Football pitches are all different and yet, if you think about it, they are all the same in terms of what they can convey. There is the improvised pitch in the courtyard of via Toti with the neighbors or kids from the neighborhood as opponents or teammates, there is the Zini and there is the one in via Morbasco which could become problematic when the ball ended up inside the channel; because then he had to climb over the fence and run to retrieve it before the current made it disappear. There is a boy who plays with friends, his name is Gianluca, together with him and others there is another boy called Luca Dal Monte and he wanted to describe those football fields, because the story written in his book tells a unique story. A story as unique as its protagonist, Gianluca Vialli who, despite a unique career and talent, has always maintained that beautiful sense of belonging that every person can feel for a city, for the loved ones or the people with whom he grew up. Luca Vialli is a book with a title that collects the life of a rare talent to find, both on a human and footballing level; it is a story full of emotions, decisions and, as Luca Dal Monte explains, will and courage. Because the awareness of knowing how to challenge yourself on the field and at a professional level is often a choice that requires courage and great will. Don Angelo Scaglioni of Cristo Re saw both Luca and Gianluca grow up, they, like hundreds of other boys from that oratory, passed through those football fields, perhaps climbing over the railings in Via Olona and the surrounding area, to be able to play football and gather those emotions that they would carry with them forever. The book “Luca Vialli” tells the story of that journey, from Cremona to London, which accompanied the life of a champion who was not just a footballer but, first of all, was a strong person with unique abilities and an attachment to own origins like few in the history of sport. In May 1982 Vialli, now a permanent player for Cremonese and with the obligation not to play to avoid injuries, showed up on that concrete pitch in the corner furthest from the entrance to Cristo Re, wanted to play and so put himself in goal for a small goal match, as was the custom at the time. In front of him those friends who had accompanied him from via Toti to via Morbasco, in front of him that part of history made up of people who will always remain in his thoughts, both at Zini and at Stamford Bridge. “Gianluca has always demonstrated exceptional courage and awareness – says Luca Dal Monte – Even as a child you saw him playing with the older ones, the physical difference was palpable but the talent was something else. Growing up both physically and as a footballer you realized how much that difference tended to disappear so much so that he ended up in the first team in Cremonese at the age of 17. He was aware of being able to make plays or actions on the pitch that many players would never have dared to do for fear of making mistakes. From an early age he was able to express that will and ability that will make him unique in the world of football, as well as enhance him as a person outside the pitch. When he made the choice to move to play in England he showed enormous courage, but he had clear ideas and knew that he could grow both as a player and on a human level, his career and his life have always enhanced his choices and his determination”. Thursday at 5.30 pm, at the Ponchielli Theater in Luca and Gianluca’s Cremona, Luca Dal Monte, with exceptional guests, will present his work “Luca Vialli” – with an introduction by Nino Vialli – a book that tells the story of that unique champion. On stage, in silence but which will accompany the whole evening, there will be some shirts worn by Vialli during his years in grey-red, shirts made available by Alessio Superti.
