Guido Vaciago's story, published a few days ago in Tuttosport, is heartbreaking. Rereading Gianni Agnelli's passionate and elegant courtship of the Cagliari striker makes me want to go back out into the streets to remember Riva, to shout to the younger generation what values, words, and loyalty mean. It's May 24, 1969, and Italy is scheduled to play a friendly against Bulgaria in Turin just hours after. The Azzurri, with a large Cagliari squad, are on retreat at Villa Sassi, an elegant hotel in the hills outside Turin.
The Lawyer wants to acquire Riva at any cost; Juve needs his goals. He introduces himself, asks to see him, and the conversation—a very long one—takes place in the garden overlooking the city. "Riva, I'll sign the check, you put the amount," says Agnelli, one of the wealthiest men in Italy. "Lawyer, it's not a question of money. I don't want to leave Sardinia; I owe loyalty to that land and those people who welcomed me like a son and whom I don't feel like betraying." Then, confidently: "I wouldn't be happy far from Sardinia." The Juve owner's response: "But you could return to Sardinia whenever you want; I'd provide a plane for that." And Riva scores one of his finest goals: "Thank you, Lawyer, but I don't think I'd be the same player and the same person if I left Cagliari and Sardinia." At that moment, Vaciago writes, "Agnelli was satisfied to perceive Riva's sincerity and admired this extraordinary player even more. And he was deeply saddened at not being able to wear the Juventus jersey, for which, the Lawyer believed, he would have become a great captain." The courtship, a gentleman's pact, ended at that moment.
His land
Gigi Riva left us on January 22, 2024. He had suffered a heart problem the previous evening and had been admitted to Brotzu Hospital. He refused to consent to heart surgery, chatting calmly with the head physician, Corda. At 5:50 PM, he suffered cardiac arrest, went into crisis, and then, at 7:10 PM, died. This news spread across the world in a matter of minutes, literally throwing into despair the people, the Sardinians, who had venerated him from the first day of his life in Sardinia. Those same people, led by the Cagliari football club, of which he was honorary president until his final day, wanted to pay homage to him with an interminable, silent, and emotional line at the chapel of rest in the heart of the Unipol Domus.
Two days later, the funeral, one of the largest and most composed demonstrations of public love ever seen in the city, gathered on Bonaria Hill to bid Riva farewell, a heartbreaking farewell, with the ultras dedicating an unforgettable series of chants to him.
While his homeland celebrates him with new murals from north to south. A passion that knows no crisis, the works of well-known and amateur artists continue to emerge, coloring the walls and buildings so as not to forget the secular patron saint of Sardinia.