Gigi Riva, the moving memory of Luciano Spalletti

Luciano Spalletti: "Gigi Riva humble and decent person"

Among the many personalities from the sports world who arrived in Cagliari on Wednesday to pay their last respects to Gigi Riva was Luciano Spalletti, the current coach of that national team of which Riva himself è still holds the record for goals scored, 35 in 11 years as Azzurro (debut on June 27, 1965 in the 2-1 loss to Hungary, last game on June 19, 1974, at the World Cup in West Germany against Argentina, a game that ended 1-1).

"Heroes like Gigi Riva will never stop being close to us,” Spalletti told reporters: he had this great quality of being a humble and decent person. He was a protagonist but at the same time he did not want to attract the spotlight on himself. His loved ones and friends were, for him, more important than anything".

"After winning the 2006 World Cup (Riva was team manager of the national team, ed.) his behavior was emblematic: he eclipsed himself to give light to others,” Spalletti added. He was 'Thunderbolt' a nickname that says a lot: his shot and his moral value made more noise than words. When I was collecting stickers, his was the most coveted one".

Spalletti was just one of a number of sports-related personalities who arrived in Cagliari to pay their last respects to Riva: among others, there were CONI President Giovanni Malagò Gianfranco Zola; Gianluigi Buffon; and with him a delegation from Italy's 2006 world champions (among them Fabio Cannavaro). Also at the church was Cagliari Mayor Paolo Truzzu along with other first citizens of the island. Also present was Minister of Sport Abodi.