A highlight of São Paulo, Rigoni has practiced ambidexterity since childhood

A sequence of corners and free kicks in his first matches for São Paulo was enough for fans –and a good number of journalists– to discover that Emiliano Rigoni, 28, is ambidextrous.

The Argentine’s rare ability to tap with both feet is one of the characteristics that draw attention in his technical repertoire, fundamental for the tricolor team in the Brazilian Championship.

Hired after the conquest of Paulista, Rigoni is one of the few good news for the Morumbi club in this second half. The team’s top scorer at Nacional with four goals, he also distributed four assists in the competition, figures that attest to his importance in the unstable São Paulo campaign.

He spent about 20 days away because of a strain on his left thigh. He returned to the team last week, against Internacional, and should start against Bahia, at 18:15 this Sunday (7). The game will be broadcast on Premiere.

The ambidextrous performance and quality do not surprise those who followed the emergence of Emiliano Rigoni in the modest Bochas Sport Club in his hometown, Colonia Caroya, municipality in the province of Córdoba.

“Emi had natural conditions that no one else had. When she was 8 or 9 years old, she was already doing what she does today in professional football. The dribbling, 1 against 1… She took a corner with her left, then another with her right” , tell to sheet his friend Maximiliano Parizzia, who now works as a football coordinator at Bochas.

The two met when they were 6 years old and played together throughout their childhood for the Colonia Caroya club, which played in regional tournaments in Cordoba. Like Rigoni, everyone in the group of friends cheered for River Plate.

The innate talent for catching the ball was developed by a coach who would play a huge role in his growth, Osvaldo Solá. According to Parizzia, the coach demanded that all boys in the 1992/1993 category practice the game with both feet.

Along with the teachings came the reprimands. It was not rare that Osvaldo Solá had to explain the importance of rest to Rigoni and his teammates. That’s because those kids just couldn’t let go of the ball.

“We spent the whole afternoon playing. And he didn’t know it, but we left training and played again in a little field I had in my house. All our childhood was like that. More than he gave us as athletes, Osvaldo also left us certain codes for life, learning that helped us to be good people. It was always a reference for us,” says Parizzia.

Solá died in 2017, aged 73, and a year earlier he received a tribute from Bochas Sport Club. Rigoni, who always returned to his hometown on vacation between European seasons, attended the event and got to see one of his masters for the last time.

Another important figure in his career was his grandfather Albino, responsible for taking him to the tests at Belgrano, where Rigoni reached the age of 12 and the club for which he debuted in professional football.

Approved in the “Pirata”, nickname of the Córdoba team, he had the unconditional support of Albino, who took turns with the player’s mother, Silvia, in the transport between Colonia Caroya and Córdoba, a journey lasting approximately 30 minutes.

“Your grandfather was a genius, and for all of us. When there was a lack of balls, he would buy them for us to play in the patio of his house or in the patio of mine. We have beautiful memories of him”, recalls Emiliano Parizzia, one of those who followed the importance of Albino in his friend’s career.

“All his family and Emiliano himself made a very big sacrifice. His grandfather brought him to the tests, his mother was waiting to take him back to Colonia. Very humble people who made an important effort”, says Federico Bessone, coordinator of Belgrano’s youth categories, to sheet.

It was at the club in Córdoba, one of the most important in the province, that Emiliano Rigoni continued to develop the technical characteristics he had had since he was a boy, with Osvaldo Solá, at Bochas.

“He was a midfielder and was already very technical, but he had the physical push later, after his teammates. It was a great pride to see him debut in professional. Then, at Independiente is where he explodes, playing more as a striker in a 4-3-3 That’s how he likes to play the most. [em Avellaneda] found the place for it to develop,” adds Bessone.

After a great first half with Independiente in 2017, under the command of Ariel Holan, Rigoni started his pilgrimage through European football. Zenit (RUS), Atalanta (ITA), Sampdoria (ITA) and Elche (ESP) were the stopping points until arriving in São Paulo, as indicated by Crespo and his assistant, Alejandro Kohan, with whom he had worked at Independiente.

The change in command with the arrival of Rogério Ceni should not take away from Emiliano Rigoni the leading role acquired in these few months at Morumbi. After all, the coach needs his best striker, and closer to the goal, where, from Colonia Caroya to Morumbi, he has always been more dangerous.