London (AFP) – When Roberto Mancini leads out Italy for Sunday’s Euro 2020 final at Wembley with his cherished friend Gianluca Vialli in close proximity, both men will inevitably think back to their most crushing disappointment as players on the same ground.
The two were born just a few months apart and they were known as ‘I gemelli del gol’, the goal twins, during eight glorious years together at Sampdoria.
Mancini and Vialli played together in a Samp side that won the Cup Winners’ Cup and lifted the Coppa Italia trophy three times before their crowning glory, the Scudetto in 1991, the club’s only Serie A title to this day.
Italy coach with moustache and glasses is assistant Alberico Evani, an AC Milan legend who has gone viral at Euro 2020
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How the spirit of Sampdoria is steering Italy to glory at UEFA EURO 2020
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The Mancini-Vialli friendship that is underpinning Italy s Euro 2020 challenge
Dubbed the Goal Twins in their time at Sampdoria, Mancini and Vialli are fostering a band of brothers feeling in the Italian camp
5 July 2021 • 9:31pm
Roberto Mancini and Gianluca Vialli are back at Wembley
Credit: Getty Images
On and off the pitch, Roberto Mancini and Gianluca Vialli have been on much the same wavelength for the past 40 years. They earned the nickname of the “Goal Twins” at Sampdoria and, while that was down primarily to their almost telepathic understanding and the collective destruction they wreaked on defences, they shared a wider vision of the game.