Gianni Rivera

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Giovanni Rivera
Member of European Parliament
In office
25 May 2005 – 13 July 2009
ConstituencyNorth-West Italy
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
2 July 1987 – 29 May 2001
ConstituencyMilan
Personal details
Born (1943-08-18) 18 August 1943 (age 80)
DL (2002–2007)
Dem (1999–2002)
Segni Pact (1994–1996)
DC (1987–1994)
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[3]
Occupation

Association football career
Position(s)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1959–1960
Alessandria[2]
26 (6)
1960–1979
AC Milan[1]
501 (122)
Total 527 (128)
International career
1962–1974 Italy[4][5] 60 (14)
Medal record
Men's Football
Representing  Italy
UEFA European Championship
Winner 1968 Italy
FIFA World Cup
Runner-up 1970 Mexico
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Giovanni "Gianni" Rivera (Italian pronunciation:

attacking midfielder
.

Dubbed Italy's "Golden Boy" by the media, he played the majority of his club career with Italian side

European Cups, among several other trophies, and also serving as the team's captain
for twelve seasons.

At international level, Rivera represented

1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, helping the team to a fourth-place finish.[6]

Rivera was an elegant, efficient, and creative offensive

IFFHS's election for the World Player of the 20th Century.[15] In 2015, he became the first Italian footballer out of 100 athletes to be inducted into Italy's sports Walk of Fame.[16] In 2004, Pelé chose Rivera as part of the FIFA 100 greatest living footballers,[17] and he placed 35th in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll.[18]

After retiring from football in 1979, Rivera became Milan's vice-president and later went into politics in

Early life

Rivera was born in Alessandria, Piedmont, to Edera and Teresio; his father was a railway worker. Gianni began playing football with local side ASD Don Bosco, where he was scouted by former Milan midfielder Franco Pedroni, who was the assistant coach at Alessandria at the time, prompting Rivera to join the local Serie A side at the age of 13.[1][2][7][8][9][22]

Club career

1959–1962: Debut with Alessandria, early years with AC Milan and first scudetto

"He's an elegant young player with a remarkable touch."

Giuseppe Meazza comments on Rivera after watching him play with Milan for the first time.[2]

Nicknamed l'Abatino, and the Golden Boy of Italian football throughout his career,

Coppa delle Alpi.[28]

Juan Schiaffino and Rivera in 1960.

Rivera made his Milan debut on 18 September 1960, in a 3–5 away win over his former club Alessandria in the

World Cup in Chile.[2][9][32] A precocious talent, despite his young age, Rivera soon became known for his ability to orchestrate Milan's attacking moves, as well as his leadership within the team, and he served as the club's captain for 12 of his 19 seasons with Milan after being handed the armband in 1966, at the age of 23.[1][2][8][22][23][33]

1962–1970: International successes with AC Milan

1968
.

Rivera's 1962 scudetto victory with Milan under Nereo Rocco enabled the team to qualify for the

final. Rivera was in great form during the match, providing two notable assists for José Altafini's goals; he finished the season in double figures once again with 11 goals for Milan in all competitions, while he made 40 appearances throughout the season for both club and country. Milan suffered a defeat in the Intercontinental Cup, however, in a playoff match against Santos following a 6–6 draw on aggregate.[34] For his performances, Rivera was awarded second place in the prestigious Ballon d'Or award that year, which was won by the Russian goalkeeper Lev Yashin.[1][7][8][9] With the departure of Nereo Rocco to Torino, Milan struggled to replicate the same level of success during the next few seasons, missing out on the league title to cross-city rivals Inter in 1965; despite the club's loss of form during this period, Rivera's performances continued to be decisive, as he managed ninth, seventh, and sixteenth placements respectively in the Ballon d'Or in 1964, 1965, and 1967, while he helped Milan win the Coppa Italia during the 1966–67 season, finishing the competition as top-scorer, with 7 goals.[1][2][7][35]

Rivera lifting the Ballon d'Or in 1969.

In the

Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, setting up two of Prati's three goals in the final.[1][7][8] In addition to the European Cup that season, Rivera also won the Intercontinental Cup in a physical encounter against Estudiantes, scoring a goal in a 2–1 defeat in the second leg, after Milan had won the first leg 3–0; these successes finally earned him the Ballon d'Or in 1969, making him the first Italian-born player, and the second Italian player after Omar Sívori, to win the award.[1][2][7][8][9][22]

1970–1979: Later years with AC Milan

In the 70s, Rivera's continued strong performances led Milan on to two more

Verona on the final matchday of the season.[1][7][9]

Romeo Benetti, Luciano Chiarugi, Rivera and Giuseppe Sabadini at Schiphol in May 1974.

