Mourning: the world mourns the departure of a true football idol from Italy

The Italian Luigi 'Gigi' Riva, legendary striker of the Cagliari and all-time top scorer for the Italian national team, died this Monday at the age of 79 in the Brotzu Hospital from Cagliari, where he was admitted for a heart attack he suffered this Sunday.

Italian football is in mourning again. To the recent deaths of Gianluca Vialli and Sinisa Mihajlovic, This Monday, the team's most important striker, the Azzurra's all-time top scorer with 35 goals in 42 games, 2 more than Giuseppe Meazza and 4 more than Adolfo Baloncieri.
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He was 79 years old

This same afternoon, approximately an hour before his death, the hospital where he was admitted issued a medical bulletin that revealed a certain optimism when talking about a patient who was not in critical condition, although he may need cardiac intervention.

'Gigi' (Leggiuno, Lombardy, November 7, 1944), nicknamed 'Rombo di tuono', something like the 'rumbling of thunder', was the current honorary president of Cagliari, the club of his life in which he was throughout his career, from 1962 to 1976, playing 315 games and scoring 164 goals.

He led the Sardinian club in its golden era, the one in which it lifted its only 'Scudetto' of its showcases in the 1969-70 season. With Italy he debuted in 1965, won the 1968 Euro Cup and was its champion in the Mexico World Cup 1970, in which he scored the decisive goal to advance to the final.

In addition, he was part of the 'Azzurra' coaching staff from 1990 to 2013, participating in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, which Italy ended up winning.

And already many Italian teams have mourned the death of one of the legends of 'calcio'.

The first is his Cagliari, which will remind him eternally: “Forever GIGI RIVA”, the Sardinian team expressed in their 'X' account. The 'Fiore', the Inter, the Udinese or the Rome, among many others, they joined in the condolences.

Also some legends like Dino Zoff: “I lose a great friend, we had a long life together. From the military to many memories in the national team. Infinite sadness, I am deeply sad, I cannot speak.”

And the president of the Government, Giorgia Meloni: “A great athlete leaves us who marked the history of football and our team. May the earth be light to you, champion,” he published in 'X'.
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