Former Italian player Gianluca Vialli has announced his recovery from pancreatic cancer after a 17-month treatment trip.
Vialli - who is currently working with the technical team of the Italian team - spoke about his experience with the disease for the Italian newspaper "La Repubblica" and said, "It was difficult, whether on the physical or mental level, even for a strong person like me."
He explained that he finished two chemotherapy sessions, the first lasted eight months and the second spanned nine months, indicating that the last tests he underwent proved that he was free of the disease.
"The recovery allowed me to look again at the mirror ... I saw the hair grow, and I made sure that I would no longer need to draw my eyebrows with a pen," Viali added.
"I feel very lucky compared to many people ... I think about many of the patients who are leaving in isolation in hospitals away from their families and their families," he said, referring to those infected with the emerging coronavirus that is sweeping the world.
Viale won the FA Cup as a player with Chelsea in 1997, then became the first Italian to coach a team in the English Premier League when he coached Chelsea himself in February 1998.