Gigi Riva

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Gigi Riva
Riva with Italy in 1968
Personal information
Full name Luigi Riva[1]
Date of birth (1944-11-07)7 November 1944
Place of birth Leggiuno, Italy
Date of death 22 January 2024(2024-01-22) (aged 79)
Place of death Cagliari, Italy
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position(s)
Centre-forward
Youth career
1961–1962 Laveno Mombello
1962 Legnano
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1962–1963
Legnano
 23 (6)
1963–1976 Cagliari 315 (164)
Total 338 (170)
International career
1965–1974 Italy 42 (35)
Managerial career
1988–2013 Italy (Team manager)
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

Luigi "Gigi" Riva (Italian:

centre-forward
.

Considered to be one of the best players of his generation, as well as one of the greatest

Legnano, Riva remained with the Sardinian club for his entire career: he helped Cagliari achieve promotion to the Italian top-flight for the first time in 1964, and later led the club to their only Serie A title in 1969–70.[4][7]

At international level, Riva won the

Italy's all-time leading goalscorer.[4]

After retiring in 1976, Riva briefly served as the president of Cagliari during the 1986–87 season,[8] and was later the team manager and director of the Italy national team from 1988 until 2013.[9][10]

Early life

Riva was born into a poor family in Leggiuno, a small town in the northern Italian province of Varese, Lombardy, near the Swiss border, on 7 November 1944. His mother, Edis, was a housewife, while his father, Ugo, worked several jobs, firstly as a hairdresser, then as a tailor, and subsequently in a factory, where he died in a work-related accident on 10 February 1953, when Luigi was nine. Edis began working as a maid, while Luigi was sent to a strict religious boarding school, where he remained for three years, before finding a job in a lift-factory and beginning to play football; his mother died soon afterwards.[11][12][13]

Club career

1962–1964: early years, debut with Legnano, and promotion with Cagliari

Riva started playing amateur football for the Laveno Mombello youth side in Lombardy, scoring 30 goals in 1961 and 33 the following season. He began his professional career in 1962, at the age of 18, when he joined

Varese, which enabled the team to achieve promotion to the top-flight for the first time in their 40-year history.[2][14][4][5][10][11][15][16][17][18]

1964–1970: Serie A debut with Cagliari and road to the Serie A title

Riva with Cagliari in 1970.

The

Nené.[14][5] Riva subsequently helped Cagliari to a second-place finish in both the Coppa Italia, behind Roma, and the league, four points behind Fiorentina, during the 1968–69 season, winning the capocannoniere title for a second time with 20 goals in 29 appearances. Cagliari had been leading in the league until the 21st matchday, when a loss at home to Juventus caused the team to surrender their lead.[14][5]

Following the arrival of fellow forwards

European Cup the following season.[15][19] This was the first time a club south of Rome had won the league title. Riva once again finished the season as top scorer, with 21 goals. During this period, Riva's skill, prolific goalscoring, and decisive performances in leading a small, provincial club like Cagliari from Serie B to the Serie A title, saw him become one of the best strikers in the world: he was the Serie A top scorer on three occasions, in 1966–67, in 1968–69 and in 1969–70, and he placed 2nd in the 1969 Ballon d'Or, behind compatriot Gianni Rivera, and 3rd in the 1970 Ballon d'Or, behind Gerd Müller and Bobby Moore.[2][14][4][5][11][13][15][16]

1970–1976: final years with Cagliari

"... I baptise him Rombo di tuono [thunder-clap] ... one of the most extraordinary athletes ever produced by Italian football."

— Journalist Gianni Brera gives Riva his famous nickname.[12]

Riva's season immediately following Cagliari's league triumph took off to a promising start: in the opening weeks of the season, he helped Cagliari to the top of the league table with a series of impressive results, including a 3–1 away win over Inter at the San Siro stadium on 29 October 1970, scoring twice, and earning his famous nickname "Rombo di Tuono" (Roar of Thunder) from journalist Gianni Brera as a result of his dominant performance. He also made his debut in the European Cup that season, helping Cagliari to the second round with two goals in a 3–0 home win against Saint-Étienne in the first leg of the first round of the competition. He later added a third goal in the tournament in the club's 2–1 home victory over Atlético Madrid in the first leg of the second round.[5] However, Riva's season was ended prematurely by a serious injury which he endured in a European qualifying match with the Italy national team in late October. In his absence, Cagliari were soon eliminated from the European Cup in the round of 16, and dropped down the domestic table, eventually finishing in seventh place. After recovering from his injury, Riva managed 21 goals in 30 games during the 1971–72 season, finishing the season as the second highest goalscorer in the league, and helping Cagliari to a fourth-place finish and a spot in the next season's UEFA Cup.[4] With the departure of Scopigno, Cagliari's results declined during the next two seasons, with the club only managing low mid-table finishes, although Riva's goalscoring output still remained consistent, as he scored 12 goals during 1972–73 season, and 15 during the 1973–74 season. Despite having already established himself as a world class player, Cagliari struggled in the league during the mid 70s, Riva remained loyal to the Sardinian side, and turned down many bids from larger clubs, in particular from northern Italy. During his time with Cagliari, he demonstrated his attachment to the club when he refused several lucrative offers from Serie A giants Juventus to remain in the Sardinian capital, despite numerous rumours in the press which stated that he had already signed with the Turin side in exchange for large, record-breaking sums and several of their own players.[14][4][5][10][13][19]

