Former Inter goalkeeper Walter Zenga reflected on the death of friend Sinisa Mihajlovic and Gianluca Vialli’s battle with pancreatic cancer.
The 53-year-old Serbian coach sadly passed away last week following a three-year battle with leukaemia. A modern Serie A legend, an outpouring of support came from the footballing world and his impact on his colleagues and fans cannot be understated, with many understandably emotional following the news. Mihajlovic was buried in a touching ceremony earlier this week.
Speaking to Corriere dello Sport, Zenga first discussing the passing of Mihajlovic and Vialli’s ongoing battle with pancreatic cancer.
“I shed many tears for Sinisa and I keep thinking about Luca, about Stefano (Tacconi, ed.) who is still not out of hospital. The more the years pass, the more the occasions of suffering increase. It may be natural, it’s life, but when you find yourself in it, it’s always beyond.
“Certain pains lead you to reflect on your attitude towards things, to divide situations and p*ss-ups into avoidable and inevitable. Then it happens that everyday life overwhelms you and you go back to repeating mistakes and getting angry even for stupid things.”
He recalled a fond memory he has of Vialli and coach Arrigo Sacchi.
“I get overwhelmed by memories. First trip to the United States with Sacchi. Training finished, the American dressing rooms have, or had, umbrella showers. It’s me, Luca and Arrigo downstairs.
“At one point Luca turned to him and says, ‘Arrigo, will you pass me the shampoo?’ I was taken out immediately, Luca some time later!”
The former Nerazzurri shot stopper discussed Argentina’s World Cup victory and the impact of Lionel Messi.
“And a coach who sewed the team with him after the first outing. Away with Gomez, Paredes and Di Maria, in with Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez and Julian Alvarez.
“Messi is 35 years old and cannot be expected to run for 90 minutes like Enzo and De Paul. Santos did not understand this, the first one he sacrificed was Ronaldo with all the motivation he carried with him.”
Finally, Zenga discussed the impact of the World Cup break on Serie A and which teams will benefit the most in the fight for the Scudetto.
“Listen: Luciano Spalletti said at the beginning of November that the break was a holy hand because the team was mentally tired. And those who were doing badly blessed the stop because it interrupted the misery.
“I am curious to see which of the two was right. Napoli, however, deserve this Scudetto for what they showed in the first three months. We start again from Inter-Napoli, but Lukaku hasn’t played since August, at the World Cup only remnants, and Lautaro is still on the coach.
“Like Dybala, Paredes, Di Maria. I hear repeatedly that Napoli can be taken back because they have two key challenges ahead of them. True, but what if they win them? What happens if they beat Inter and Juve?”
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