Gigi Riva is one of the most famous Italian forwards of all time. To this day, he still holds the record of goals for Italy (35) and it does not look as if it will be beaten for a long time.
He was born in Leggiuno, near Varese, on November 7, 1944. He started playing locally for Laveno Mombello and in 1962 signed for Legnano in Serie C. He played a single season there before surprisingly signing for Cagliari in Serie B. He was initially not all that happy to move to Sardinia as he had Serie A ambitions. In the end however it was a move that would change his life.
In his first year, Cagliari were promoted to Serie A. After a few years in which the Sardinians hovered in midtable, in 1966 the new manager, Manilo Scopigno, started laying the foundations of what would become one of the greatest underdog victories in Serie A. A number of interesting players were signed, including Roberto Boninsegna (who would later win the scudetto three times with Inter and Juventus, a UEFA Cup and a Coppa Italia with Juve) and Nené, Brazilian player who had won three Campeonato Paulistas, two Brazilian Championships and had played with Juventus. After a sixth and a ninth place (with Riva top Serie A scorer), further pieces of the puzzle were added such as goalkeeper Enrico Albertosi, Mario Brugnera and Giulio Zignoli for the 1968-69 season. The team blossomed and at the end of the first half of the season they were second. They slowed down a bit in the second half, but with four games to go they were third, just two points off leaders Fiorentina and one behind Milan. The gap was reduced to just one with three matches to be played but in the next two games they earned just one point and the scudetto went to Florence. Riva was again Serie A top scorer.
Boninsegna was sold to Inter in exchange for Angelo Domenighini, Cesare Poli and Sergio Gori. A great move. Cagliari dominated the Serie A and won a historic scudetto in 1969-70. Six of those players were part of the Nazionale that came second in the World Cup in Mexico 1970: Albertosi, Domenighini, Pierluigi Cera, Communardo Niccolai, Gori and Riva.
They had also started well in the 1970-71 season, but after Riva broke his leg playing for Italy, the team collapsed and finished seventh. The injury took away some of his strength even though he still played well and scored. In 1971-72 they came fourth with Riva scoring 21 goals, one less than Boninsegna. Cagliari started to fall behind and Riva was often hindered by injuries. The last one was in 1976 and that was the end of his career. He played 378 games for Cagliari with 208 goals.
We mentioned the fantastic second place in the 1970 World Cup, but we should take a step backwards. In 1968 Italy won the European Nations Cup with Riva scoring a goal in the replay final. In 1970 Italy had a great team. Apart from the Cagliari players there were also Gianni Rivera, Sandro Mazzola, Tarcisio Burnich, Giacinto Facchetti, Giancarlo De Sisti. Italy won their group and then beat Mexico in the quarter finals. This led to the historic semi-final against West Germany. The Azzurri had scored early on with Boninsegna and the Germans equalised right at the end of the game. The first half of extra time was a roller coaster of emotions. Gerd Muller gave West Germany the lead and it looked as if it was all over but Burnich equalised and Riva put Italy in front. In the 110th minute Muller equalised again but 60 seconds later Rivera made it 4-3. Italy went into the final but Brazil that year were unbeatable and the Azzurri lost 4-1.
Riva continued to play for Italy until 1974. In the end he made 42 appearances for his country.
Once he quit active football he worked for Cagliari in various roles: team manager, technical director and even president for a brief period in 1985. His ability was to be a middle man between the owners and the players. In 1987 he was called to do this job for the Nazionale. He was team manager for many years and was part of the team that won the World Cup in 2006 and got second place in 1994 plus two Euro finals in 2000 and 2012. He left Italy in 2007.
Gigi Riva was the first person to create a football school in Sardinia, “Centro Sportivo Gigi Riva”, back in 1976 and the school is still there today. Nicolò Barella started playing there.
Riva was immensely popular and is an icon in Sardinia. He never left the island, finding an ideal homeland. He was nicknamed “roar of thunder”, because as a forward he was powerful and strong, but he also had great technique and skill. In his career he scored five goals against Lazio and was great friends with Giorgio Chinaglia.
He died on January 22, 2024, in "his" Cagliari.
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