The former Italian national team goalkeeper: “I still wake up thinking about that cup just a meter away from me. Vialli was a true leader; Boskov would tell me and Lanna, ‘Be professional until the match’”

If Gianluca Pagliuca could draw the triangle of his life, the first of the three vertices would be Genoa, where he won with Sampdoria and established himself as a world-class goalkeeper. “Those were seven wonderful years. We won a historic Scudetto and lost a final that still hurts a lot. It’s a wound that will never heal.” The other two sides would touch Milan—five seasons at Inter with Ronaldo and Vieri—and Bologna, his home. He answers us from there. “I’m proud to have played for the team of my dreams.” The conversation then drifts through memories, victories, and regrets, above all the match in Pasadena lost on penalties to Brazil in ’94.

Pagliuca, let’s start with Sampdoria. That Scudetto-winning season was extraordinary.

“People only talk about the Scudetto season and the European Cup final, but we had many top-tier championships. We were a stellar group.“

Boskov was on the bench. They say Mancini and Vialli were the ones picking the lineup instead of him…

”Let’s throw Vierchowod in there too: they were his trusted advisors. But let’s be clear, they weren’t the ones in charge. They would discuss things, but Boskov always made the final decisions.“

We’ve talked about Vialli. What memories does Gianluca leave you with?

”He was an incredible man, someone who told you things straight to your face. That’s also why we never argued. I knew a genuine person; he knew how to be a leader on the field and the life of the party in the evening.”

In Genoa back then, people said you were a club-goer too…

“It’s true, I won’t deny it. I’ve always liked to party. I’ve been with a lot of women. I didn’t really like drinking, but I knew how to have fun…”

Who were your friends at the clubs?

“Lots of them, I have to say. In the year we won the Scudetto with Sampdoria, there was this routine: I’d go to Bologna on Monday, party all night, and by Tuesday I was in Bogliasco training. Oh, we won every game on the field. I remember one time I ran into Vialli in Bologna—he’d surprised me. ‘You’ll have to put up with me here too,’ he shouted as he hugged me.“

Did Boskov know?

”On Fridays, he’d warn me and Marco Lanna to stay professional until game day. ‘Turn off the taps,’ he’d tell us. And we’d burst out laughing.”

You were a very close-knit group. Is it true that there’s still an active WhatsApp chat?

“Yes! We use it often. I have to say that, in the midst of the tragedy, Gianluca’s death brought us even closer together. He used to message us all the time, too; he was very active in the group.“

Would a victory over Barcelona in the final have been the perfect way to come full circle?

”Absolutely. We would have deserved it. It remains a wound that will never heal.”

Speaking of lost finals, two years later came the defeat in Pasadena. Many of your teammates have described it as a nightmare that’s been going on for thirty years. Is that how you feel too?

“I still can’t sleep because of it. I wake up at night and replay the penalty kick videos in my head. I wake up and tell myself, ‘Dive to the right!’ Instead, they fooled me three times. I saved one, but it wasn’t enough. There’s one image I can’t get out of my head: me walking past the trophy, just a meter away. I could have touched it—it was right there…”

That was the World Cup where Baggio famously told Sacchi, “This is crazy.” You were the one who caused that substitution…

“That’s right, I got sent off and Marchegiani came on. Robi and I met in the locker room and there was half an hour of absolute silence. A single glance was enough for us to understand each other.”

That summer you moved to Moratti’s Inter. In five years, you won only one UEFA Cup in Paris. Did you deserve more?

“Yes, absolutely. In 1998, we suffered a series of repeated robberies. Juve was a great team, but we were stronger and deserved it. Iuliano’s foul on Ronaldo remains an indelible stain. They took a Scudetto away from us. It was a scandal… and every time I think about it, I get pissed off.”

Is it true you were close to joining Manchester United?

“Ferguson wanted me, but Inter had just signed Ronaldo and I had no intention of leaving: I was on the team with ‘Il Fenomeno,’ the best player I’ve ever seen in my entire career. Plus, Moratti didn’t want to let me go. The Premier League had less appeal than Serie A back then; today I’d probably make a different choice. Back then, all the best players came to play for us.“

Were there any other opportunities?

”When I was at Sampdoria, Mazzone called me. Roma had just been bought by Sensi and they wanted to rebuild the team. But I was happy in Genoa and turned it down.“

During your time at Sampdoria, you were involved in a car accident. Your Porsche was wrecked, but you survived thanks to the airbags. Was there any friction with the media over the misreporting of information?

”No friction, but the news reports exaggerated a bit. I was mostly worried about my mom: she’d heard I was in serious condition and got scared. It was a serious accident, but I got away with a compound fracture of the collarbone.”

Until a few seasons ago, you were the goalkeeper coach for Bologna’s Primavera team. Before that, for a year, he led the Rossoblù’s national youth team: what kind of coach is Pagliuca?

“I’d say strict. In the locker room, I’d scold the boys for earrings and mohawks: ‘I’m not coaching Indians,’ I’d tell them. I like teaching them not to give up and to look beyond the obstacle. That’s how you reach the top.”