Mario Piga: «When I stopped Rivera and Zico»

Mario Piga from Palau removes some precious pearls from his treasure chest of memories. Almost all football fans remember him as a right winger (in 1982, with the Avellino jersey, he finished first in his role and placed in the top 11, preceding people like Franco Causio, Bruno Conti and Claudio Sala. Sorry if it's not much) or all-round midfielder. Mario Piga, on the other hand, was also called into question as a match-half and pure defender. Successfully marking not just any footballers, but authentic icons of world football. Two names above all: Gianni Rivera and Arthur Antunes Coimbra, known as Zico. Let's proceed in order.
1978, AC Milan star championship. At the San Siro Milan-Avellino. «Marchesi on the eve tells me to mark Gianni Rivera, he needs a quick one who knows how to anticipate him - says Mario Piga -. The race begins. After two minutes they give him the ball low shot on the wing, between the two benches. I wanted to introduce myself by letting Gianni understand that it wasn't air. I slide in decisively and catch the ball, but with inertia I throw him off the field. He gets up and says to me "ugly str...". I then answer him: "If you take it like that, then I'll give you the rest afterward". Rivera was a champion, able to send any striker into goal as soon as he turned around. - he continues - I stuck to him the whole game, but when we had the ball I put myself forward. He didn't even look at me, the others thought about getting the hang of it in this sense. Milan won 1-0, I think undeservedly Ruben Buriani, the blonde midfielder, scored."

The other episode took place between 1983-84, at the time of Lazio. "Before entering the field at the Olimpico - resumes Mario Piga - the coach Carosi told me "Stay on Zico". I didn't hold back. Maybe the Brazilian didn't "He was in excellent physical condition during the day or in excellent physical condition. The fact is that he only touched a few balls. And they were all irrelevant. For me it was a great satisfaction to have him marked successfully. The secret to stopping players like him was not giving him even an inch." Yep, easy to say.