Despite his talent and goalscoring prowess, Riva's career was blighted by several major injuries, in particular with the Italian national side, and which greatly limited his playing time in later seasons. He missed 35 games in the five seasons leading up to 1971, and only appeared in 24 matches for Cagliari between 1974 and 1976, which saw an overall decline to his goalscoring rate and the club's performances during this period. During the

Milan, Riva ruptured a tendon and tore an adductor muscle in his right thigh, following a physical shoulder challenge near the corner flag from Aldo Bet, after being chased down by the Milan defender. He never successfully recovered and, despite several comeback attempts over the next year and a half, was eventually forced to retire in 1978, at the age of 33, having played his last game at the age of 31 in 1976. The injury limited Riva to only 15 appearances during the 1975–76 Serie A season. Despite his run of six goals in a span of eight games during the final season of his career, Cagliari finished in last place in the league in his absence, and were relegated to Serie B.[2][4][15][16][20] Riva scored 248 goals for club and country throughout his career in 439 appearances,[10][19] scoring 164 league goals with Cagliari in 315 appearances, 156 of which came in 289 Serie A appearances. Overall, he scored 207 goals in 374 appearances in all competitions during his thirteen seasons with Cagliari, and 213 career club goals in 397 appearances.[4][11]

International career

Riva (standing, first from right) with Italy in 1969

Early years and Euro 1968 champion

Following some impressive performances for the

Team of the Tournament for his performance during the match.[24]

1970 World Cup runner-up

"The best goal of the best game of the best sport in the world."

— Journalist Mario Grismondi comments on Riva's extra-time goal against West Germany in Italy's 4–3 victory in the 1970 World Cup semi-final.[12]

On 22 November 1969, Riva scored a famous diving header in a 3–0 away win in a

final. Riva finished the competition as Italy's top-scorer, with three goals.[4] After the tournament, Riva broke his right leg while on international duty in a European qualifying match later that year. He was forced off in the 76th minute of a 2–1 away win against Austria on 31 October, at the Praterstadion, in Vienna, following a hard challenge from Austrian defender Norbert Hof.[2][10][29]

Later years, Italy's all-time goalscorer and 1974 World Cup

On 31 March 1973, Riva scored four goals in a 5–0 home win over Luxembourg, in a World Cup qualifying match, becoming one of only six players to accomplish this feat with the Italy national side.[19][30] On 9 June, he became Italy's all-time leading goalscorer, equalling the record of 33 goals held by Giuseppe Meazza, scoring in a 2–0 friendly against Brazil in Rome; Meazza reportedly stated after the match "That Riva is good, he scored a lot of goals against Cyprus and Turkey. Surely my goals were much more important."[31]

Riva later surpassed Meazza's record with his 34th international goal in a 2–0 home win in a friendly against

highest goalscorer in combined goals scored at the FIFA World Cup and FIFA World Cup qualifier matches with 17 goals, and Italy's highest goalscorer in FIFA World Cup qualifiers, with 14 goals.[34] Furthermore, alongside Silvio Piola, he co-holds the national team's record for most goals on opposition soil with 13.[35]

After retirement and death

"Riva is eternal for Sardinia, he is a mythical ... almost a religious figure."

