Christian Riganò, at 28 years old, wasn’t even thinking about Serie A at all. Two years earlier he was in Serie D, with Igea Virtus, while scoring 17 goals. Then Taranto changed his life, winning C2, then definitively exploding in C1: 28 goals in 37 games, including playoffs. If it is true that when one scores the category does not matter, on the other hand it is not always possible to climb. So, despite many offers, he chooses Florence. Florentia Viola, a newborn club, from the ashes of Cecchi Giri’s Fiorentina. The idea is to win the C2 without major discussions, taking the most important category bomber on the square. Riganò arrives and leads with his goals: 30 in 32 games. Like Toni (a few years later, though).
Fiorentina skips C1 due to sporting merit and is now Serie B. For the first time Riganò competes with the category, putting on a show: 23 goals in 44 games, to sign the return to Serie A after two years between Hell and Purgatory. Then Serie A: four goals with Fiorentina, five with Empoli. When it seems all over he goes to Messina, 2006-07 season of grace: 19 goals, at 33 years old. Not even in fairy tales is it possible to imagine something like this.
“Two things I know how to do in life: goals and bricklaying. So, after I stopped playing, I went back to doing my job: I like it and I’m proud of it. Now I know, you’ll ask me what I’m doing here… Right Let’s say I left this job three-quarters of the way, not even halfway. This is who I am: I love building and repairing things. So, having had no calls to coach, I went back to doing my job.” Today Christian Riganò turns 50.