Gianluca Vialli said Wednesday that he was taking a break from his role within the Italy national team set-up as he continues a long-standing battle with pancreatic cancer.

“After a long discussion with my brilliant team of oncologists I have decided to suspend, I hope only temporarily, my current and future professional engagements,” Vialli said in an Italian Football Federation statement.

“My goal is to use all my mental and physical energy to help my body overcome this stage of the illness so that I be ready as soon as possible to face new adventures with you all.”

Vialli was first diagnosed with the illness two years before becoming Italy’s delegation chief, providing support to old friend Roberto Mancini with whom he terrorised opposition defences in Serie A during the 1980s and early 1990s.

Nicknamed “the goal twins”, strikers Vialli and Mancini won the 1991 league title, the Cup Winners’ Cup, and three Italian Cups with Sampdoria.

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