Our ongoing series on Football's Past Legends takes us to Italy to remember the elegant Milan midfielder Giovanni Rivera.
In a week that has seen Cristiano Ronaldo being presented with the Ballon d’Or (European Footballer Of The Year Award) Euroscore takes a look at one of its previous winners, the legendary 'Gianni' Rivera.
Giovanni Rivera was a creative midfield player who spent almost his entire career with Italian giants AC Milan. He went on to play over 500 matches for the club scoring an impressive 122 goals. Rivera also won 60 caps for Italy scoring 14 times.
He was born on the 18th August 1943 in Alessandria and became part of the local team's youth academy. He played his first Serie A game in 1959 at only 15 years of age, such was his incredible potential. He was not phased by the enormity of playing against a highly successful and experienced Internazionale side. He went on to play a further 25 games for Alessandria scoring six goals from midfield.
His potential was spotted almost immediately and AC Milan broke their transfer record to sign him. He was only 16 at the time. In 1962 he was part of Milan’s Scudetto winning team and made his debut for Italy in a goalless draw against West Germany in the World Cup in Chile.
The next year saw Milan, prompted by the elegant Rivera, and win the European Cup by beating Benfica 2-1. He was shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or, finishing second in the voting behind legendary Russian goalkeeper Lev Yashin. Further honours were added in the
1967/1968 season when Milan won both the league and the European Cup Winners Cup beating SV Hamburg in the final.
The European Cup was added the following year, when Milan beat the emerging Ajax 4-1, which ended with Rivera winning the Ballon d’Or. He also played in the triumphant Italy team that won the European Championship. However Rivera was injured in the semi-final against Russia and missed the final.
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