08 January 2024
At the Carlo Felice Theater in Genoa, on Monday 8 January 2024, the charity event "My name is Luca. Ballata per Vialli" was held on the occasion of the first anniversary of the death of Gianluca Vialli.
The Vialli and Mauro Foundation, which among its main objectives is to finance excellent research on ALS - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - and to support cancer prevention and treatment, hosted an evening honouring the legacy of Gianluca as a sportsman, but also and above all as a man, one year after his death.
At the core of the event was the thought of carrying forward the spirit of generosity with which Gianluca had always dedicated himself to the objectives of the Foundation.
Present in the Ligurian capital on Monday night was Gianluca Pessotto, who fondly remembered his former teammate. "With Luca we experienced extraordinary moments together, we won a lot together and obviously the 1996 Champions League was the highest achievement. Since that season we have carried with us the spirit of sacrifice of each of us, the sense of belonging and unity of that group. It is this message that we carry with us and that we still try to keep alive today at Juventus. Vialli has been and will remain a point of reference for the Club. He has always expected a lot from himself and his teammates to achieve a common goal together. Sense of belonging and sacrifice have always been two key principles for him. Everyone had to feel important and no one was indispensable. Training became fundamental to building victories and I think this must be the most important message because even the great champion must sacrifice himself for the team, he must put the we before the ego, and he did that very well."
At the commemorative event in Genoa, three aspects of Vialli's life were re-called: football, music and human relationships. The event was an opportunity to raise funds for the MOMALS Project which aims to assist in the research and understanding of the molecular basis and progression of ALS over time. The project is coordinated by the NeMO clinical center in Milan.