Following Rocco's second departure from the club in 1973, the club's management attempted to persuade Rivera to leave Milan, although Rivera ultimately chose to remain with the club.

11th most capped player in Serie A history and the highest-scoring midfielder in the league's history.[1][2][7][32] With 105 league assists, he is also the fourth-highest assist provider of all time in Serie A history, behind only Francesco Totti, Roberto Baggio, and Alessandro Del Piero.[36] In total, Rivera scored 170 goals in all club competitions in 684 appearances.[1][2]

International career

Early years

Rivera's number 10 Italy shirt, worn against Bulgaria on 20 April 1968.

Rivera was a part of the

Taiwan, at the age of seventeen, and teamed up with Bulgarelli in midfield to help the Italians to a fourth-place finish under Viani, scoring three goals in five matches.[1][24][33][37][38]

With the Italian senior side, Rivera made his debut on 13 May 1962 in a 3–1 away win against

Euro 1964 qualifying match, making him Italy's second-youngest goalscorer ever at the time, behind only Bruno Nicolè, and the youngest player ever to score a goal for Italy in a competitive match; he later also added a second goal during the match, making him the youngest player ever to score a brace for Italy in a competitive match.[39][40]

Rivera was later also included in Italy's squad for the

final against Yugoslavia, after sustaining an injury at the beginning of the semi-final match against Soviet Union, which ended in a 0–0 draw; Italy subsequently advanced to the final on a coin toss. Despite playing the entire game with a muscle strain, Rivera put in a strong performance during the semi-final.[7][32][42]

1970 World Cup

Rivera playing for Italy alongside Sandro Mazzola; the two players would be involved in manager Ferruccio Valcareggi's infamous "Staffetta" policy at the 1970 FIFA World Cup.

Rivera subsequently played with the Squadra Azzurra (Italy national team) in the 1970 FIFA World Cup hosted by Mexico. At the prime of his career, much was expected of him throughout the tournament; after a slow start, his excellent form in the knock-out stages saw him become Italy's star player throughout the competition, as they reached the final, only to lose out 4–1 to a Pelé-led Brazil side.[7] Prior to the tournament, the Italian team was thrown into turmoil following Pietro Anastasi's last-minute injury, which ruled the striker out of the competition; Roberto Boninsegna and Pierino Prati were called up in his place, while Giovanni Lodetti, who was Rivera's midfield partner and defensive foil at Milan, was dropped from the team; as a result, Rivera was at the centre of controversy when he accused the Italy national team supervisor Walter Mandelli of leading a media campaign against him, and of also wanting to exclude him from the team, which only put his place on the team in further jeopardy.[1][43][44][45] Furthermore, the Italian coach at the 1970 World Cup Finals, Ferruccio Valcareggi, believed that Rivera and his fellow right-sided playmaker teammate Sandro Mazzola could not play together on the same field, as they played in similar positions for rival clubs. Although Rivera was arguably the more famous of the two stars at the time, as the reigning European Footballer of the Year, Valcareggi elected to start Mazzola, due to his pace, stamina, superior work rate, and stronger physical and athletic attributes, which he deemed more important in the tournament, and Rivera missed out on Italy's opening two group matches, with his absence being blamed on "stomach troubles"; he made his first appearance of the tournament in Italy's final group match, a 0–0 draw against Israel on 11 June, coming on for Angelo Domenghini. Due to Rivera's frequent arguments with the Italian coaching staff over his limited playing time, his mentor Rocco had to be flown in to prevent him from leaving the squad.[1][7][42][45][46][47]

By the second round of the tournament, however, the Italian offence failed to sparkle. Although Rivera's playing style involved less running, physicality, tactical discipline, and work off the ball than Mazzola's, and made Italy less compact and more vulnerable defensively, it also allowed his team to control possession in midfield, due to Rivera's ability to dictate the play with his passing moves, provide accurate long passes, and create more chances for the team's strikers. When Mazzola came down with a stomach flu, and struggled to regain full match fitness for the knock-out round, Valcareggi therefore devised a controversial solution to play both players and get the best out of their abilities: the quicker and more hard-working Mazzola would start in the first half, while Rivera would come on at halftime, when the opposing teams would begin to tire, and the tempo of the game had slowed down, giving him more time to orchestrate goal scoring opportunities; this strategy was later dubbed the "staffetta" (

Luigi Riva's goals, forming a notable offensive partnership with the Cagliari striker throughout the knock-out stages of the tournament.[1][43][45][46][47][50][51][52]

