Gigi Riva's funeral home at the Unipol Domus in Cagliari was closed at 10pm this evening. Many people paid homage to the legend in blue and red who died yesterday at the age of 79.
The first entrance was reserved for family members and the entire Cagliari team, led by the president, Tommaso Giulini, and the coach, Claudio Ranieri . Then the many fans who were already lined up to convey the condolences of an entire region. There were thousands of people who wanted to pay their respects, adults and children.
The funeral chapel will reopen tomorrow from 7am to 1pm before the funeral which will be celebrated at 4pm in the Basilica of Bonaria by the archbishop of Cagliari and secretary of the CEI, Monsignor Giuseppe Baturi.
«It's difficult to find the words - said Leonardo Pavoletti - we have lost the greatest striker of all time. All Italian fans will always love Gigi Riva." «Riva has united these people, it has done so for decades, from before the scudetto to today. The hope is that he will continue to do so, in the name of his memory. It will be inspiration for us and for everything we do. Man ends, legend is born, we will dedicate the stadium to him", were Giulini's words.
Mayor Paolo Truzzu proclaimed two days of city mourning and a minute of silence for Rombo di Tuono was observed before the meeting of the Regional Council.
In the mortuary room of the Brotzu hospital, the champions of the historic scudetto who still live in Cagliari met early in the morning: libero Giuseppe Tomasini, goalkeeper Adriano Reginato, Albertosi's deputy, and number 10 Ricciotti Greatti. With them also the goalkeeper Renato Copparoni, among the youth and first team in the year of the scudetto and then Riva's teammate until 1976, and the striker Gigi Piras, a student of Riva, also a teammate of Rombo di Tuono until 1976. year of retirement. Also at Brotzu was the director Riccardo Milani, author of the docufilm that involved Riva himself in the making of the work: «Working with him was the best thing in my life». Then the transfer to the stadium.
