Luigi “Gigi” Riva, Italy's all-time leading scorer, has died at the age of 79 after suffering a heart attack. The agency reported this on January 22 ANSA.
The day before, Riva felt ill at his home in Cagliari. At a hospital in Sardinia, doctors confirmed that the football player had heart problems. The athlete subsequently died.
During his sporting career, Riva, who earned the nickname “Rombo di Tuono” (thunderstrike), scored 35 goals in 42 appearances for the Italian national team. He was a member of the Italian team that won the European Championship in 1968. The scorer also competed at the 1970 World Cup: then Italy took second place after the Brazilian team, where Pele played.
Riva played almost his entire career for Cagliari, becoming Serie A's top scorer when the Sardinian team won the Italian title for the only time in their history in 1970.
The Italian scorer ended his sports career in 1976 due to injury. In total, the athlete scored 164 goals in 315 matches for Cagliari and became the top scorer in Serie A three times.
Over the following years, Riva worked on the national team's staff, including in 2006 when Italy won the World Cup.
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