Gianluca Vialli has been urged to "stay strong and keep fighting" in his cancer battle after it emerged the Serie A great is being treated in hospital.
The 58-year-old former Italy striker has been visited at a London clinic by his mother and a brother, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
Concern in Italy about Vialli's health is shared in England, where former Chelsea defender John Terry sent a message of support.
Terry was given his Blues debut by player-manager Vialli in 1998 and went on to be a long-standing club captain.
He wrote on Twitter: "Stay strong and keep fighting Luca. We are all thinking of you. We are sending our love, strength and prayers."
Vialli began his career at Cremonese, his hometown club, before going on to star in Serie A for Sampdoria and Juventus, later ending his playing career at Chelsea before going into management and coaching.
Cremonese posted a picture of a young Vialli on Tuesday, adding the message: "Always by your side."
He scored 16 goals in 59 appearances for Italy and featured in the Azzurri's 1986 and 1990 World Cup squads.
It was announced last week Vialli would be stepping away from his role as delegation chief with the Italy team to focus on his battle with pancreatic cancer.
He has been reunited of late in the Italy set-up with head coach Roberto Mancini, his former Sampdoria strike partner, and Vialli is hoping to recover in order to resume his national team role.
Vialli announced he had undergone radiotherapy and chemotherapy in November 2018, having been diagnosed with cancer one year earlier.
He was initially given the all-clear in April 2020, but he announced he was fighting the disease again in December 2021.
Explaining his decision to suspend his Italy involvement, Vialli said on December 14: "The goal is to use all my psycho-physical energies to help my body overcome this phase of the disease, in order to be able to face new adventures as soon as possible and share them with all of you."
Village Superstars win 2023 SKNFA Premier League title
After a long, hard-fought season, Rams Village Superstars were crowned 2023 SKNFA Premier League Champions when they defeated SL Horfords St. Paul’s United 8-7 on penalty kicks in the ultimate game 3 of the Super Six finals at Warner Park on Friday night.
It took sudden death penalty kicks after both teams were locked 0-0 after regulation extra time. Both teams also ended the match with 10 men with one of each sent off with red cards. This is Village’s 6th Premier League title and their triumph denies St. Paul’s United from winning their 3rd straight Premier League title after dominating other cup competitions this season.
After an electrifying championship final between Rams Village Superstars and SL Horsfords St. Paul’s United, the curtain falls on the Premier League 2023. This season will be remembered for its breathtaking moments, coming down to the very last penalty kick.
This season has been a display of tenacity, skill, and sportsmanship at every level. Each match showcased the best of football, with teams giving their all and fans unwavering in their support.
The SKNFA extends heartfelt gratitude to all participating teams for a season pulsating with excitement and memorable moments. As we celebrate the triumphs, let's honor the exceptional talents of this season with our League Awards:
League Awards
Premier Division
Coach of the Year:
Iroy Jeffers (SL Horsford St. Paul’s United FC) - $1000
Golden Glove:
Clifford Samuel (Sol Island Auto Conaree FC)- $1000
Best Defender:
Denis Fleming (Rams Village Superstars FC)- $1000
Best Midfielder:
Yohannes Mitchum (Newtown United FC)- $1000
Golden Boot:
Keithroy Freeman (SL Horsford St. Paul’s United FC) - $1000
Regular Season MVP:
Keithroy Freeman (SL Horsford St. Paul’s United FC) -$10,000
Finals MVP:
Zaykeese Smith (Village Superstars FC)- $5,000
Division 1
Coach of the year:
Jevon Francis (Trafalgar Southstars FC)- $500
Best Goalkeeper:
Abasti Tyrell (Trafalgar Southstars FC)- $500
Best Defender:
Ricaldo Archibald (Trafalgar Southstars FC)- $500
Best Midfielder:
Orlando Mitchum (Conaree Fireball International FC)- $500
Golden Boot:
Reynaldo Matthew (Dieppe Bay Eagles FC)- $500
MVP:
Abasti Tyrell (Trafalgar Southstars FC)- $5,000
Unai Emery savours ‘special’ Villa Park atmosphere in rout of Brighton
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery feels there is a special atmosphere brewing at Villa Park after his side romped to a remarkable 6-1 win against Brighton.
A hat-trick from Ollie Watkins and further strikes from Jacob Ramsey and Douglas Luiz, as well as Pervis Estupinan’s own goal, helped Emery’s side secure a 10th successive league win at home.
Despite Brighton’s Ansu Fati briefly reducing the deficit to 3-1 at the start of the second half, Villa were at their clinical best to leapfrog the Seagulls in the table and extend their winning streak at home.
