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 manager Ferruccio 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. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ITA Enrico Albertosi — GK  ITA Adriano Reginato — GK  ITA Moriano Tampucci — DF  ITA Pierluigi Cera — DF  ITA Salvatore Ferru[3] — DF  ITA Eraldo Mancin — DF  ITA Mario Martiradonna — DF  ITA Comunardo Niccolai — DF  ITA Renato Roffi — DF  ITA Roberto Sulis — DF  ITA Giuseppe Tomasini — DF  ITA Giulio Zignoli — MF  ITA Renzo Bonelli

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