"There was Totti, Del Piero, Inzaghi, (Alberto) Gilardino and (Vincenzo) Iaquinta was sixth in the pecking order. "Toni was scoring 40 goals a year," he reminded La Stampa. When it is put to Ventura that, unlike some of his predecessors, particularly Lippi and Conte, he has never won anything as a manager and doesn't have the credentials to lead Italy to a fifth World Cup win, he likes to point out that the players the Azzurri had in attack when they last won it a decade ago had more pedigree. That is quite an astonishing feat in and of itself when you consider the position he plays and the strikers he is ahead of on the all-time list, as they include Luca Toni, Gianluca Vialli, Balotelli, Antonio Di Natale, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Giampiero Boniperti, Giuseppe Signori and playmakers like Gianni Rivera, Gianfranco Zola and Francesco Totti. But the fact remains that of the players in the current Italy squad, Daniele De Rossi is the top scorer with 19 goals (no other has more than five). Pellè, in particular, proved one of the best strikers at the tournament not only for his goals, but due to his all-round game and dovetailed brilliantly with Èder. In the end, it wasn't the problem some thought it might be. In terms of reputation, Pellè, Èder, Simone Zaza, Lorenzo Insigne and Ciro Immobile did not measure up to Italy's '98 group of Christian Vieri, Filippo Inzaghi, Roberto Baggio, Alessandro Del Piero and Enrico Chiesa. The forwards he took to the Euros last summer were compared unfavourably to the ones Italy took to the last major tournament held in France, the '98 World Cup. Antonio Conte capped Graziano Pellè at 29 and Brazilian-born Èder at 28. Players who had once been overlooked were suddenly taken into consideration. Giuseppe Rossi's knee and an inability to convince Marcello Lippi and Prandelli on the eve of major tournaments meant he never played in one for the Azzurri. Ditto Paulo Dybala. Patience was lost with Mario Balotelli who showed little inclination to maximise his talent and burned bridges with the group following the last World Cup. Italy do not have a striker of the same pedigree and the lack thereof was already a talking point toward the end of Cesare Prandelli's time as national team coach.Īttempts were made to persuade Mauro Icardi to declare for Italy. Of all the investments the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio are making to improve the football infrastructure up and down the country at the moment, a time machine to take Riva back to the days when Italy's most revered football writer Gianni Brera nicknamed him Rombo di Tuono or Roar of Thunder - would be a luxury that coach Giampiero Ventura would feel no shame in using. Riva scored 35 goals in 45 appearances for the Azzurri, a record which has endured for nearly half a century, resisting the efforts of other great Italian centre-forwards to supplant him. He remains an icon not only for his immortal part in Cagliari's Scudetto in 1970 and his repeated refusal of offers to join the giants of the game in Italy, including an offer from his beloved Inter, in order to finish his career in Sardinia, but also for his status as Italy's all-time top scorer. Few people in their 70's could wear the old Italy uniform - a black Dolce & Gabbana suit, midnight blue shirt and shades - as well as Riva. The old guard miss his presence around Coverciano, his aura, his cool. It was a role Riva carried out with pride for close to quarter of a century and one he reluctantly relinquished only three years ago because the pain in his hip and back made all the travel too tiresome to contemplate. He returned to the set-up as Italy's team manager before Italia '90 looking after the players, telling stories and reminding them what it meant to play for their country. Riva was waiting for Buffon at Coverciano when he reported for his first call-up to the senior squad in 1997. You have left me with so many great memories." What can I say? I just want you to know that when I think about la Nazionale, the journey I've been on, the experiences I've had, you always come to mind. Italy captain Gigi Buffon recorded a special video message for one of the greatest, if not the greatest striker to ever wear the blue shirt of Italy and it revealed the great affection and high regard he is still held in more than 40 years after his retirement from international duty. One of the gifts he received couldn't be opened it had to be played. Italy lack the world-class strikers of generations past
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