Emery said: “We have to feel something special at Villa Park and try to create a positive energy between us and the supporters and try to work on the pitch to connect with them.
“We want to compete the same at home and away, we will need time to build the team to be consistent but at home we feel strong with our supporters and the energy the supporters are transmitting to us, we need to keep being consistent at home.
“Ollie Watkins is committed to the club, he is very happy here and we are very happy with him, he works hard every day and tries to learn every day. He did very good work scoring goals and working defensively to help the team.
“We have to be very demanding and try to improve every day, each match is going to demand different things, we have to be ready and be strong in our work to be successful.”
Villa blew Brighton away with three quickfire goals in the first half as Watkins scored the opener on 14 minutes with a close-range finish before netting again on 21 minutes with a low effort past Jason Steele at his near post.
Estupinan’s own goal on 26 minutes put Villa in command before Albion responded when half-time substitute Fati scored his first goal for the club five minutes into the second half.
However, Watkins completed his hat-trick on 65 minutes with a deflected effort before Ramsey curled home on 85 minutes and Luiz rounded off the scoring seven minutes into injury time to inflict a heavy defeat on the Seagulls.
Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi said: “Everything [went wrong], we played very bad.
“It’s not a problem of our physical condition, first and foremost when we lose this type of game it’s my responsibility. If you lose 6-1, the biggest responsibility is of the coach.
“We are not ready to compete and to play every three days, I’m trying to manage in different ways to keep the physical energy [up].
“The physical energy is not enough, in football you have to be ready to give your all and your best in the head in the mentality. We can’t lose every tackle, every duel and every second ball otherwise you lose the game in this way.
“But I believe in my players because I have big confidence in the people inside of my dressing room, we are suffering a lot for this defeat but this can happen sometimes if you are not ready and you have to adapt quickly.
“We have to learn. We are suffering, it’s a very bad day but maybe one of the most important days – we want to reach this level.”
Napoli end Lecce’s home run with formidable display
Napoli emphatically ended Lecce’s 100 per cent home record in Serie A with a 4-0 victory at the Stadio Via del Mare.
Goals from Leo Ostigard and substitutes Victor Osimhen and Gianluca Gaetano had the visitors in control before Matteo Politano converted a penalty in added time.
Both teams started the day in the top six with 11 points from six games but Rudi Garcia’s men were good value for their fourth win of the campaign to maintain the pressure on the Milan clubs.
Garcia made three changes following the convincing 4-1 defeat of Udinese in midweek, with Mathias Olivera, Giovanni Simeone and Jesper Lindstrom coming in for Mario Rui, Osimhen and Politano.
Napoli had early control in sunny Puglia with Lecce, the season’s surprise package, struggling to make an impression.
The visitors’ early enterprise was rewarded in the 16th minute when they took the lead, central defender Ostigard heading in Piotr Zielinski’s free-kick from the left unchallenged at the far post.
Lecce won only three home games last season but had already beaten Lazio, Salernitana and Genoa this time around and falling behind sparked them into life.
Roberto D’Aversa’s men, who saw their best start to a Serie A season end on Tuesday with a 1-0 loss at Juventus, threatened in the 25th minute when Nikola Krstovic brought a low, diving save out of goalkeeper Alex Meret.
Central defender Marin Pongracic then wasted the Salentini’s best first-half chance on the half hour, firing over from seven yards after a corner on the right.
However, Napoli finished the half strongly and could have led by more than one goal at the interval.
In the final five minutes of the first half, Simeone saw a powerful right-foot shot go just wide, Wladimiro Falcone saved from Zielinski, then Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was narrowly off-target with a free-kick.
Osimhen replaced Simeone for the second half, and within six minutes of his introduction he had doubled Napoli’s lead with his fifth goal of the season, a header off the post from close range following Kvaratskhelia’s cross.
Gabriel Strefezza had the ball in the visitors’ net in the 57th minute with a close-range header but it was ruled out for handball in the build-up by Krstovic.
With a Champions League match against Real Madrid coming up on Tuesday, Garcia rotated his players, first replacing Lindstrom and Kvaratskhelia with Giacomo Raspadori and Politano.
Raspadori’s low left-foot shot was saved by Falcone in the 67th minute, before Jens-Lys Cajuste came on for Stanislav Lobotka with 14 minutes remaining.
Lecce could not find the breakthrough they needed to set up a tense finish and Napoli made it 3-0 when Gaetano, the last of their five substitutes to be introduced, increased the lead with two minutes remaining.
Less than five minutes after his introduction, the attacking midfielder fired home powerfully from the edge of the penalty box.
There was still time for a fourth goal, Politano sending Falcone the wrong way from the penalty spot after Ylber Ramadani had been penalised for fouling Gaetano.
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