Not just for his parents, but also for Milan fans all over the world, Gianni Rivera was known as the ragazzo d’oro or “Golden Boy.” His nickname came about from his particular way of playing and stature. He was a champion player who had great style and class for a surprisingly thin physique. Rivera’s highest achievement; the 1969 Pallone d’Oro (known commonly today as the FIFA Ballon d’Or), made him the first Italian player to win it since it’s inception in 1956. Throughout his career with the Rossoneri he was entitled with the captain armband and this was just one way that he the brought every fan the hopes and dreams of success for Milan. His career record for total games played with AC Milan was 654 with 164 goals, and in his time he would be given the title of most successful football player in the world.
Regardless of his success, Gianni still had rivals at the peak of his career that included players such as Sandro Mazzola, who was preferred by Italy’s coach Arturo Valcareggi. This meant that Rivera was to start on the bench in the 1970 World Cup finals against Pele‘s Brazil. The match was known to have been remembered mostly for the six minutes with Rivera on the field, than the Azzurri’s eventual defeat for 4-1. Many would debate, had he been allowed to play the entire game, it could have easily have been a much better result, especially considering Mazzola hadn’t scored a goal for the entire 1970 World Cup tournament. Rivera’s many trophies with Milan included: three National Championships “scudetti” (1962, 1968, 1979), four Coppa d’Italia (1962, 1972, 1973 and 1977), two Champions League Cups (1963 and 1969 the first ones for Milan), one Intercontinental Cup (1969) and two Cup Winners’ Cups (1968 and 1973).
Rivera became a national treasure, but the adversity to that belief was pretty high in his early career. Not everyone was convinced of his real value, mainly because of how thin he was. Most thought he was unsuitable for football as the sport became increasingly more physical. The fact is that early on Milan had actually tried to put him out into the market and had attempted to sell him to Boca Juniors, but they were not convinced of his ability. Same with Juventus, and fortunately he was not a catch. This being the case, the perceived risk of keeping him a “Golden” era to Milan, and gave new meaning to not judging a book by its cover!
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