In the semi-final against West Germany, at the Estadio Azteca on 17 June, Rivera played a major role in one of the most entertaining games in World Cup history, a match which was later dubbed The Game of the Century. Following a 1–1 draw after regulation time, Rivera's long passes led to Tarcisio Burgnich's and Luigi Riva's goals in extra-time, although he was later also at fault for Germany's equaliser; while defending against a German set-piece, Rivera briefly stepped away from the post, leaving it unmarked, and allowing Gerd Müller to score his second goal and tie the match at 3–3 in the 110th minute, which famously led Italy's temperamental goalkeeper Enrico Albertosi to berate Rivera for the error. A minute later, however, Rivera started an attacking play from the ensuing kick-off, a move which he eventually proceeded to finish off himself, scoring Italy's match-winning goal from Roberto Boninsegna's low cross to give Italy a 4–3 victory, after advancing into the penalty area unmarked, and sending German goalkeeper Sepp Maier the wrong way with his first-time shot.[1][2][8][9][43][44][45][46][50][53]

"I was worried that Rivera would come on, I thought that with Rivera Italy would be more dangerous."

1970 FIFA World Cup Final.[43]

However, despite Rivera being the hero of Italy's past two matches, in the

final against Brazil, Valcareggi did not use Rivera until there were only six minutes left in the game when he came on for Boninsegna with Italy trailing 3–1. Although the two creative Italian stars Rivera and Mazzola were finally able to play alongside each other, it was too late to overturn the result, and Brazil won the match 4–1 to capture the title. Valcareggi later justified his decision to neither start Rivera nor bring him on at half time, when the score was tied at 1–1, stating that several players in the starting line-up were in poor physical condition prior to the final, and that he was concerned that they would need to be substituted during the match, and as a result, waited longer than usual before bringing on Rivera.[1][2][7][9][43][44][45][46][54] Despite reaching the final, the Italian team and Valcareggi endured much criticism from the Italian public and media upon their return to Italy, in particular due to the "staffetta" policy, and Rivera's limited playing time in the heavy final defeat; Rivera was largely exempt from the criticism, however, due to his decisive performances throughout the tournament.[44][45][54] For his performances throughout the calendar year, Rivera placed tenth in the 1970 Ballon d'Or
.

Later years

"Rivera, Rivera, Rivera, Rivera."

England manager Alf Ramsey's response when asked to name the four strongest Italian players following Italy's 1–0 win over England in a friendly match at Wembley Stadium on 14 November 1973.[1][55][56][57][58]

Rivera also played in the

second highest-scoring midfielder for Italy post-World War II, behind only Daniele De Rossi, and the third-highest scoring midfielder for Italy overall, behind Adolfo Baloncieri and De Rossi.[1][4][7][60] Rivera participated in four World Cups with Italy, making nine appearances in total and scoring three goals.[61] He captained the national side on four occasions.[7]

Retirement

Milan vice-president

After retirement, Rivera became a vice-president at Milan for seven seasons. When Silvio Berlusconi bought the club in 1986, he resigned from his position and entered politics.[7][8]

Political career

Rivera started his career in politics in 1986, becoming a member of the

Member of the European Parliament (MEP).[7][8]

FIGC President

In 2013 Rivera was appointed by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) as President of the Technical Sector (settore tecnico), which oversees the training and qualification of technical staff employed by the FIGC and is headquartered at the Coverciano in Florence.[8][62]

Player profile

Style of play

"Yes, he doesn't run a lot, but if I want good football, creativity, the art of turning around a situation from the first to the ninetieth minute, only Rivera can give me all of this with his flashes. I wouldn't want to exaggerate, because in the end it's only football, but Rivera in all of this is a genius."

Nereo Rocco on Rivera.[26]

Rivera was a graceful, creative, technically gifted, and efficient offensive midfield playmaker, who possessed exceptional footballing intelligence, and class.[1][2][7][63] Rivera was capable of playing anywhere in midfield or along the front line, but he was usually used in a free role, either as a deep-lying playmaker in central midfield, as an offensive–minded central midfielder (known as the "mezzala" role, in Italian), or most frequently as a classic number 10 behind the forward; he was also deployed as a deep-lying or inside forward on occasion, and at the beginning of his career, he was even occasionally used in a central role as a main striker, while at Alessandria, and as a winger on either flank, with the Italian Olympic side, in particular on the right side of the pitch.[1][2][3][24][63][64][65] Although he was not known for his defensive abilities, and lacked both notable stamina and pace, as well as significant physical and athletic attributes due to his small stature and slender build,[44][64][66] he was an extremely talented right-footed player, who was renowned for his vision, tactical intelligence, and his skilful yet effective style of play, despite his poor defensive work-rate.[1][2][9][64][67]

A young Rivera in training with Alessandria, c. late 1950s and early 1960s.

