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3 unusual facts about Gianni Rivera


Gianni Brera

The word libero for a player's particular role was created by Gianni Brera: famous nicknames of Italian players created by him included Abatino ("Little Abbot") for Gianni Rivera and Rombo di tuono ("Rolling Thunder") for Gigi Riva.

Noel Larkin

"We played exceptionally well though and held them scoreless for most of the game. I think we conceded three in the last 20 minutes or so. We just caved in a bit. I played in the middle of midfield that night and marked Gianni Rivera, he was Italy's World Cup captain and was making his Milan return that night. That's why there was so many people in the stadium. He is a Milan legend. He came up to me after the game and told me I played well. That was nice and I'll never forget it."

Patto Segni

In the 1996 general election the party was part of Italian Renewal and got eight seats at the Chamber of Deputies of Italy (Diego Masi, Giuseppe Bicocchi, Elisa Pozza Tasca, Gianni Rivera, Antonino Mangiacavallo, Gianantonio Mazzocchin, Bonaventura Lamacchia, Paolo Manca) and one seat at the Senate of the Italian Republic (Carla Mazzuca Poggiolini).


Italian Footballers' Association

Among the charter members there were notable footballers, such as Giacomo Bulgarelli, Sandro Mazzola, Gianni Rivera, Ernesto Castano, Giancarlo De Sisti, Giacomo Losi and Sergio Campana.


see also