Soccer: Gigi Riva to have op after heart attack

(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 22 - Italy soccer great Gigi Riva is to have heart surgery after being hospitalised after suffering a minor heart attack Sunday, sources said Monday.
    Riva, 79, record Italy goalscorer with 35 strikes and spearhead of Cagliari's 1970 scudetto winning team, is not in a serious condition, sources at Cagliari's Brotzu Hospital said.
    Riva, now Cagliari's honorary president, should make a full recovery after a minor and routine procedure, they said.
    "The operation is not particularly complicated", they said.
    Considered to be one of the best players of his generation, as well as one of the greatest strikers of all time, Riva enjoyed a remarkable scoring record for Cagliari, thanks to his composure in front of goal, powerful left foot and aerial ability.
    His speed, strength and eye for goal led the great Italian journalist Gianni Brera to nickname him "Rombo di Tuono" (Roar of Thunder).
    At international level, Riva won the 1968 European Championship and was runner-up at the 1970 World Cup behind Pelè's great Brazil side; he also took part in the 1974 World Cup.
    With 35 goals in 42 appearances in official competitions between 1965 and 1974, he is Italy's all-time leading goalscorer.
    After retiring in 1976, Riva briefly served as the president of Cagliari during the 1986-87 season, and was later a senior managing official of the national side from 1988 until 2013.
    (ANSA).