Gianni Rivera

 ( 1943 Births ) 

By the second round of the tournament, however, the Italian offence failed to sparkle. Although Rivera's playing style involved less running, physicality, tactical discipline, and work off the ball than Mazzola's, and made Italy less compact and more vulnerable defensively, it also allowed his team to control possession in midfield, due to Rivera's ability to dictate the play with his passing moves, provide accurate long passes, and create more chances for the team's strikers. When Mazzola came down with a stomach flu, and struggled to regain full match fitness for the knock-out round, Valcareggi therefore devised a controversial solution to play both players and get the best out of their abilities: the quicker and more hard-working Mazzola would start in the first half, while Rivera would come on at halftime, when the opposing teams would begin to tire, and the tempo of the game had slowed down, giving him more time to orchestrate goal scoring opportunities; this strategy was later dubbed the "staffetta" (Relay race). With this strategy, Rivera helped Italy defeat the hosts Mexico 4–1 in the quarterfinal on 14 June, scoring a goal, and also setting up both of Luigi Riva's goals, forming a notable offensive partnership with the Cagliari Calcio striker throughout the knock-out stages of the tournament.

In the semi-final against West Germany, at the Estadio Azteca on 17 June, Rivera played a major role in one of the most entertaining games in World Cup history, a match which was later dubbed The Game of the Century. Following a 1–1 draw after regulation time, Rivera's long passes led to Tarcisio Burgnich's and Luigi Riva's goals in extra-time, although he was later also at fault for Germany's equaliser; while defending against a German set-piece, Rivera briefly stepped away from the post, leaving it unmarked, and allowing Gerd Müller to score his second goal and tie the match at 3–3 in the 110th minute, which famously led Italy's temperamental goalkeeper Enrico Albertosi to berate Rivera for the error. A minute later, however, Rivera started an attacking play from the ensuing kick-off, a move which he eventually proceeded to finish off himself, scoring Italy's match-winning goal from Roberto Boninsegna's low cross to give Italy a 4–3 victory, after advancing into the penalty area unmarked, and sending German goalkeeper Sepp Maier the wrong way with his first-time shot.

However, despite Rivera being the hero of Italy's past two matches, in the final against Brazil, Valcareggi did not use Rivera until there were only six minutes left in the game when he came on for Boninsegna with Italy trailing 3–1. Although the two creative Italian stars Rivera and Mazzola were finally able to play alongside each other, it was too late to overturn the result, and Brazil won the match 4–1 to capture the title. Valcareggi later justified his decision to neither start Rivera nor bring him on at half time, when the score was tied at 1–1, stating that several players in the starting line-up were in poor physical condition prior to the final, and that he was concerned that they would need to be substituted during the match, and as a result, waited longer than usual before bringing on Rivera. Despite reaching the final, the Italian team and Valcareggi endured much criticism from the Italian public and media upon their return to Italy, in particular due to the "staffetta" policy, and Rivera's limited playing time in the heavy final defeat; Rivera was largely exempt from the criticism, however, due to his decisive performances throughout the tournament. For his performances throughout the calendar year, Rivera placed tenth in the 1970 Ballon d'Or.