Rivera is the most talented player in the history of Italian football, and with his appearances, fans can always enjoy the unparalleled magnificence and wonder. He has almost all the qualities of a midfielder: scalpel-like precision passing, pure dribbling and keen scoring ability in the penalty area, very beautiful technical movements, steady receiving, accurate passing, dribbling as if into no man's land, clever shooting footwork in the penalty area, and excellent head kung fu.
Rivera moved from Alexandria to AC Milan at the age of 16 and played as the midfield core, thus enjoying the reputation of the "Golden Boy". At the 1969 European Footballer of the Year awards ceremony, the official comments perfectly explained Rivera's greatness: "An elegant, creative and artistically imaginative midfield master." ”
Every genius has a legendary experience, and Rivera is no exception. Born in 1943 in Alessandria, Italy, Rivera loved football from an early age and quickly showed a talent for football. At the age of 13, Rivera met his first Bole, Franco Deroni. With the help of the latter, the childish Rivera joined his hometown team Alessandria, and in 1959, at the age of 15 years and 288 days, Rivera officially entered the professional arena, the youngest appearance in Serie A history after Amedeo Amada. More dramatically, Rivera's first league match was against Inter Milan, which set the stage for his nearly 20 years of legendary experience against Inter milan.
The 16-year-old Rivera joined AC Milan in 1960, the legendary years of red and black officially began, and The new Rivera who arrived in Milan quickly won the love of fans and clubs with his extraordinary skills and well-behaved personality, and had a good performance in his debut season.
In the 61-62 season, Rivera helped AC Milan win the Proud One title. In the 62-63 season, although the league title was taken away by Inter, Rivera led Milan all the way to the Champions League, eliminating Ipswich, Galatasaray and Dundee in the final with two-time champion Benfica. The battle was destined to shine through the ages, as it was a contest between the Golden Boy and the Black Panthers, eusebio scored one goal in the first half, but Rivera took over the game in the second half, with his excellent personal skills, he swam through the opponent's defensive jungle like a butterfly, and sent two wonderful passes, assisting Altafini to score twice, winning the first Champions League trophy in the history of AC Milan. Since then, Rivera has officially entered the peak of his career, and he is second in the 1963 European Ballon d'Or Awards, behind the famous Soviet goalkeeper Yasin.
Milan has since fallen into a slump, ranking in the middle for two consecutive seasons, but Rivera is still loyal to the red and black blood flowing in his body and sticks to his faith. In the 67-68 season, young talents such as Prati and Cudicini joined san Siro, and with the departure of the elder Maldini, the captain's armband, symbolizing spirit, responsibility and courage, was brought to Rivera's arm, and AC Milan also began another conquest of Italian, European and even world football under the leadership of the new leader.
Led by new flag bearer Villa and super goalscorer Prati, Milan regained the five-year league title with a nine-point advantage and lifted the European Cup Winners' Cup after beating Hamburg. The next 68-69 season, AC Milan competed in the European Champions Cup, after eliminating the defending champion Manchester United in the semi-final, encountered Ajax with Cruyff in the final, under the organization of Rivera, Prati played a hat-trick, Milan won 4-1, Rivera as the captain of the Champions League. In September 1969, Rivera competed with his teammates in the Intercontinental Cup, defeating the École de la Plata in Argentina 4:2 on aggregate, becoming the world club leader.
In December 1969, Rivera overwhelmed national team teammate Riva and won the European Ballon d'Or, culminating in both team honours and individual honours.
In the 1970 World Cup, Rivera went out with the team, but coach Vakar Reggie just did not look up to him, and admired Inter Milan's attacking core Mazzola.
To add, Rivera and Mazzola were the top offensive midfielders of their time. Their "competition" is like the English Double German many years later, but the coffee position is a little bigger. Mazzola played the first two group games, and from the third game onwards, the manager began to adopt a somewhat incomprehensible substitution strategy, letting Mazzola start and then play Rivera after halftime, a strategy that worked wonders in the quarter-finals and semi-finals. In particular, in the semi-finals, the 4-3 victory over West Germany, Rivera came off the bench with a pass and a shot, and made a great contribution.
After entering the 70s, Juventus almost monopolized the league title, and Rivera and the team experienced a decade of championship-free bitterness, only to win the Cup Winners' Cup again in the 72-73 season, as well as three Italian Cups. However, Rivera still helped the team regain the league title in the 78-79 season, Which is Milan's 10th league title, and was able to embroider a gold star on the chest of the shirt. It was also Rivera's last contribution to the team he loved, after which he retired from the storm and hung up his boots.
He has scored 122 goals in 501 Serie A games, 164 goals in 658 official matches, and has won four Serie A titles, two European Cup winners, two European Cup Winners' Cups and one Continental Cup. The list of honors does not reflect his great contribution to Milan in 19 seasons, and here is a quote from Van Basten: "I am just a small fragment of Milan's history, and Rivera is eternal." ”