Born on 7 November 1944 in Leggiuno, Giga Riva turns 75 today. One of the greatest goalscorers in the history of the Italian National Team with 35 goals in 42 games, he won the European Championship with the Azzurri in 1968. The final was played in Rome and Italy’s opponents were Yugoslavia, and while Riva only played in the replay, he still scored Italy’s first goal of that game.

He came second in the final iteration of the Rimet Cup in 1970 (the predecessor to the World Cup) as Italy lost in the final against the strongest Brazil team in history. He led Cagliari to their only championship victory in the 1969/70 season and won the top-scorer award for Serie A three times.

He was the accompanying manager for the Azzurri from 1990 to 2013 and he was part of that victorious team of 2006 that won the World Cup in Germany. He was inducted into the ‘Italian Veteran’ category of the Italian football Hall of Fame in 2011.