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Italy's all-time leading goalscorer Luigi Riva dies aged 79

:Headline: Italy's all-time leading goalscorer Luigi Riva dies aged 79:
Italy's all-time leading goalscorer and Cagliari legend Luigi Riva dies at the age of 79.
Sports Mole
Italy's all-time leading goalscorer Luigi Riva dies aged 79

Italy's all-time leading goalscorer and Cagliari legend Luigi Riva has died at the age of 79.

Riva passed away at a hospital in Sardinia after reportedly suffering a heart attack over the weekend.

Nicknamed 'Roar of Thunder', Riva was widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation and notched up a remarkable scoring record during a 13-year playing career at Cagliari.

Born in Lombardy, Riva began his professional career in 1962 with local club Legnano before moving to Cagliari, where he scored 207 goals in 374 appearances across all competitions.

Riva is still Cagliari's all-time leading scorer and sits over 100 goals clear of the nearest challenger Luigi Piras (104) in second place.

The striker scored 21 goals to help Cagliari win their first and only Serie A title to date in 1970, and in 2005 the Islanders retired the No.11 shirt to honour his legacy.

Riva, the runner-up for the 1969 Ballon d'Or, also excelled at international level and scored a record 35 goals in 42 appearances for the Azzurri between 1965 and 1974.

He helped Italy win the 1968 European Championships before they reached the World Cup final two years later, losing 4-1 to a Pele-inspired Brazil side.

A statement from Gabriele Gravina, the president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), read: "I'm shaken and profoundly saddened, Italian soccer is grieving because a real and proper national hero has left us.

"Gigi Riva was the embodiment of a great man and an extraordinary footballer: his pride, his class and his sense of fairness united generations.

"Thanks to him we won the European Championship in 1968 and the World Cup in 2006 [as team manager]."

Fellow Italian icon Dino Zoff said: "I'm losing a great friend, we've had a long life together. From the military to many memories in the national team. Infinite sadness, I'm deeply saddened, I can't speak."

The FIGC have plans in place to ensure that a minutes silence will be held before all matches across Italy in honour of Riva for the rest of this week. body check tags ::

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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Napoli23173338162254
2Inter Milan22156156193751
3Atalanta BCAtalanta23145449262347
4Juventus23913139201940
5Fiorentina22116537231439
6Lazio2212373830839
7Bologna2291033527837
8AC Milan229853324935
9Roma238783429531
10Udinese2385102836-829
11Torino236982427-327
12Genoa236892132-1126
13Hellas VeronaHellas Verona2372142648-2223
14Lecce2365121841-2323
15Como2357112738-1122
16Empoli2349102233-1121
17CagliariCagliari2256112336-1321
18Parma2348112942-1320
19VeneziaVenezia2337132238-1616
20Monza2327142034-1413
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