by Adam Bate
There are many over-used and misleading phrases in football and “one-man team” is surely right up there. In 1969-70, Cagliari had a quality side. Players such as Ricky Albertosi, Pierluigi Cera, Comunardo Niccolai and Angelo Domenghini all played for the Azzurri. And yet, the simple and remarkable fact remains – Gigi Riva won the Scudetto for Cagliari. It was just one of the many stunning achievements in the extraordinary career of Cagliari and Italy’s highest ever goalscorer. A legend and a hero for both club and country.
Luigi Riva was born in Leggiuno, near Varese in northern Italy, in November 1944. His footballing talent became apparent as he broke into the first team at lowly Serie C outfit Legnano as a mere 17-year old. Within a year he moved south to Sardinia – the island that was to become his spiritual home – when he signed for Cagliari. Even at such a young age, Riva’s impact on the club was virtually instantaneous. And so the fairytale began.
Cagliari were in Serie B when Riva arrived and the club had never played in the top flight of Italian football. The Sardinians had long dreamt of boasting a Serie A side and in Riva’s debut season that dream was realised. Cagliari were promoted in second place behind Varese with Riva contributing eight goals from an outside left position. Given their lack of pedigree at the highest level, one may have expected the club to struggle among the elite. The reality was very different as only five teams gathered more points than Cagliari in that historic 1964-65 campaign. It was a personal triumph for Riva as he gained international recognition in the summer of ’65.
Riva’s debut against Hungary that year began a nine year record-breaking career with the Azzurri. Initially, there was disappointment – a broken leg sustained against Portugal caused Riva to miss the 1966 World Cup in England. But two years later at the European Championships on home soil, the strapping forward was to make amends.
By 1968, Riva was firmly established as the premier goal machine in Italian football. He had earned the title of Capocannoniere the previous year by scoring 18 goals in just 23 games and continued to bang in the goals for club and country. Indeed, his hat-trick against Cyprus followed by a brace in Switzerland had helped Italy top their qualifying group. In the finals themselves, it took a coin toss to edge past the Soviet Union in a goalless semi-final before Riva’s Cagliari team-mate Domenghini grabbed a late equaliser in the drawn final against Yugoslavia. Here Riva came to the party, scoring the opening goal of the replayed final to help win the trophy for Italy. Cagliari’s hero was now a national hero.
No shrinking violet, Riva embraced his new status and the confidence he gained helped him to become an even better player. Despite the celebrity attention, he always remembered the key virtues needed to succeed: “I am not an actor, writer, salesman, singer or anything else. I live only for football.” It was perhaps this stubborn and single-minded dedication that saw Riva frustrate Juventus in their attempts to sign him. In 1967, the deal was done between the Bianconeri and Cagliari to take Riva to Turin. But Riva was adamant:
“I would have earned triple. But Sardinia had made me a man. It was my land. In those days, they called us shepherds and bandits around Italy. I was 23 and the great Juve wanted to cover me in money. I wanted the Scudetto for my land. We did it, the bandits and shepherds.”
With this attitude, Riva kicked on with Cagliari and he became Capocannoniere for the second time in 1969. He was now a truly formidable striker.
It is no wonder the Bianconeri were desperate to sign Riva. His playing style set him apart from his contemporaries. His strength and aerial ability were outstanding. The key to his success, however, was the power and technical ability of that famous left boot. There are stories of spectators being injured by his shots – such was the ferocity of his strikes. Fortunately, he didn’t miss the goal too often.
His most famous skill, of course, was his renowned ability to volley the ball. Often this would include the rovesciata – overhead kicks hit with such devastating power as to be unstoppable. Cagliari fans got to see these efforts on a regular basis but the most famous was a goal still replayed to this day. Against Vicenza in 1970, a cross from the left was headed back across goal. The ball came over Riva’s left shoulder. He swivelled to fire the ball into the net before the keeper could even move. An iconic moment from an iconic player.
The 1969-70 season was the stuff of magic for Cagliari – and most of it came courtesy of Riva. In addition to the Vicenza goal, there were the two against Napoli after battling a fever, another brace to earn a point against Juventus, and more goals against Milan, Lazio and Sampdoria. It was a miracle season in which Cagliari lost just two matches. On 12th April 1970 Riva scored the opener as the title was clinched at home to Bari with two games to spare. The Scudetto belonged to Cagliari. To many it felt as though Riva and the team had managed to unify the notoriously disparate farming communities of Sardinia through the joy of football. As the writer Stefano Boldrini put it: “Riva forced shepherds to buy transistor radios so that they could follow Cagliari”.
