Italian football has been in mourning since the announcement made on Monday of the disappearance of Luigi Riva, top scorer in history with the selection. He was 79 years old.
He is one of the legends who carried the colors of the Squadra Azzurra. Winner of Euro 1968 and finalist of a 1970 World Cup final still considered today by many as the match of the century, Luigi Riva will have left his mark on the history of the Italian selection. The one nicknamed “Gigi” passed away on Monday at the age of seventy-nine, victim of a heart attack. To this day, he is still the top scorer in the history of the Transalpine selection (35 goals).
For the youngest in Italy, his name perhaps resonates a little less than that of more recent glories such as Gianluigi Buffon, Alessandro Del Piero or Roberto Baggio. And yet… “Gigi” Riva was a scoring machine, facing defenses that were much more airtight than today, and even more so in Italy, home of the famous “catenaccio”. Championship winner with Cagliari during the 1969-1970 season, the powerful striker finished top scorer (21 goals). An honorary title that he had already gleaned in 1966-1967 (18 goals).
A national monument
With his club (almost) forever, he will have played 374 matches and will have scored a whopping 207 goals. After hanging up his boots in 1976, the native of Leggiuno joined the staff of the Cagliari team before joining the management of the Italian national team. With the Azzurri, he won the 2006 World Cup, including a victory in the final against Zinedine Zidane’s France.
Since the announcement of the disappearance of “Gigi” Riva, tributes have multiplied in Italy. The Italian Federation thus deplored the death of a “ true national monument “. A few days after the death of Franz Beckenbauer, world football lost another of its legends.
