Giovanni ("Gianni") Rivera (born August 18, 1943 in Alessandria) is a former Italian football player who was awarded the European Footballer of the Year prize in 1969. He is currently a politician. is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Alessandria (disambiguation). ... Soccer redirects here. ... The Ballon dOr trophy, as awarded to Hristo Stoichkov in 1994. ... Also: 1969 (number) 1969 (movie) 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... For other uses, see Politics (disambiguation). ...

Nicknamed il golden boy of Italian football, Rivera was the product of Alessandria's youth football academy and made his debut in Serie A for Alessandria against Internazionale on June 2, 1959 at the age of only fifteen years. He played 26 matches for his first club, in which he scored 6 goals. After one year, he was bought by AC Milan to replace Juan Schiaffino with a record transfer fee for that time, $200,000; he was only sixteen years old. In 1962 he won the first scudetto with AC Milan and on May 13, 1962, at eighteen, he played his first match for the Italian national team against West Germany at the World Cup in Chile, a game that finished with a goalless draw, 0-0. This article is about the Italian football league. ... Unione Sportiva Alessandria Calcio 1912 is an Italian football club based in Alessandria, Piedmont founded in February 1912 and continuing currently. ... Internazionale Milano Football Club is an Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, which plays in the Serie A. It is more commonly known as Inter, and often named Inter Milan in foreign countries. ... is the 153rd day of the year (154th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to by the abbreviation AC Milan or simply Milan, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. ... Juan Alberto Schiaffino. ... is the 133rd day of the year (134th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... First international  Italy 6 - 2 France  (Milan, Italy; 15 May 1910) Biggest win  Italy 9 - 0 USA  (Brentford, England; 2 August 1948) Biggest defeat  Hungary 7 - 1 Italy  (Budapest, Hungary; 6 April 1924) World Cup Appearances 16 (First in 1934) Best result Winners, 1934, 1938, 1982, 2006 European Championship Appearances... In 1962 the Football World Cup returned to the continent of South America. ...

Due to their win of the 1962 scudetto, AC Milan qualified for the European Cup in 1962, a European Cup which they finally won, beating Benfica 2-1 in the final with Rivera in great form as he was awarded second place in the famous Ballon d'or award, which was won by the Russian goalkeeper Lev Yashin. UEFA Champions League, which replaced the European Champions Cup, is a seasonal club football competition organised by UEFA since 1992 for the most successful football clubs in Europe. ... Benfica redirects here. ... Lev Ivanovich Yashin (Russian: ) (October 22, 1929 – March 20, 1990) was a Russian Soviet football goalkeeper, known for his supreme athleticism in goal, imposing stature (he was 6 3, 189 cm) and amazing reflex saves. ...

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 European Championship. Sadly, he missed the Final match against Yugoslavia through injury he received at the semi-final against Soviet Union. Next season, Rivera took AC Milan to win the Champions Cup as he finally got the Ballon d'or award. The Cup Winners Cup was a football club competition between the winners of the European domestic cup competitions. ... The 1968 European Football Championship final tournament was held in Italy. ... First international Czechoslovakia 7 - 0 Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Antwerp, Belgium; 28 August 1920) Last International as SFR Yugoslavia[2] Netherlands 2 - 0 Yugoslavia (Amsterdam, Netherlands; 25 March 1992) Biggest win Yugoslavia 10 - 1 India (Helsinki, Finland; 15 July 1952) Yugoslavia 9 - 0 Zaire (Gelsenkirchen, Germany; 18 June... First International Estonia 2 - 4 USSR (Tallinn, Estonia; 18 September 1923) Last International Cyprus 0 - 3 USSR (Larnaca, Cyprus; 13 November 1991 Scotland 3 - 0 CIS (Norrköping, Sweden; 18 June 1992) Largest win USSR 11 - 1 India (Moscow, USSR; 16 September 1955) Finland 0 - 10 USSR (Helsinki, Finland; 15...

He played with the Squadra Azzurra (Italian national team) in the 1970 FIFA World Cup hosted by Mexico, where they reached the final, losing against Brazil, 4-1. The Italian coach at the 1970 World Cup Final, Ferruccio Valcareggi, believed that Gianni Rivera and his teammate Sandro Mazzola could not co-exist on the same field. Although Gianni Rivera was the most famous of the two, Valcareggi elected to start Mazzola. However, by 2nd round, the Italian offense failed to sparkle. Valcareggi devised a solution he called "staffetta" (relay) to play both players. Mazzola would start in the first half while Rivera would come in at halftime. With this strategy, Rivera helped to beat the host Mexico in the quarterfinal and West Germany in the semifinal, in which Rivera played a major role in one of the best matches in World Cup history, scoring the goal of the success of Italy (4-3). However, in the final against Brazil, Valcareggi did not use Rivera until there were only 8 minutes left in the game, despite Rivera being the hero of the past two matches. The 1970 FIFA World Cup, the ninth staging of the World Cup, was held in Mexico, from May 31 to June 21. ... Ferruccio Valcareggi (born 12 February 1919 at Trieste - died 2 November 2005 at Florence) was a football coach, most notably for the Italy national football team between 1966 and 1974, guiding them to victory in the 1968 European Championship and the final in the 1970 World Cup. ... Sandro Mazzola (born November 8, 1942 in Turin, Italy) was a football player. ...

