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Luigi Riva (born November 7, 1944) in Leggiuno, 30
km north-west of Milano, was an Italy|Italian
football (soccer)|footballer, the all-time leading
scorer for the Italy national football
team|Italian national team.

His career started in 1962 when he joined Legnano
Calcio|Legnano. He joined Cagliari Calcio|Cagliari
the next season and was to stay there for the rest
of his career, despite the attention of bigger
clubs. He made his league debut for Cagliari on
September 13, 1964, when the team lost 2-1 against
A.S. Roma|Roma. He was Serie A top-scorer 3 times
with Cagliari, in 1967, 1969 and 1970. His only
Serie A title came in 1970.

He made his international debut on June 27, 1965
in a 2-1 defeat against Hungary national football
team|Hungary. He would go on to become Italy's
top-goalscorer of all-time, with 35 goals in just
42 matches and would win the 1968 European
Football Championship|1968 European Championships.
In the 1970 he obtained the second place to World
Cup in Mexico with italian national Team. Italy's
topscorer in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, he
netted the crucial extra-time goal - his 22nd in
21 internationals - against West Germany in the
semifinal.

He turned down a € 3.500.000 move to Juventus in
1973, at the age of 29, but had a bad 1974 World
Cup and was dropped for the last game against
Poland.

In 1976, he was badly injured and, although he
tried to play on, he never got back to playing
again and eventually retired in 1978. He played
338 league games in his career, scoring 170 goals.
After retiring he became an executive with
Cagliari.