Ahead of the inaugural Gigi Riva Trophy, which will be held tonight at the Unipol Domus (the event kicks off at 7:00 PM, with the friendly between Cagliari and Saint-Étienne kicking off at 8:30 PM with live radio commentary on Radiolina ), Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso and the national team's delegation leader Gianluigi Buffon visited Cagliari at the Crai Sport Center in Assemini. This visit is part of the new coach's tour of Serie A teams' training camps, ahead of his debut in charge next month against Estonia.
Gattuso and Buffon were joined by the coordinator of the national youth teams, Maurizio Viscidi. The Italian delegation was welcomed by board member Nicola Riva . Also present for Cagliari Calcio were sporting director Guido Angelozzi, Andrea Cossu (now part of the scouting team), and team manager Alessandro Steri.
Gattuso, Buffon and Viscidi attended Cagliari's final training session, the last before the friendly against Saint-Étienne, and spoke at length with Fabio Pisacane and his staff (goalkeeping coach Luca Bucci was Buffon's teammate at the start of his career at Parma, from 1995 to 1997).
Tonight, Buffon and Gattuso will be in the stands at the Unipol Domus to celebrate Gigi Riva, with whom they shared several years in the national team . After Cagliari, the coach's tour (which has already touched on Roma, Juventus, and Inter) will continue on Wednesday in Bologna, then on Wednesday the 13th he will be in Udine for the European Super Cup final between PSG and Tottenham.