He also played in the 1974 FIFA World Cup when the Italians were knocked out by Poland, 2-1. That was the end of Rivera's career at the national team for which he played in 60 games, scoring 14 goals. Qualifying countries The 1974 FIFA World Cup, the tenth staging of the World Cup, was held in West Germany from June 13 to July 7. ...

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 lost. With the red-and-black team, he also won two consecutive Italian titles, in 1972 and 1973. AC Milan also won several Italian Cups in the 70's but were missing Rivera in most of them, as he was banned because of his statements against Italian referees.

Rivera won the last scudetto of his playing career in 1979 with AC Milan, this also being the tenth title for "The Devils". In total, he played for AC Milan in 501 Serie A matches and scored 160 goals.

After retirement, Rivera became a vice-president at the club. When Silvio Berlusconi bought the club in 1986, he left and entered the Italian political life, being one of the members of the Italian Parliament. He served as an under-secretary for defense under Romano Prodi's government. He was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.   (born 29 September 1936) is an Italian politician, entrepreneur, media proprietor, and Prime Minister of Italy (President of the Council of Ministers of Italy), a position he has held three times; 1994-1995, 2001-2006 and since 2008. ... The Parliament of Italy (Italian: Parlamento Italiano) is the national parliament of Italy. ... Prodi redirects here. ... Pele redirects here. ... Pelé The FIFA 100 is a list of the world-renowned Brazilian striker Pelés choice of the greatest living footballers. Unveiled on March 4, 2004 at a gala ceremony in London, the FIFA 100 marked part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the F... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

He currently is a Member of the European Parliament for the Uniti nell'Ulivo party. A Member of the European Parliament (English abbreviation MEP)[1] is a member of the European Unions directly-elected legislative body, the European Parliament. ... For information about the plant for which the political party is named, see Olive. ...

Trophies won

• 4 × Italian cup (1967, 1972, 1973, 1977)
• 3 × Italian title (1962, 1968, 1979)
• 2 × Cup Winners Cup (1968, 1973)
• 2 × European Cup (1963, 1969)
• 1 × European Player of The Year (1969)
• 1 × European Player of The Year runner-up (1963)
• 1 × World Cup runner-up (1970)
• 1 × Italian League Top Scorer (1973)
• 1 × Intercontinental Cup (1969)
• 1 × European Championship (1968)

v • d • e Italy squad - 1962 FIFA World Cup 1 Buffon • 2 Losi • 3 Radice • 4 Salvadore • 5 Maldini • 6 Trapattoni • 7 Mora • 8 Maschio • 9 Altafini • 10 Sivori • 11 Menichelli • 12 Mattrel • 13 Albertosi • 14 Rivera • 15 Sormani • 16 Robotti • 17 Pascutti • 18 David • 19 Janich • 20 Tumburus • 21 Ferrini • 22 Bulgarelli • Coach: Mazza & Ferrari

v • d • e Italy squad - 1966 FIFA World Cup 1 Albertosi • 2 Anzolin • 3 Barison • 4 Bulgarelli • 5 Burgnich • 6 Facchetti • 7 Fogli • 8 Guarneri • 9 Janich • 10 Juliano • 11 Landini • 12 Leoncini • 13 Lodetti • 14 Mazzola • 15 Meroni • 16 Pascutti • 17 Perani • 18 Pizzaballa • 19 Rivera • 20 Rizzo • 21 Rosato • 22 Salvadore • Coach: Fabbri

v • d • e Italy squad - 1970 FIFA World Cup Runners-up 1 Albertosi • 2 Burgnich • 3 Facchetti • 4 Poletti • 5 Cera • 6 Ferrante • 7 Niccolai • 8 Rosato • 9 Puia • 10 Bertini • 11 Riva • 12 Zoff • 13 Domenghini • 14 Rivera • 15 Mazzola • 16 De Sisti • 17 Vieri • 18 Juliano • 19 Gori • 20 Boninsegna • 21 Furino • 22 Prati • Coach: Valcareggi

v • d • e Italy squad - 1974 FIFA World Cup 1 Zoff • 2 Spinosi • 3 Facchetti • 4 Benetti • 5 Morini • 6 Burgnich • 7 Mazzola • 8 Capello • 9 Chinaglia • 10 Rivera • 11 Riva • 12 Albertosi • 13 Sabadini • 14 Bellugi • 15 Wilson • 16 Juliano • 17 Re Cecconi • 18 Causio • 19 Anastasi • 20 Boninsegna • 21 Pulici • 22 Castellini • Coach: Valcareggi