Gigi Riva: from no to Juve to the Ballon d'Or (won by Rivera). And that dramatic night with the 'Executioner of the Prater'…

Gigi Riva and the Cagliari scudetto

Gigi Riva will forever be remembered as a hero of Italian football, but first of all as a symbol of Cagliari and Cagliari. He who dragged the team from the first historic promotion to Serie A to the Scudetto, the most sensational feat in the last 50 years within our borders (along with that achieved by Osvaldo Bagnoli's Verona with the unforgettable Preben Larsen Elkjaer center forward). “In football I found what life hadn't given me. I didn't have an easy childhood, I lost my father, my sister and my mother, I forgot everything for just a moment when I played football. And in Cagliari I had a bit of serenity, a minimum, also thanks to my teammates who always helped me. And thanks to Sardinia which has always shown great affection”, he recently told La Repubblica.

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1- Gigi Riva and Gianni Agnelli's Juventus billion

Rombo di Tuono, born in Leggiuno (in the province of Varese) and Sardinian by adoption with the flag of the 4 Moors in his heart, to the point of rejecting Lawyer Agnelli's Juventus. Almost impossible to resist the temptation to wear the black and white shirt and the billion of 'old' lire ready for him as a salary. «When Arrica, my president, discovered that I wasn't going, he wasn't happy at all. But I'm not stubborn: I was a closed person, I had had a tragic childhood, my parents had passed away early. Then I came to Cagliari and we built a great thing: the scudetto was the dream of every team”, said Gigi Riva in a recent interview with Corsera.

2- Gigi Riva and that Golden Ball won by Gianni Rivera

Interview in which Thunderclap also revealed another backstory, linked to Ballon d'Or: in 1969 he finished second behind Gianni Riveraby just 4 points (while in 1970 he was third behind Gerd Müller and Bobby Moore). He who in that two-year period was the symbol of the Italian national team, champions of Europe, vice-world champion at the World Cup in Mexico (defeated 4-1 in the final by Pelè's Brazil) and obviously king of Cagliari, champions of Italy. To the question 'Did you digest the Golden Ball given to Rivera and not to you?' Gigi Riva confessed: “No, not yet. I was promised that the following year it would be my turn and then instead I got hurt.”

3- Gigi Riva and the “Prater executioner”

The injury. Serious. Which changed Gigi Riva's career, caused by Norbert Hof, who became famous as the “executioner of the Prater” for having broken his leg during the Italy-Austria match on 31 October 1970. «But yes, I forgave him. Of course, she could have avoided that entrance. But after two years I fractured it again and there I hurt myself…”, he confessed to Corsera. After the serious injury suffered by Riva in the national team, Cagliari suffered a serious blow: they lost the top of the table ( finished seventh) and was eliminated in the round of 16 of the Champions Cup. But Gigi was stronger than bad luck: he started playing again towards the end of the 1970-1971 championship, scoring 4 goals in the last 4 games. And in the following tournament he shone again: 21 goals in 30 matches played, which brought the Sardinians to fourth place in Serie A.

4- Gigi Riva and Fabrizio De André, the Cagliari shirt and the guitar….

Not just football. That meeting with Fabrizio De Andrè also went down in history. It is September 14, 1969, after a match at Marassi against a Cagliari team that would win the only and historic scudetto in that championship, Gigi Riva goes to visit the singer at his house in Genoa. “We had toasted with a lot of whisky, both of us overcoming our shyness”, Rombo di Tuono told Corsera. A meeting that also became a theatrical show by Federico Buffa (who on Sky told the story of the myth of Italian football in a two-episode special “Gigi Riva, the man who was born twice”.

“A football legend and a beautiful person left us: Gigi Riva. I still remember when he came to visit my father in Genoa, he was a big fan of his.” In a touching post on Instagram Cristiano De André recalled the ancient friendship between the two adopted Sardinians, his father Fabrizio De André and Gigi Riva. “I was also present that day in the living room at home – he recalls – I gave him his No. 11 Cagliari shirt as a gift which then ended up with me for a long time and with which I proudly went playing football with my school friends. Unfortunately, a few years later they stole it from me in the changing rooms. I am honored to have acted in 2022 at l'Agnata, a small part in Riccardo Milani's film “In our sky a rumble of thunder”. In that film I play my father as he gives him his guitar. Goodbye Gigi, you will remain in our hearts forever. May the journey be easy for you. A hug to his sons Nicola and Mauro”

5- Gigi Riva, how Rombo di Tuono by Gianni Brera was born

“There's a story behind this. Gianni Brera came one morning accompanied by the Cagliari managers to watch the training – said Gigi Riva in an interview with Il Giornale – I was trying free kicks from the edge of the area, and he was struck by the fact that he heard something like a thunder noise”

Gianni Brera wrote (on the pages of Guerin Sportivo), making Gigi Riva's nickname official for the first time after an Inter-Cagliari 1-3. “Cagliari immediately overcame and humiliated Inter at San Siro. Over 70 thousand spectators: Riva, who here I nickname Thunderclap, deserved it.” Here it is, Gigi's second name: to give the idea of ​​the attacker's power, of his terrifying left foot in terms of power and effectiveness, of his threatening gait towards the opponent's goal. Rombo di Tuono will remain in history, just as Gigi Riva will remain in history.”

And not only that…. Look at the gallery with the most important flashbacks of Gigi Riva's career

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