Gigi Riva is dead.
He was hospitalized in the Cardiology department of the Brotzu in Cagliari due to a heart attack suffered on Sunday.
Riva remains the national team's top scorer with 35 goals
and number 11 in Cagliari's 1970 scudetto. Since 2019 he had been honorary president of Cagliari, having turned 79 on 7 November.
Photo story Farewell to Gigi Riva, the legend of Italian football - Sport - Ansa.it
For further information Agenzia ANSA Farewell to Gigi Riva, hero of a football full of goals and honor - News - Ansa.it The Cagliari scudetto, the no to the big teams: it was the strongest (ANSA)
Always a reserved and shy character, he lived in an apartment in the center of Cagliari and in recent years he had also limited his usual walks in the streets of the centre.
Riva is considered
the strongest Italian striker of the post-war period
.
He is still the holder of the record for goals scored for the national team: 35 in 42 appearances,
an incredible average of 0.83 goals
per game.
For further information Agenzia ANSA From Mattarella to Zoff, the bow to Gigi Riva - Football - Ansa.it The memory of Giancarlo De Sisti: "It was lucky to play with him, he was a Greek god" (ANSA)
Citizen mourning in Cagliari for the passing of Gigi Riva
.
"At this moment I feel a deep pain - these are the words of the mayor Paolo Truzzu - I can't hold back the tears, I struggle to express thoughts and words. Gigi Riva was an example, a way of being, a point of reference. A true man, unique and inimitable. The family receives the infinite embrace of Cagliari and our island. Goodbye, thunderclap and heartfelt thanks for everything. A city mourning will be called to rally us all around our legend, our sons Nicola and Mauro , to his nieces and his entire family."
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