Alessandro Riggi (born November 30, 1993) is a Canadian professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Angkor Tiger in the

Cambodian Premier League The Cambodian Premier League ( km, លីគកំពូលកម្ពុជា, ) is the highest professional football division in Cambodia and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Cambodian League 2. Starting with the 2022 ...

Early career

At age 14, Riggi joined the Vancouver Whitecaps FC Academy. A year later, after the Montreal Impact started their own youth program, he decided to join their program, as it was his hometown team. Riggi played with the

Montreal Impact Academy Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

in the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

from 2010 to 2011. He was top scorer and team MVP in his two seasons, but was unable to secure a first-team deal.

Club career

Europe

After being unable to secure a first-team deal with Montreal, he went to Europe at age 19. He went on trial with

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

in Italy, before joining the

Celta Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues) ...

academy. In January 2013, he signed in Portugal with Atletico Reguengos and in Romania with

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ), is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, which competes in the Liga I. It was founded in 1907 as ''Kolozsvári Vas ...

. Afterwards, he joined Trento Calcio in Italy.

FC Montreal

On March 13, 2015, it was announced that Riggi would join

FC Montreal FC Montreal was a Canadian professional soccer team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that played in the USL Championship, the third tier of the United States soccer league system. The team served as a reserve team of Major League Soccer (MLS) cl ...

, a

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

affiliate club of the Montreal Impact for their inaugural season. He made his professional debut for the club on March 28 in a 2–0 defeat to

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, who play in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as well as i ...

Phoenix Rising

On February 10, 2017, Riggi signed for

club

Phoenix Rising FC Phoenix Rising Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 2014 as Arizona United Soccer Club, the team is a member of the USL Championship. History On March 13, 2014, Kyle E ...

. Upon completion of the 2017 season, Riggi would re-sign with the club for the 2018 season. His time in Phoenix was marred by injuries, including a torn ACL that resulted in him being unable to play at all in 2019.

HFX Wanderers

Riggi signed for

HFX Wanderers FC HFX Wanderers Football Club, commonly known as HFX Wanderers, and spoken as Halifax Wanderers, is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League at the top of t ...

of the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

on December 18, 2019. He made his debut on August 15 against

Pacific FC Pacific Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Greater Victoria, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League, playing home matches at Starlight Stadium located in Langford. History On May 5, 2 ...

. He played two seasons for the Wanderers. In the shortened 2020 season, he helped the team advance to the final, though they lost to defending champions

Forge FC Forge FC is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Hamilton, Ontario, that competes in the Canadian Premier League, the top tier of Canadian soccer. The club plays its home matches at Tim Hortons Field. Forge FC joined the CPL in 2019 as ...

. In the 2021 season, Riggi struggled with injuries, appearing in 17 match but never going the full 90 minutes. At the end of the season, he announced that he was leaving the club, though he enjoyed his time in Halifax.

Valour FC

On February 9, 2022, Riggi signed with

Valour FC Valour Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home matches at IG Field. The team is coached by Phillip Dos Santos and community owned thro ...

. He departed the club at the end of the season.

Asia

In the summer of 2023, he went abroad to play in the

with Angkor Tiger.

Career statistics

Honours

HFX Wanderers *

runner-up:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

References

External links

* *
Fora de Jogo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riggi, Alessandro 1993 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Canadian men's soccer players Soccer players from Montreal Canadian sportspeople of Italian descent Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Cambodia Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Cambodia Angkor Tiger FC players UC Sampdoria players RC Celta Fortuna players Atlético S.C. players FC Montreal players CF Montréal U23 players Phoenix Rising FC players HFX Wanderers FC players Valour FC players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Segunda División B players Segunda Divisão players Eccellenza players USL Championship players Canadian Premier League players Cambodian Premier League players Canada men's youth international soccer players