14 Facts About Luigi Riva

Luigi "Gigi" Riva is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre-forward.

At international level, Luigi Riva won the 1968 UEFA European Championship and was runner-up at the 1970 FIFA World Cup with the Italian national team; he took part at the 1974 FIFA World Cup.

Luigi Riva was born into a poor family in Leggiuno, a small town in the northern Italian province of Varese, Lombardy, near the Swiss border, on 7 November 1944.

Luigi Riva's mother, Edis, was a housewife, while his father, Ugo, worked several jobs, firstly as a hairdresser, then as a tailor, and subsequently in a factory, where he died in a work-related accident on 10 February 1953, when Luigi was nine.

Edis began working as a maid, while Luigi Riva was sent to a strict religious boarding school, where he remained for three years, before finding a job in a lift-factory and beginning to play football; his mother died soon afterwards.

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Luigi Riva started playing amateur football for the Laveno Mombello youth side in Lombardy, scoring 30 goals in 1961 and 33 the following season.

Luigi Riva began his professional career in 1962, at the age of 18, when he joined Serie C side Legnano-Ivrea, scoring 6 goals in 22 appearances in his debut season.

The youngster's promising performances attracted the attention of Cagliari president Enrico Rocca, and he was acquired by the Serie B side the following year for a notable sum of 37 million Lire, at the age of 19; Luigi Riva remained with the Sardinian team for the rest of his career.

Luigi Riva was controversially excluded from the 22-man 1966 FIFA World Cup squad, although he was still brought to England by manager Edmondo Fabbri, along with Mario Bertini, as an additional reserve, in order to gain experience with the national side; Italy were eliminated in the first round of the tournament.

Luigi Riva is currently still Italy's top-goalscorer of all-time, with 35 goals in just 42 matches, with an average of 0.

Luigi Riva later served as a director and subsequently as a team managing staff member for the Italian national football team from 1988 until 2013, and was a member of the technical staff for the Italian national team that won the 2006 FIFA World Cup under his supervision; he drew praise from captain Fabio Cannavaro for his role in Italy's fourth World Cup title victory.

Luigi Riva's jersey was the first to be retired by the Sardinian club.

Luigi Riva was initially deployed as a winger on the left flank early in his career, although he would often cut into the centre of the pitch in order to strike on goal; as a result, he was later played in a more offensive and central role, as a main striker, where he excelled, due to his eye for goal.

Luigi Riva was an accurate free-kick and penalty kick taker.