Sandro Mazzola, Inter legend and 1968 European champion, dies aged 83
Sandro Mazzola dies aged 83
The Italian footballer Sandro Mazzola, who has died aged 83, was a supremely gifted forward who won two European Cups and four Serie A titles during 17 years with his only club, Internazionale of Milan.
With Italy’s national side he won the European Championship in 1968 and played in the 4-1 defeat by Pelé’s Brazil in the final of the 1970 World Cup.
From Superga tragedy to European glory
He was six years old when his father, Valentino Mazzola, the captain of an invincible Torino team and of Italy, died aged 30, along with the rest of the team, when their chartered plane, returning in bad weather from a friendly fixture in Lisbon in May 1949, crashed into the Superga hill overlooking Turin, killing everyone on board. The demise of Il Grande Torino, as they were known, traumatized the nation.
When Sandro emerged from that tragedy to win his first European Cup in 1964, defeating the five-times champions Real Madrid 3-1 in the final, he scored two of Internazionale’s goals. Afterwards the veteran Argentinian forward Alfredo Di Stefano gave him his shirt while telling him: “You are worthy of your father.”
Born in Turin, Sandro’s early life was marked by his parents’ separation and the kidnapping by Valentino’s new partner after the crash before he was returned to his mother and younger brother Ferruccio. The family moved to Milan, where a former teammate of Valentino took the boys to Internazionale, where Angelo Moratti made them club mascots. Eventually the pair joined Internazionale’s academy.
Mazzola made his first-team debut in 1961, a 9-1 defeat by Juventus, and scored Inter’s only goal from the penalty spot after taking school exams that morning. It was the first of 158 goals in 565 appearances as he became a key member of a team that also included the Spanish playmaker Luis Suárez, the Brazilian winger Jair, the sweeper Armando Picchi and the two long-serving full-backs Giacinto Facchetti and Tarcisio Burgnich.
Il Grande Inter and the Rivera rivalry
Using Helenio Herrera’s catenaccio as a platform for swift counterattacks, Internazionale dominated Serie A and Europe, winning the European Cup again in 1965 and reaching the final in 1967 against Celtic. Mazzola resisted approaches from Juventus president Gianni Agnelli.
Mazzola’s name will forever be linked with contemporary Gianni Rivera of Milan. Italy manager Ferruccio Valcareggi could not accommodate both playmakers in the same side. They played together in 1966 after Rivera missed the 1968 European Championship, when Italy, inspired by Mazzola, beat Yugoslavia 2-0 to take the title.
For the 1970 World Cup Valcareggi devised La staffetta – the relay. Mazzola would start the match, while Rivera would replace him at half-time. The compromise saw Italy to the final but came unstuck against Brazil, with Valcareggi delaying the switch and Italy already 3-1 down when Rivera finally replaced Mazzola with six minutes remaining.
Mazzola won 70 international caps, scoring 22 goals, to Rivera’s 60 caps and 14 goals. In a Gazzetta dello Sport interview a month before his death, Mazzola described “a healthy rivalry and immense respect” between the two.
Later life
He retired as a player in 1977 after seven seasons as Inter captain, then became an executive at the club, responsible for signing stars such as the Brazilian striker Ronaldo and the Argentinian defender Javier Zanetti. From 2000 to 2003 he served as sporting director at Torino and worked as a broadcaster for RAI, commentating on Italy’s World Cup wins in 1982 and 2006.
He is survived by his wife Graziella, née Galante, and their children Ilaria, Valentina, Sandro and Paolo.