Italy star Mazzola dies at 83
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MILAN (AP):
Sandro Mazzola, the former Inter Milan captain and one of Italy’s most acclaimed footballers, has died. He was 83.
His death was announced yesterday by Inter Milan, the club where he spent his entire 17-year playing career. No cause of death was given, but Mazzola had been suffering from a long, unspecified illness.
“FC Internazionale Milano, its President Giuseppe Marotta, Vice President Javier Zanetti, head coach Cristian Chivu and his staff, the players, and everyone at Inter mourn with profound sorrow the passing of Sandro Mazzola, a Nerazzurri and world football legend,” Inter said in an emotional statement.
“Sandro Mazzola was one of the greatest footballers in history. Not only in the history of the Nerazzurri.”
An icon, a captain, and a champion
A product of Inter’s youth academy, Mazzola made his Serie A debut as a teenager in 1961 against Juventus, scoring his team’s only goal in a 9-1 defeat.
An attacking midfielder who could also operate as a second striker, Mazzola went on to score 158 goals in 565 appearances for Inter, helping the Nerazzurri win four Serie A titles and two European Cups.
He also helped Italy to the 1968 European Championship title. Mazzola, who scored 22 goals in 70 appearances for the Azzurri, played in three World Cups and reached the final with Italy in 1970.
In 1971, he finished runner-up for the Ballon d’Or behind football great Johan Cruyff.
“The passing of Sandro Mazzola is a source of deep sorrow for me and for all of Italian soccer,” said Giovanni Malagò, president of the Italian football federation. “We have lost a legend, one of the figures who helped make our football great on the global stage.
“Sandro was an icon, a captain, and a champion who defined an era and became part of our collective memory.”
Worthy of his father’s name
Mazzola was the son of another iconic player, Valentino Mazzola, who died in the Superga air disaster in 1949 along with the entire Grande Torino team when Sandro was six years old.
“He was Valentino’s son – a man who managed to turn a monumental surname into an equally magnificent legacy, built on talent, personality, courage, and extraordinary humanity,” Malagò said.
“I like to think that he has finally reunited with his father and with those champions alongside whom he wrote one of the finest chapters in the history of Italian soccer.”
After Mazzola scored twice to help Inter beat Real Madrid 3-1 in the 1964 European Cup final, Real Madrid star Ferenc Puskás reportedly told him, “You are worthy of your father Valentino”, as the pair exchanged shirts.
Mazzola was the competition’s leading scorer that season and finished as Serie A’s top marksman the following campaign.
Italian premier pays tribute
After retiring in 1977, Mazzola held an executive role at Inter before serving as sporting director from 1995 to 1999. Even after leaving the club, he remained a regular visitor to Inter’s headquarters and training facilities.
Mazzola also worked as a television sports commentator, covering events including the 1982 and 2006 World Cup finals, both won by Italy.
Among the tributes, AC Milan described Mazzola as “a historic and loyal rival, a legend of Inter and the national team, a protagonist in the history of Italian soccer”.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni also paid tribute on social media.
“With the passing of Sandro Mazzola, we lose a great champion and one of the most beloved figures in the history of Italian soccer,” she wrote.
“Legend of Inter and the Azzurri, European champions in 1968, he brought joy and passion to generations of Italians, leaving an indelible mark on our nation ... To his family, to all his loved ones, and to the fans, my most heartfelt condolences.”
‘The star with the moustache’
Mazzola’s funeral will take place tomorrow at the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio in Milan, the same church where the funeral of Milan and Italy great Franco Baresi was held last month.
Inter concluded its statement by recalling how Mazzola wished to be remembered.
“The star with the moustache shone on the pitch, and still does today,” Inter said. “As he often said, he had one final wish: “To be remembered as a good man, someone who keeps fighting even when winning is impossible, like in that 9-1.”
“We will, Sandro.”