Sandro Mazzola has died at 83: Inter's tribute

Football world in mourning.

The world of football mourns Sandro Mazzola, who has died at the age of 83.

By a twist of fate, Saturday 19 September marks the 100th anniversary of the inauguration of San Siro, which staged a Milan derby won 6-3 by Inter.

It was his lifelong home, where he played for two decades from 1957 to 1977, scoring 162 goals in 566 matches for Inter, the only shirt he wore throughout his career.

Beyond that, he also starred for the Italy national team, scoring 22 goals in 70 appearances and winning the European Championship in 1968, before reaching the final at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, lost 4-1 to Brazil after Italy's legendary 4-3 extra-time semi-final win against Germany.

Then came the 4 Serie A titles, 2 European Cups and 2 Intercontinental Cups won with Inter, who in practice took him in from the age of 6 after he was orphaned by the death of his father, Valentino Mazzola, the symbolic figure of the Grande Torino who died at the age of 30 on 4 May 1949 in the air disaster of Superga.

Once he hung up his boots, Sandro Mazzola worked for Massimo Moratti's Inter as sporting director, a role he later also held at Torino, bringing the Brazilian Phenomenon Ronaldo to Milan, who has just turned 50.

Later, Mazzola also worked as a television pundit for Rai Sport and TeleMontecarlo.

Inter statement

FC Internazionale Milano, president Giuseppe Marotta, vice-president Javier Zanetti, manager Cristian Chivu and his staff, the players and the entire Inter world join, with deep emotion, in mourning the passing of Sandro Mazzola, a Nerazzurri legend and a legend of world football and, in remembering him, embrace his family.

The desire to remember is mixed with restraint: how hard it is to find the right words to bid farewell to someone who wrote history, who truly wrote it, indelibly and unlike anyone before him.

Then it becomes harder still, gripped by a melancholy that is already here and will not leave us, because it still feels as though we can see him here, between the headquarters and Appiano, recalling Puskas, Herrera, Suarez and Corso, one anecdote after another, each one immediately woven into the present day, with his desire for Inter lit up in his eyes, talking about Lautaro and our Inter, the one of now, the one of always.

Sandro Mazzola was one of the greatest footballers in history. Not only in Nerazzurri history. He was Inter's history: he entered it as a boy and never left. He carried a heavy burden on his shoulders, the memory of a father who had seemed invincible. His destiny was shaped by two legendary Nerazzurri figures who, in effect, raised him and guided him along the path of history.

One shirt for his whole life, one dream alone. He had to build it without a father, lost in the Superga disaster, that of Grande Torino. Alessandro, Sandro to everyone, Sandrino, was six years, five months and 23 days old. He saw the devastated faces of the people embracing him and stroking his head and wondered what was happening. Who Valentino was, Sandro came to know through the epic passed down day by day. He began to absorb it at the San Lorenzo oratory in Milan, in Porta Ticinese, in full-pitch matches against Adriano Celentano. He was not the only Inter supporter to shape his growth: Giuseppe Meazza and Benito Lorenzi did too. Meazza developed him technically, teaching him all the secrets. Lorenzi arrived at Sandro's home in Cassano d'Adda with boots and a ball. At the age of eight, Mazzola and his brother were effectively Inter's mascots: between pitch, dressing room and stadium, a total Nerazzurri education.

Skipping stages, growing up quickly out of necessity. Sandrino did it fast, also thanks to events. Born in 1942, he was thrown into the First Team in the infamous replay of Juventus v Inter, on 10 June 1961, in Turin. From an oral exam at school to the trip to the Piedmontese capital, where Moratti and Herrera fielded the Primavera. It finished 9-1, and for Inter a slim lad, gifted with a fine touch, scored: Sandro Mazzola. He was 18.

