Luigi Riva was the leader of Cagliari .
During this period , Riva 's skill , prolific goalscoring , and decisive performances in leading Cagliari from Serie B to the Serie A title saw him become one of the best strikers in the world : he was the Serie A top-scorer on three occasions , in 1966–67 , in 1968–69 and in 1969–70 , and he placed 2nd in the 1969 Ballon d'or , behind compatriot Gianni Rivera , and 3rd in the 1970 Ballon d'or , behind Gerd Müller and Bobby Moore. Despite his talent and goalscoring prowess , Riva 's career was blighted by several major injuries , in particular with the Italian national side , and which greatly limited his playing time in later seasons ; he missed 35 games in the five seasons leading up to 1971 , and only appeared in 24 matches for Cagliari between 1974 and 1976 , which saw an overall decline to his goalscoring rate and the club 's performances during this period .
Luigi Riva