Rivera was highly regarded for his outstanding ball control,

assist provider from any position on the field, with either foot;[1][7][24][30][44][63][69][70] in 2011, former playmaker and UEFA president Michel Platini described Rivera as one of the greatest passers in the history of the sport.[68]

Despite being primarily a creative midfielder, and a team player, who preferred assisting teammates over scoring goals himself, Rivera was also known for his ability to make attacking runs and for his keen eye for goal;

set piece and penalty-kick taker.[1][72] Rivera is widely considered to be one of the greatest Italian footballers and one of the most talented advanced playmakers of all time, as well as one of the best players of his generation.[7][8][9][23][33] In addition to his footballing ability, Rivera was also highly regarded throughout his career for his composure under pressure, his correct behaviour on the pitch, longevity, and his vocal leadership, although his outspoken personality also led him to be involved in several controversial clashes with managers, officials, and the media.[1][32][44] Indeed, he was one of the first players to openly speak out in criticism of journalists and directors.[3]

Reception and legacy

Regarded as one of Italy's and Milan's greatest ever footballers, one of the best players of his generation, one of the best midfielders in history, and one of the most talented advanced playmakers of all time,

IFFHS's election for the World Player of the 20th Century, and was also chosen by the same federation as Italy's best player of the Century, and the 12th-best European player of the Century;[8][15] he was also selected as Milan's best player of the 20th Century in a poll organised by La Gazzetta dello Sport.[1][35] In 2004, Pelé chose Rivera as part of the FIFA 100 greatest living footballers,[8][17] and he placed 35th in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll.[8][18] In 2011, he was the recipient of the UEFA President's Award, which recognises outstanding achievements as a footballer, professional excellence and exemplary personal qualities.[32] In 2013, Sam Tighe of Bleacher Report included Rivera in his list of the "50 Greatest Midfielders in the History of World Football."[73] That same year, he was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame,[8] and in 2014, he was named the 80th greatest player in World Cup history by The Guardian, ahead of the FIFA World Cup in Brazil.[61] In 2015, he became the first Italian footballer out of 100 athletes to be inducted into Italy's sports Walk of Fame.[16] That same year, journalists of La Gazzetta dello Sport elected the greatest Italian player of all time, with Rivera finishing in first place.[13]

Outside of professional football

AIC

On 3 July 1968, Rivera founded the Italian Footballers' Association (AIC), in Milan, along with several fellow footballers, such as Giacomo Bulgarelli, Sandro Mazzola, Ernesto Castano, Giancarlo De Sisti, and Giacomo Losi, as well as the recently retired Sergio Campana, also a lawyer, who was appointed president of the association.[75]

Personal life

Rivera is married to Laura Marconi; together they have two children: Chantal (born in 1994) and Gianni (born in 1996). He has another daughter, Nicole (born in 1977), with the Italian former actress and television personality Elisabetta Viviani, with whom he was in a relationship at the time.[1][8]

Media

Rivera is featured in the EA Sports football video games FIFA 11, FIFA 14 and FIFA 15's Classic XI – a multi-national all-star team, along with compatriots Bruno Conti, Giacinto Facchetti, and Franco Baresi.[76]

In 2012, Rivera took part in the eighth season of

Ballando con le Stelle (the Italian edition of Dancing with the Stars), on Rai 1.[77]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[1]
Club Season League Cup Europe[nb 1] Other[nb 2] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Alessandria
1958–59
1 0 1 0
1959–60
25 6 25 6
Total 26 6 26 6
AC Milan
1960–61 30 6 1 0 2 0 33 6
1961–62 27 10 1 0 2 0 30 10
1962–63 27 9 7 2 34 11
1963–64 27 7 1 0 2 1 2 0 32 8
1964–65 29 2 29 2
1965–66 31 7 1 0 4 1 36 8
1966–67 34 12 6 7 2 0 1 0 43 19
1967–68 29 11 5 3 10 1 44 15
1968–69 28 3 4 1 7 2 39 6
1969–70 25 8 3 1 3 2 2 1 33 12
1970–71 26 6 10 7 36 13
1971–72 23 3 6 2 8 4 37 9
1972–73 28 17 6 3 9 0 43 20
1973–74 26 6 5 1 8 0 39 7
1974–75 27 3 4 0 31 3
1975–76 14 1 5 1 3 0 22 2
1976–77 27 4 7 0 5 0 39 4
1977–78 30 6 5 1 1 0 36 7
1978–79 13 1 4 1 5 0 22 2
Total 501 122 74 28 76 13 7 1 658 164
Career total 527 128 74 28 76 13 7 1 684 170

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[4][78]
National team Year Apps Goals
Italy 1962 4 2
1963 5 2
1964 4 2
1965 6 1
1966 6 2
1967 4 0
1968 4 0
1969 3 0
1970 7 2
1971 3 0
1972 3 0
1973 7 2
1974 4 1
Total 60 14

Honours

AC Milan[2][30]

Italy[2][79]

Individual

Notes

References

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External links