After the disappearance of Franz Beckenbauer, another death has come in the world of football. Luigi Riva, the best scorer in the history of the Italian national team, died at the age of 79.

Luigi Riva, the scorer of Cagliari and the Italian national team, has died

Luigi Riva died on Monday evening at the San Michele Hospital in Cagliari, where he had been hospitalized since Sunday after suffering a heart attack, reports Gazzetta dello Sport.

Cagliari’s honorary president since 2019, Riva turned 79 in November and retired from football.

Gigi Riva, born in 1944, excelled in the 1962-63 season with Legnano in Serie C when he was bought by Cagliari.

He remained in Sardinia throughout his career, until 1977, wearing the shirt of his team 315 times, during which he scored 164 times.

The Italian forward was decisive for the only title in Cagliari’s history, won in 1970.

He was Serie A’s top scorer three times, in 1967, 1969 and 1970.

In the jersey of the Italian national team, he made an effort to win the first European championship title in 1968 and was one of the main heroes of the World Cup in Mexico in 1970, where the “squadra azzurra” lost in the final to Pele’s Brazil.

Luigi Riva played 42 matches and scored 35 goals, becoming the national team’s all-time top scorer.