The historic victory led to parties and celebrations that are still romanticised to this day. The players remain heroes and the side is the first and last team from Italy’s islands to win the championship. The summer of 1970 was certainly a triumphant one for Cagliari. But Gigi Riva’s work was not done yet – he had the small matter of a World Cup ahead of him.
The 1970 World Cup will forever be remembered for the wonderful Brazil side that so entranced viewers around the world. What few recall is that the final against Italy was finely balanced at 1-1 after an hour, only for the Azzurri to fade as they felt the effects of an epic semi-final encounter just four days earlier. Riva scored the pick of the goals that day in a memorable 4-3 victory over West Germany – a beautiful couple of touches before firing the ball into the far corner. It was Riva’s third of the tournament but he fell just short in his quest to add the World Cup to his Serie A and European crowns.
In the October of 1970, Riva experienced the highs and lows of football in dramatic fashion. In the fourth game of the season the champions travelled to the San Siro to take on rivals Inter. The famous Italian journalist Gianni Brera summed events up that day by saying: “Cagliari have humiliated Inter at the San Siro. More than 70,000 saw that Riva deserved it and I nickname him Rombo di Tuono.” And so, after grabbing two goals in a 3-1 win at the San Siro, the Roar of Thunder aka Thunderclap was born. His position as a national treasure was secure but, tragically, Riva broke his leg playing for Italy against Austria later that week, putting paid to Cagliari’s title defence.
Remarkably, Riva showed his tremendous battling qualities by bouncing back from this second leg break of his career to score 21 goals in 30 games in the 1971-72 season. He even managed to play in another World Cup – the disappointing 1974 campaign. It was to mark the end of his international career. Riva finished with 35 goals from 42 games for Italy – an incredible strike rate that means he is still the country’s record goalscorer.
Both Riva and Cagliari remained a force in the upper echelons of Serie A for some time to come. But as the great player’s body began to give out and his powers started to wane, so the fortunes of Cagliari dipped with him. Their fortunes seemingly inextricably linked, Cagliari were relegated in last place in 1976 with Riva out injured for much of it. This was to prove one injury too many and after a lengthy but unsuccessful attempt to regain fitness, Riva retired from football. He left his beloved club where he had found them – in Serie B. Cagliari have not finished in the top five of Serie A since.
Gigi Riva continues to endure as a Sardinian idol and the darling of Cagliari Calcio. After scoring more than 200 goals for the club, his No.11 shirt has predictably been retired – the only number ever retired by the Rossoblu. The playwright and journalist Vito Biolchini probably said it best: “Riva is eternal for Sardinia, he is a mythical . . . almost a religious figure.” Amen to that.
A version of this piece originally appeared in the now sadly defunct Calcio Italia magazine in February 2011.
DEFINING MOMENTS
Riva was the inspiration behind his club’s success and a goalscoring phenomenon for his country. Here is our pick of his greatest games…
10 June 1968
Champions of Europe
Italy 2-0 Yugoslavia – European Championship final – Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Riva was part of the Italian team that won the European Championship on home soil. Riva opened the scoring in the replay of the final – Italy’s first major prize since the 1930s.
18 January 1970
That Man Riva
Vicenza 1-2 Cagliari – Serie A – Stadio Romeo Menti
Riva bagged two goals in this away victory but the second of them has become the stuff of legend. As the ball came over his left shoulder, the master of the overhead kick fired home a bullet of a strike to capture the imagination of a generation.
12 April 1970
Cagliari Champions
Cagliari 2-0 Bari – Serie A – Stadio Sant’Elia
Cagliari won their one and only Scudetto with two games to spare – and naturally Riva was on the scoresheet, sending Sardinia into delirium.
17 June 1970
World Cup Classic
Italy 4-3 W.Germany – World Cup semi-final – Azteca Stadium, Mexico City
This legendary encounter see-sawed back and forth with Riva scoring in the second half of extra-time to help Italy into the World Cup final. Only the genius of Brazil was to stop Riva becoming Serie A, European and World champion simultaneously.
25 October 1970
Rombo Di Tuono
Inter 1-3 Cagliari –Serie A – Giuseppe Meazza
Inter were the main challengers for Cagliari’s title but Riva stunned the San Siro with two early goals. Famed writer Gianni Brera claimed Riva had ‘humiliated’ Inter and nicknamed the forward the ‘Rombo di Tuono’. Sadly, Riva broke his leg playing for Italy less than a week later.
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Some great goals here. The famous one against Vicenza is from 1:02.
