ROME, Sept 19 — Italian football is mourning the death of former international and Inter Milan great Sandro Mazzola at the age of 83, German Press Agency (dpa) reported, citing his former club on Saturday.
Mazzola spent his entire 17-year professional career with Inter, becoming one of the most influential players in the club’s history.
“Sandro Mazzola was one of the greatest footballers in history,” the club said in a tribute. “He had one shirt for his whole life.”
The attacking midfielder scored 158 goals in 565 competitive appearances for Inter, winning four Italian league titles and two European Cups.
Mazzola scored twice as Inter beat Real Madrid 3-1 in the 1964 European Cup final to win the trophy for the first time. The Italian side successfully defended the title the following year.
Mazzola also enjoyed success with Italy, winning the 1968 European Championship and finishing as runners-up at the 1970 World Cup.
Football also played a defining and tragic role in Mazzola’s childhood.
His father, Valentino Mazzola, was captain of the legendary “Grande Torino” team that dominated Italian football in the 1940s, winning five consecutive league titles.
Valentino Mazzola was killed along with almost the entire Torino team in the Superga air disaster on May 4, 1949.
Sandro Mazzola was 6 years old at the time. — Bernama-dpa
