1969–70 Cagliari Calcio season

In 1970, the boot was on the other foot as Gigi Riva led Unione Sportiva Cagliari with 21 goals in 30 games helped the Sardinian side win their only Serie A title.

Having spent most of the 1950s mired in Serie B, Riva’s arrival in 1964 galvanised the team and was a magnet for other players to leave more fashionable clubs to head to Sardinia such as goalkeeper Enrico Albertosi (Fiorentina) and midfielder Angelo Domenghini (Inter).[1]

After the team clinched the title, Italian national team managerFerruccio Valcareggi called six players from this Cagliari squad — Albertosi, Domenghini, Gori, Riva, Comunardo Niccolai and Pierluigi Cera — to the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, where they reached a decent 2nd place.[2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Enrico Albertosi GK Adriano Reginato GK Moriano Tampucci DF Pierluigi Cera DF Salvatore Ferru[3] DF Eraldo Mancin DF Mario Martiradonna DF Comunardo Niccolai DF Renato Roffi DF Roberto Sulis DF Giuseppe Tomasini DF Giulio Zignoli MF Renzo Bonelli

No. Position Player MF Mario Brugnera MF Antonio Chessa MF Angelo Domenghini MF Ricciotti Greatti MF Nené MF Sergio Nocera MF Cesare Poli FW Nino Cuttuogno FW Sergio Gori FW Corrado Nastasio FW Vittorio Petta FW Gigi Riva FW Claudio Taddeini