"Dear Gianluca,

Above all, it's about the love. The long, warm embrace of the fans and all football fans that accompanied your exceptional career as a footballer. The unbreakable embrace that binds you to the people who had the good fortune to know you closely and who love you. The unexpected embrace we exchanged in our first phone call in which you accepted the role of head coach with enthusiasm, but also with the modesty that characterised your success with the team. The intense weeping and smiling that you exchanged with Roberto in a moment of collective elation, and yet so intimate and private. 

And even now, in the deep sorrow in which we find ourselves, over the news we would never have wanted to receive, you are in the hearts and minds of all Azzurri, as we try to find comfort and alleviate the suffering of the passing of such a special person.

Because that's exactly the point, dear Gianluca, you are a special person who helped make a group of ordinary people exceptional. It was your elegant charisma, together with your will to live and to win that you instilled in everyone, that made the Azzurri, your Azzurri, Champions of Europe.

At Wembley, Italy went down in history thanks to your ability to make the people around you better with reflections that were never trivial, with curious questions and advice. A unique contribution and asset from both a human and professional point of view.
That is why the image I cannot forget is more than a memory, it is a legacy that outlives the pain. It is the warmth with which the Italian fans in London greeted you after your European triumph in July 2021. Thousands of arms that embraced you once again and did not want to let you go. 

Farewell”