spent researching well. Here he knew how to enjoy the present. Sharing time with him was a joy.”
Have you also been close from a professional point of view in recent months?
“We were involved externally by a group that seemed ready to buy Sampdoria. Luca always got ahead with his work and for a year we talked and saw each other to think about the future. Becoming the president of Sampdoria was his main dream. He was very attached to his family and wanted to make them relive the places and years of his youth. In the new corporate course he would have liked to bring back the old style of Sampdoria. Seriousness, principles, ideas: he would have succeeded great”.
But were you really that close?
“I can’t tell you precisely. We were not part of any group, we were contacted with the prospect that it could happen. As positive people, we were hopeful of helping Sampdoria. I’m happy to have been close to him for months and that Sampdoria settled down anyway, because they really risked a lot.”
How did you experience that January 6th a year ago?
“You never expect it. I had last seen him a few weeks earlier, when we presented the documentary The Beautiful Season. He was very tired, but I saw him as invincible and he went away invincible because he was someone who never gave up. I find it hard to accept his absence even a year after his passing. The image in front of me is still the one with the Blucerchiati shirt. I often dream of him: young, strong and smiling.”
Was he the same on and off the pitch?
“The field respects the character one has. He loved preparing, he gave everything and wanted to achieve the result. It was like that on the pitch. Always a good word for his partner, he helped everyone. First he gave the example and then he led the way”.
But did he and Mancini have a say in the formation?
“Absolutely not. Of course they had their ideas, but they didn’t influence the coach’s choices. Otherwise Boskov would not have sometimes left Cerezo out for Katanec who was instead his pupil. Vialli and Mancini perhaps influenced the players’ choices more. See Mychaylychenko’s purchase. Why don’t we take him, they suggested. But the real strength of that team was the club, strong and decisive, because if the players are in charge you never win anything. The players don’t have the maturity to manage a group. At Sampdoria there were few managers but with two balls like that. Intelligent, maybe they listened to you, but they decided. Luca wanted to bring back the style of the past to Sampdoria.”
Iconic is the photo in which you, Vialli and Cerezo show up on the pitch with blonde hair after winning the scudetto.
“We were going to Turin to play against Juve. We can win this year, but we have to make a vow, I say on the bus. With Luca and Cerezo we opted for dyed hair, Pagliuca who was very hairy wanted total hair removal, Attilio promised to wear a wig for a week, someone else chose the earring. And after the decisive match against Lecce we kept our promises.”
2024-01-05 07:04:43
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