A second striker, we would say today. An 8 and a 10, like the shirts he wore for Inter. Inside-forward or centre-forward? Herrera found the right role for him, and the result was an uncontrollable explosion in that spectacular army that was Grande Inter. His consecration? Very quickly, blessed by the giants of world football. The Prater in Vienna, the 1964 European Cup final. As they walked out on to the pitch, it was Suarez who pushed Mazzola towards it: Sandro had stayed behind, admiring his idols outside the dressing rooms, Di Stefano, Puskas and the other Real Madrid champions. Then came the match, and two goals. A brace in a European Cup final, Inter's first European triumph, an unprecedented success bearing Mazzola's signature and Puskas's compliments: "You are worthy of your father Valentino," the great Hungarian told him, giving him his shirt.

Those are stories we know by heart, stories we have heard and heard again without ever tiring of them, discovering a new detail every time, told in that affable voice, always moved by the memory. A sense of devotion and total gratitude towards Inter - "for me like a mother" - repaid with an infinity of plays, goals and wonders. Four Serie A titles, two European Cups, 2 Intercontinental Cups, the Serie A top scorer title (in 1965 with 17 goals) and the European Cup top scorer title (7 goals in 1964). Runner-up in the 1971 Ballon d'Or behind Johan Cruyff.

Grande Inter of Angelo Moratti, of Helenio Herrera, of Sarti, Burgnich, Facchetti. Mazzola was there, between midfield and attack, drawing trajectories and scoring goals. European nights, afternoons at the Meazza. Huge, unforgettable goals. His stamp against Independiente in the Intercontinental Cup, the comeback against Liverpool marked by him and celebrated with "When the Saints Go Marching In" blasted over the loudspeakers at San Siro. And again: the goal in the derby after 13 seconds, the goal in Inter v Lazio in 1966 that delivered the First Star. Up to 1977. In between, the European Championship with Italy, the World Cups, the relay with Rivera.

Seventeen seasons, 565 official matches, 158 goals. His bond with Inter never broke, first in a career as an executive and then as sporting director. Even behind a desk, his instincts were unique. Platini and Falcao, deals that then fell through. Zenga, brought back to Milan from Sambenedettese. And, above all, Ronaldo. The Fenomeno arrived after pressure applied by Moratti and Mazzola, precisely. When R9 was presented at Inter's headquarters, beside him were Luis Suarez and Sandro Mazzola.

Even in recent years, he kept visiting Inter headquarters. He, who is in the Club's Hall of Fame, always spoke of the unique and unbreakable bond with the Nerazzurri colours. He did so also while speaking to Lautaro and his team-mates during a recent visit to Appiano Gentile, where he felt at home, where he recalled training camps with Herrera amid wonderful and amusing anecdotes.

He also felt the affection of the Nerazzurri fans first-hand in May 2024, on the day of the Second Star celebration: he, with Bedin and Cappellini, was on the pitch, celebrated for that first star won 58 years earlier.

He shone on the pitch, and his star still shines now, the star of the moustache. Which, as he often said, had just one final wish: "To be remembered as a good man, one who gives it a go even when it is impossible to win, like in that 9-1."

We will, Sandro.

Serie A League's condolences

Sandro Mazzola has died at the age of 83, the son of the legendary Valentino and an extraordinary champion in his own right. An all-round footballer, he was often used as a forward thanks to his eye for goal and dribbling ability. He spent his entire career with Inter, led the club through its run of triumphs in the 1960s and wore the Nerazzurri shirt for 17 consecutive seasons. He also wrote unforgettable chapters in the Azzurri shirt at the European Championships and the World Cup. His trophy haul included 4 Serie A titles, 2 European Cups, 2 Intercontinental Cups and the title of European champion with Italy.

"Sandro Mazzola represents one of the most important and most authentic figures in the history of Italian football," said Ezio Simonelli, President of Lega Calcio Serie A . "First and foremost, I remember him as a truly great champion, a leading figure in an extraordinary era of our football, capable of leaving an indelible mark in the shirts of Inter and Italy. His successes and his technical qualities belong to the collective memory of Italian sport. I also had the chance to know and appreciate him in a role different from that of a footballer, in his post-career business activity, when he was able to reinvent himself and demonstrate his managerial abilities. With his passing, we lose a true legend of Italian football, but also a person who knew how to interpret with intelligence and passion the different stages of his professional life. On behalf of Lega Calcio Serie A and personally, I extend my deepest condolences to his family and to all those who loved him."