La Prima Volta…Gianluca Vialli

La Prima Volta… a brand-new series, bringing to life the maiden goals that catalysed the careers of Serie A’s greatest forwards.

Season One: Italian Icons. Episode Two: Gianluca Vialli.

Blessed with natural athleticism, vision and a dead eye for goal, Gianluca Vialli was perhaps the most complete Italian forward of his generation. Moreover, he married those innate talents with abundant unsung qualities of versatility, tenacity and unselfishness.

He was the kind of player that any coach would want in their team.

Vialli broke into the Cremonese first team at 17 and, by 20, had been instrumental in securing their promotion to Serie A. In 1984, ambitious Sampdoria paid £2 million to secure his services, beating Juventus to the prize.

Fate dictated that Vialli’s debut in the famous Sampdoria shirt would come against his former employer on the opening day of the 1984/85 season. It was a Sampdoria team in transition that day, the youthful Vialli paired with the wily experience of Trevor Francis in attack.

Vialli endured a testing start to life with the Blucerchiati. Ten matches came and went without registering a goal. In the eleventh match, he lost his place in the team to Roberto Mancini. The pair were seemingly in competition for a starting berth.

On matchday 12, at home to Avellino, Vialli rose from the bench to play, not instead of, but alongside Mancini. It was a pivotal moment that set Sampdoria’s course for much of the next decade.

Mancini’s quick feet wide on the left afforded him the space to send over an inviting cross. Hanging in the air at the far post, Vialli headed the ball back across goal and into the net. The finish was coolness personified. What goal drought?

Vialli’s maiden strike illuminated an otherwise dull December afternoon at the Marassi, securing all three points for Sampdoria. More pertinent still, it was the very first manifestation of the beautiful symbiosis between the Gemelli del Gol (Goal Twins).

The coming of age of Vialli and Mancini would transform Sampdoria from Serie A also-rans into a super-power of European football. That afternoon, Sampdoria discovered that the answer was Vialli and Mancini, not Vialli or Mancini.

0:39. Mancini crosses, Vialli scores

La Prima Volta… Season One will be back every day for six days during the international break – subscribe here to get notifications direct to your inbox. Find other episodes here: