Sardinia, at the Turin Book Fair the memory of Gigi Riva.

The stand of the Sardinia Region it filled up this morning for one of the most anticipated events of the 36th Turin International Book Fair, “A Roll of Thunder from the Sky” – Memory of Gigi Riva. 

The journalist and writer Luca Telese, author of “Cuori Rossoblù”, proposed some stages of the extraordinary history of "myth" Gigi Riva, describing with a series of anecdotes, both the unrivalled footballing and human qualities of the young man who reluctantly arrived in Sardinia in the distant 1963 and quickly became «Sardinian by choice», a great champion and the main protagonist of a long season of successes for Cagliari, which reached its peak with the conquest of the Scudetto in 1970.

Luca Telese recalled what happened in the match in Turin against Juventus on 15 March 1970, with penalties awarded by the great referee Concetto Lo Bello, which ended 2-2 (a brace by Gigi Riva, the second goal from a penalty kick in the 82nd minute, an own goal by Comunardo Niccolai and a goal by Pietro Anastasi from a penalty kick, first missed and then retaken, for two temporary advantages for Juventus), which then turned out to be decisive for winning the Scudetto.

Among Luca Telese's stories, the various attempts made by the economically strongest clubs in Italian football, in particular Juventus of the Agnelli family, to snatch their champion from Cagliari, have also re-emerged, always blocked by Gigi Riva's refusals who he never wanted to leave "his Sardinia", where he ended his extraordinary career, earlier than he would have liked, due to serious injuries to his legs caused by the violence of opposing defenders, both with the Cagliari shirt and with the national team, with which he still holds the record for the highest number of goals scored, 35 in 42 matches played.

At the Turin Motor Show, to remember Gigi Riva, four footballers who wore the red and blue shirt for many years arrived, who remembered their relationship with Gigi Riva, elevating his figure as a footballer and as a man: Gianfranco Matteoli, Gianluca Festa, Matteo Villa and Vittorio Pusceddu.