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Gianni Rivera

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'''Giovanni (Gianni) Rivera''' (born August 18, 1943 in Alessandria) was an Italy Italian soccer football player, the European Footballer of the Year in 1969. He is widely considered to be one of the best players in the history of the game. He was nicknamed ''The Golden Boy'' of Italian football. He is the product of Alessandria's youth soccer academy. He debuted in Serie A for U.S. Alessandria Calcio 1912 Alessandria against Internazionale Milano F.C. Internazionale. That was on June 2, 1959; he was only fifteen years old. He only played for his first club twenty six matches in which he scored six goals. After one year, he was bought by A.C. Milan AC Milan with a record transfer fee for that time, $200,000, and he was only sixteen years old. In 1962 he won the first ''scudetto'' with AC Milan and on May 13, 1962, at eighteen years, he played his first match for the Italy national football team Italian national team against Germany national football team West Germany at the Football World Cup 1962 World Cup in Chile, a game that finished with a goalless draw, 0-0. Due to their win of the 1962 ''scudetto'', AC Milan qualified for the UEFA Champions League European Cup in 1962, a European Cup which they have finally won, beating SL Benfica Benfica 2-1 in the final with a Rivera in great form as he was awarded the second place in the famous ''Ballon d'or'' award, won by the Russian goalkeeper Lev Yashin. In the 1967/1968 season, Rivera won with AC Milan both the title and the Cup Winners' Cup. In 1968, he played for Italy as they won at the 1968 European Football Championship European Championship. Next season, Rivera takes AC Milan to win the Champions Cup as he finally gets the ''Ballon d'or'' award. He played with the ''Squadra Azzurra'' (Italian national team) in the {{Wc|1970}} hosted by Mexico, where they reached the final, losing against Brazil national football team Brazil, 4-1. He also played in the {{Wc|1974}} when the Italians were knocked out by Poland national football team Poland, 2-1. That was the end of Rivera's career at the national team for which he played in sixty games scoring fourteen goals. Rivera took AC Milan in two Cup Winners' Cup finals, one in 1973 and another in 1974; the first one was won and the second one lost. He also won with the red-and-black team two consecutive Italian titles, in 1972 and 1973. AC Milan also won several Italian Cups in the 70's but without Rivera in most of them who was banned because of his statements against the Italian referees. Rivera won his last ''scudetto'' of his career as a player in 1979 with AC Milan, this also being the tenth title for ''The Devils''. Totally, he played for AC Milan in Serie A 501 matches and scored 122 goals. After retirement, Rivera entered the Italian political life, being one of the members of the Italian Parliament. He was named by PelÃ© as one of the FIFA 100 top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.

Trophies won
*4 x Italian cup *3 x Italian title *2 x Cup Winners Cup *2 x European Cup *1 x European Player of The Year *1 x European Player of The Year runner-up *1 x World Cup runner-up *1 x Italian League Top Scorer *1 x Intercontinental Cup *1 x European Championship {{start box}} {{succession box|title=European Footballer of the Year.html">George Best after=Gerd MÃ¼ller|years=1969}} {{end box}} Category:1943 births Rivera, Gianni Category:Natives of Alessandria Rivera, Gianni Category:Living people Rivera, Gianni Category:Italian footballers Rivera, Gianni Category:European Footballers of the Year Rivera, Gianni Category:FIFA 100 Rivera, Gianni Category:A.C. Milan players Rivera, Gianni bg:Ð”Ð¶Ð°Ð½Ð¸ Ð Ð¸Ð²ÐµÑ€Ð° de:Gianni Rivera fr:Giovanni Rivera it:Gianni Rivera he:×’'×?× ×™ ×¨×™×‘×¨×” ja:ã‚¸ãƒ£ãƒ³ãƒ‹ãƒ»ãƒªãƒ™ãƒ© pl:Gianni Rivera fi:Gianni Rivera sv:Gianni Rivera

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