in 1978, at the age of 33, having played his last game at the age of 31 in 1976. The injury limited Riva to only 15 appearances during the 1975–76 Serie A season; despite his run of six goals in a span of eight games during the final season of his career, Cagliari finished in last place in the league in his absence, and were relegated to Serie B. In total, Riva scored 248 goals for club and country throughout his career in 439 appearances, scoring 164 league goals with Cagliari in 315 appearances, 156 of which came in 289 Serie A appearances. Overall, he scored 207 goals in 374 appearances in all competitions during his thirteen seasons with Cagliari, and 213 career club goals in 397 appearances. International career Early years and Euro 1968 champion Following some impressive performances for the Italian youth side, Riva made his senior international debut with Italy at the age of 20, on 27 June 1965, in a 2–1 friendly defeat against Hungary, coming on for the injured Ezio Pascutti in the eighth minute; he was the first Cagliari player to be capped at senior international level. His international career took off to a difficult start, as his performance in his second appearance for Italy, a 0–0 friendly draw against France in Paris on 19 March 1966, was criticised by noted journalist Gianni Brera, who initially described Riva as a "one-footed" and "incomplete player". He was subsequently controversially excluded from the 22-man 1966 FIFA World Cup squad, although he was still brought to England by manager Edmondo Fabbri, along with Mario Bertini, as an additional reserve, in order to gain experience with the national side; Italy were eliminated in the first round of the tournament. After breaking both his left tibia and fibula in his third international appearance, a 1–1 friendly home draw against Portugal on 27 March 1967, Riva returned to the national team as a starter seven months later, and finally scored his first goal for Italy in his fourth international appearance, a 5–0 home win over Cyprus on 1 November 1967, in a UEFA Euro 1968 qualifying match, later completing a hat-trick in the same game. Riva was a member of the Italian side that won the 1968 European Championships on home soil under manager Ferruccio Valcareggi; after recovering from a leg injury, he returned to the starting line-up and scored