Former Italy striker Gianluca Vialli made his name at Juventus and Chelsea, but before that he helped Sampdoria to win the Serie A title in 1991, forming a devastating partnership up front with current Inter Milan boss Roberto Mancini.
Vialli went on to collect a host of silverware at his clubs, but he told "The Big Interview with Graham Hunter" podcast that Sampdoria's first ever Scudetto was a special moment. To listen to this podcast, click here.
Graham Hunter: How did you get the combination of all the elements right at one time at Sampdoria?
Gianluca Vialli: Every player felt an incredible sense of belonging. We were in love with the club, in love with the owner and the fans. We wanted to take the club to the very top. It was like a mission. The owner, Paolo Mantovani, had a dream to prove you could win Serie A without being a powerhouse. He was a forward thinker, like [former co-owner of Apple] Steve Jobs.
We felt that everyone conspired against us because we were a small club, but that gave us extra motivation. However, looking back, when we won the title, we had penalties against AC Milan, Juventus and Inter. I took and scored them all. I was blessed by God. Maybe our performances led the referees to treat us in a certain way.
GH: You sealed the title against Inter at the San Siro in a crazy game, with red cards and your goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca making saves. You won 2-0, but it felt like it could have been 8-6.
GV: There were three or four games until the end of the season; Inter were a couple of points behind us, so they had to win. They had a very strong side: Jurgen Klinsmann, Lothar Matthaus, Walter Zenga, Giuseppe Bergomi. Giovanni Trapattoni was manager. Bergomi and Mancini were very good friends but something happened towards the end of the first half and they both got sent off. They left the park hugging each other.
Inter created chances but we were clinical and scored in the second half. It became a siege, with Pagliuca making wonderful saves. He saved a penalty for us, then I scored to make it 2-0. That's the way we used to play -- tight at the back and spectacular counter-attacking football. I believe we were meant to win Serie A that season.
GH: As well as winning the league at Sampdoria, you won many cups playing a brand of football which was gorgeous to watch. The guy who I think is not spoken about enough is the manager Vujadin Boskov. Tell us about him.
GV: He was more like an old-fashioned English manager -- the boss, but also a father figure. He had great communication skills and was incredibly knowledgeable because he was a citizen of the world: he'd been in Holland, Spain, Yugoslavia, Italy, he could speak five or six different languages. He instilled in us a huge amount of confidence; he made us believe we could win the league, cups, the European Cup.
Our belief sky-rocketed when he arrived. He was like a father figure for me, and also a great psychologist. If he was sitting at a different table, he could tell across the room whether two players had fallen out, or if one had a problem with their girlfriend. From a tactical point of view, rather than work on our defects he tried to improve our qualities.
GH: The 1992 European Cup final at Wembley was a big moment for football fans around the world. Your Sampdoria team lost to [Johan] Cruyff's Barcelona "Dream Team"...
GV: The first time we lost to Barcelona was in the 1989 Cup Winners' Cup final. I got injured in the warm-up but I still played. We lost 2-0. It felt like it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Little did we know we would be back in the final the following year -- against Anderlecht in Gothenburg -- and would win it. I happened to score twice.
I was in love with Cruyff growing up. So it was hard that it was his team who took the Cup Winners' Cup away from us in 1989, and then the European Cup in 1992. The '92 final is a huge regret. It was my last match with Sampdoria and I wanted to leave on a high. I had chances and missed them. For years after, I would wake up in the night thinking that the match had still to be played. But that gave me the desire to win it with Juventus four years later.
This is an extract from 'The Big Interview with Graham Hunter' podcast. The full Vialli interview is available for on Acast, iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.