Gigi Riva dies aged 79 as tributes pour in for Italy’s all-time top goalscorer

Gigi Riva dies aged 79 as tributes pour in for Italy legend and Euros winner

One of the great names of Italian football has passed away at just shy of 80 years old in Scudetto winner and ex-Azzurri international Luigi Riva after a brief spell in hospital

ITALIAN FOOTBALL was mourning one of its most important ever players on Monday after iconic striker Luigi “Gigi” Riva died aged 79.

Nicknamed “Roar of Thunder”, Riva is Italy’s all-time top goalscorer and is famous in the Mediterranean nation for firing Cagliari to their only league title in 1970.

Cagliari said “Forever GIGI RIVA” in a short post on X, formerly Twitter, which was accompanied by a picture of their hero in the prime of his career.

“Italian football is in mourning because a genuine national monument has left us today,” said Italian Football Federation (FIGC) president Gabriele Gravina.

Riva’s death is of such significance that a minute’s silence was held before the start of the second half of the Italian Super Cup final, played on Monday in Riyadh.

“Ciao Gigi” was displayed on the screens at Al-Awwal Park in the Saudi Arabian capital, alongside a picture of the deceased Riva.

“He will always be remembered for his play with ‘his’ Cagliari and the national team,” said Serie A in a short statement.

Matches across Italy from Monday until the end of the coming weekend will hold a pre-match “minute’s reflection” in honour of Riva, added the FIGC.

Riva had been in hospital in the Sardinian capital Cagliari, where he stayed after the end of his playing career, reportedly after suffering a heart attack over the weekend.

Riva scored 35 times in just 42 appearances for his country, with whom he won the 1968 European Championship and reached the World Cup final two years later.

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