— Vito Biolchini.[12]

After retiring, Riva remained in Cagliari, and founded the first school of football in Sardinia in 1976, which bears his name.[4] He later became an executive with his former club; he also briefly served as Cagliari's president during the 1986–87 season, but stepped down from this position in December 1986, after only a few months, and was replaced by Lucio Cordeddu.[8] He later served as a director and subsequently as a team managing staff member for the Italy national football team from 1988 until 2013, and was also a member of the technical staff for the Italy national team that won the 2006 FIFA World Cup under his supervision; he drew praise from captain Fabio Cannavaro for his role in Italy's fourth World Cup title victory.[4][5][9][10]

On 5 January 2005,

retired Riva's number 11 jersey to honour him and his achievements with the club; Rocco Sabato, the last holder of the number 11 shirt, presented Riva with his jersey in the official ceremony held at the Stadio Sant'Elia of Cagliari, ahead of Italy's friendly match against Russia. Riva's jersey was the first to be retired by the Sardinian club.[4][5][10]

On 21 January 2024, Riva was hospitalized at the San Michele Hospital in Cagliari due to acute coronary syndrome; according to the medical staff assisting him, he was initially in a stable condition and was offered to undergo percutaneous coronary intervention, a decision he opted to delay.[36][37] In the evening of the following day, however, Riva's health condition suddenly deteriorated, and he eventually died of a heart attack, at the age of 79.[36][38][39]

Style of play

"Riva plays poetic football. He is a realistic poet."

— Pier Paolo Pasolini.[12]

"[Riva]'s right foot is only needed to step up onto the tram."

— Riva's coach at Cagliari, Manlio Scopigno, known as The Philosopher, jokes about Riva's predominantly left footed playing style.[40]

Regarded as one of Italy's greatest players, and as one of the best strikers of his generation, Riva was a well rounded, brave, prolific, and opportunistic

striker, where he excelled, due to his eye for goal. A naturally left footed player, he had a very powerful and accurate shot from both inside and outside the area, which led Gianni Brera to nickname him "Rombo di Tuono" (Roar of Thunder); although he was predominantly left-footed, he was also capable of scoring with his right foot on occasion.[2][4][6][41][42]

"One of the best, if not the best striker I have ever met."

— Riva's former Italy team-mate Sandro Mazzola praises the Cagliari striker.[6]

Due to his height, powerful physique, elevation, and his heading accuracy, Riva excelled in the air, and he also had a penchant for scoring spectacular, acrobatic goals from

free-kick and penalty kick taker. Despite his ability, his career was often marked by injuries, which later affected his mobility, continuity, and fitness, and eventually forced him to retire prematurely.[2][4][5][15][17]

Personal life

Riva had a partner, Gianna Tofanari and two sons.[43] He considered himself Roman Catholic.[44]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[2]
Club Season League Coppa Italia League Cup Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Legnano
 1962–63 Serie C 23 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 6
Cagliari 1963–64 Serie B 26 8 2 0 0 0 0 0 28 8
1964–65 Serie A 32 9 4 3 0 0 0 0 36 12
1965–66 Serie A 34 11 3 0 0 0 0 0 37 11
1966–67 Serie A 23 18 3 0 1 1 0 0 27 19
1967–68 Serie A 26 13 1 0 4 3 0 0 31 16
1968–69 Serie A 29 20 6 8 2 0 0 0 37 28
1969–70 Serie A 28 21 6 5 0 0 2 1 36 27
1970–71 Serie A 13 8 5 5 4 2 3 3 25 18
1971–72 Serie A 30 21 4 3 0 0 0 0 34 24
1972–73 Serie A 26 12 6 8 0 0 1 0 33 20
1973–74 Serie A 25 15 1 0 0 0 0 0 26 15
1974–75 Serie A 8 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 9 3
1975–76 Serie A 15 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 6
Total 315 164 42 33 11 6 6 4 374 207
Career total 338 170 42 33 11 6 6 4 397 213

International

See also: List of international goals scored by Gigi Riva
Appearances and goals by national team and year[32]
National team Year Apps Goals
Italy 1965 1 0
1966 1 0
1967 4 6
1968 2 2
1969 6 8
1970 10 6
1971 3 2
1972 6 4
1973 7 7
1974 2 0
Total 42 35

Honours

Cagliari

Italy

Individual

Orders

  • Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana: 1991[57]
  • CONI: Golden Star of Sports Merit: 2006[59]
  • CONI: Golden Collar of Sports Merit: 2016[60]

See also

References

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  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Riva, Luigi" (in Italian). enciclopediadelcalcio.it. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  3. ^ D'Ascoli, Mario (7 January 2009). "Maldini: ecco la super squadra con i più grandi calciatori italiani di tutti i tempi". Quotidiano.net (in Italian). Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
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  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Gigi Riva: TANTO D'ESTRO, TANTO SINISTRO". storiedicalcio.altervista.org (in Italian). Retrieved 24 April 2015.
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