“Cagliari 1970”, a tribute to Gigi Riva and a team now in history

A film, "A rumble of thunder in our sky" by Riccardo Milani, and an essay, published in the magazine "Past and present" (it can be purchased on the website of the publisher Franco Angeli) accompany Gigi Riva's birthday on the next 7th. November. The article, entitled "Cagliari 1970: a" new frontier "of Italian football", was written by Massimo Baioni, professor of contemporary history at the University of Milan. "The powerful and impetuous, courageous and unlucky footballer, the antidivo, the osmotic relationship with an island and its people: all this has made Riva the anomalous subject of a sui generis literary representation, which has fixed its traits almost of a modern Homeric hero ”, we read in the essay edited by Baioni.

How did your interest in Gigi Riva and Cagliari for the Scudetto start? Are you a fan of the rossoblu team?

“Yes, I'm a Cagliari fan. I was born in 1963 in Romagna and as a child, in 1970, I was struck by the victory of Cagliari and Riva. The sensitivity of the scholar is obviously added to the biographical data: the history of football, especially in Italy, is an effective observatory for grasping the dynamics that cross society and reveal some profound characteristics, which change over time ".

Why does a historian tackle a sporting event?

“The ideas are many, if we think about the importance of those years in the history of the young Republic: the tensions, fears, hopes that rhythm the life of society. Making history of sport does not mean being imprisoned in the mere chronicle of events but studying its wider implications ”.

What's in this essay?

“Three basic questions. The importance and impact of Cagliari's victory in the geography of national football; the repercussions on the economic and social life of the island, also on the level of public image; the Gigi Riva icon, characters and reasons for the extraordinary popularity of Rombo di tuono ”.

What are the most important aspects of the Cagliari Scudetto?

“The victory is not a miracle: it is the result of a work cultivated since Cagliari reached the top flight in 1964. From 1968 to 1972 the team was regularly among the contenders for the title. Bad luck (the accident at Riva in October 1970), missteps, a 'political' weight not comparable to that of other more noble teams prevent an encore. On the other hand, this made the victory of 1970 a unique and unrepeatable enterprise, making it permanently enter the national public memory ”.

That championship came at a time of great hopes for Sardinia. Hopes for social growth and economic development.

“Sporting success is an opportunity for redemption and growth for the whole island, even if it is far from having thaumaturgical effects. To benefit from the most incisive effects is the tourism industry, from that moment ready to transform itself into a mass phenomenon. The sporting victory becomes a great showcase for Sardinia, which frees itself from an image associated with desolate lands, pastures and punitive barracks ”.

How to remember all the protagonists?

“Of that team, Riva is the relentless terminal. Triggering his power is a perfectly oiled machine: a very solid defense, a great goalkeeper and a 'modern' free; a midfield where quality men adapt to various tactical needs. And then, of course, Manlio Scopigno, the shrewd and cultured coach, who also attracts the curiosity of writers like Luciano Bianciardi. Among the managers the figure of Andrea Arrica stands out, very skilled in moving on the market using the player exchange card ”.

Gigi Riva has linked his destiny to Sardinia. How to explain this indissoluble bond?

“The choice of life is for a city and an island that have given him fame and a sort of adoptive family, to compensate for a childhood marked by grief and sacrifice. The refusal to go to Juventus, backed by the protest of the square and not without stiff contrasts with the leaders, configures a gesture in many ways revolutionary. Riva's departure would have solved most of Cagliari's problems, perhaps avoiding the decline that occurred a few years later. On the other hand, without that choice, the Riva icon and its myth would not have the features that are still recognizable today. The powerful and impetuous, courageous and unlucky footballer, the antidivo, the osmotic relationship with an island and with its people: Riva really seems a character out of Homeric narratives, free to live his life and at the same time marked by weight of destiny. We have reason to be happy that this is how things went ”.