A city, a region, an entire people greeted Gigi Riva yesterday. Thousands of people took part in the funeral and accompanied the coffin to the Bonaria cemetery.

“He left as he wanted,” said his son Nicola. And who knows if Piero Marras thought, while in 1982 he was writing the verses of what has been "the song" of Cagliari since yesterday, that one winter evening in 2024 he would accompany Rumble of Thunder towards legend. Some applauded, some cried, some showed Cagliari scarves.

In the basilica the mass was celebrated by Archbishop Baturi, with him about ten priests including the dean of the Mercedari, Don Tonino, 93 years old. Baturi recalled the overhead kick in Vicenza: «We admired the greatness of the man and the athlete, his generosity and reserve, he allowed himself to be read with frankness but never possessed». And then the farewell: «Run again, Gigi, and stretch those long arms of yours towards the sky again, run and look up. May the Lord meet you in that abode where you can experience love without a shadow and without end."

«My brother and I wanted to thank all the people who have been close to us in these days, the authorities, from the mayor to President Mattarella, Cagliari, the FIGC, Minister Abodi, President Malagò – added Nicola Riva -. But the greatest thought is for all the people who came to the funeral home. You stayed there in the cold until late at night. When people cried and offered us condolences, we felt like offering them to them, because not only our father passed away, but a family member of many Sardinians and many people who loved him."

Enrico Pilia

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