Gigi never left his people
A month ago the farewell to "Rombo di Tuono", while the murals dedicated to the "secular patron" of the island continue to be born
He stayed here. In the heads and hearts of the Sardinians, of the fans, in the people of Cagliari. Riva died at the age of 79 shortly after 7pm on Monday 22 January: the cardiac arrest in the Cardiology department of the largest hospital in Sardinia, the "Brotzu", then the transfer to Hemodynamics and the declaration of death. He was hospitalized due to the illness he felt 24 hours earlier, a problem that had convinced his family to require hospitalization. The Vertical Man left earthly things after having represented, and continues to do so, the figures of the Condottiero, the popular leader, the sportsman most loved by Sardinians but not only. Icon of football in the world, the greatest Italian scorer of all time.
His funeral, on the afternoon of Wednesday 24 January, was one of the most heartfelt and spectacular ceremonies, in its austerity, of the last fifty years. The coffin with his shirts, supported by national football figures and his old teammates from Cagliari, the poignant soundtrack by Piero Marras accompanying the exit from the Basilica of Bonaria, the choirs of the rossoblù ultras, the applause and the tears of the thirty thousand in the churchyard. His figure continues to be venerated, his is not a memory but a colossal operation of nostalgia and celebration.
In Sardinia and beyond
The passion for what Riva represented and will represent over time has literally exploded in Sardinia. Where frescoes were created on the walls of buildings, garages, even in the legendary gate of the Amsicora stadium. On the island but not only, because in Naples, for example, a city accustomed to remembering its idols - see Maradona - with gigantic murals, one has appeared with the face of the Champion: "Great Gigi Riva, Naples honors you", in a street in the historic center. In San Gavino, the 100 square meter work created by the artist Paolo “Mamblo” Mazzucco on the external wall of a building in via Convento was recently inaugurated. Riva's face, and his legendary overhead kick, were celebrated on the wall of the "Ermanno Cortis" school in Quartucciu thanks to the artist Manu Invisible. And Riva will have smiled for this work with Cortis, of whom he was a brotherly friend.
A mural dedicated to Thunderclap was inaugurated in Chiaramonti, a work created by the artist Bruno Mura, in the presence of Gigi's sons, Nicola and Mauro. The mural by Massimiliano Solinas in Lodine is beautiful, or the Muravera work by Stefano Pani. The one dedicated to the memory of the rossoblù champion in Perdasefogu is gigantic, with the overhead kick in Vicenza and created by Michela Casula.
The masses
Yesterday a religious function was celebrated in San Bartolomeo to remember the deceased former rossoblù players from 1970: beyond Riva, Nenè, Martiradonna, Mancin, Zignoli, Gori and coach Scopigno. At the same time, in San'Anna, the Atleti Azzurri d'Italia remembered Riva. And this evening the family will also remember Gigi privately with a mass.
The square
On 12 April 2024, on the same date as Cagliari won the Scudetto in 1970, on the initiative of mayor Umberto Oppus, a square will be inaugurated in Mandas with an Amsicora mini-stadium, a small pitch and a tree-lined area dedicated to games children: it will be Piazza Gigi Riva. In addition to Riva's family members, there will also be any Italian champions from '70 who may be present. Another piece of this operation of eternal memory.
Enrico Pilia
