Career
Nicknamed the 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 2 June 1959 at the age of only fifteen years. He played 26 matches for his first club, for which he scored 6 goals. A year later, he was bought by AC Milan to replace Juan Schiaffino with a record transfer fee for that time, $200,000. In 1962 he won the first scudetto with AC Milan and on 13 May 1962, aged just 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.
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.
In the 1967/1968 season, Rivera won both the title and the Cup Winners' Cup with AC Milan. In 1968, he played for Italy as they won the European Championship. Rivera missed the final against Yugoslavia through an injury he picked up at the semi-final game against Soviet Union. Next season, Rivera and AC Milan emerged victorious in the Champions Cup, a success that finally earned him a Ballon d'Or.
Rivera led AC Milan to two Cup Winners' Cup finals, one in 1973 and another in 1974; the first one was won and the second lost. With the Rossoneri, 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 achieved 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.
Read more about this topic: Gianni Rivera
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