Milan woke to mourning after the death of Sandro Mazzola, the forward who became inseparable from Inter’s greatest European years and spent his entire club career in the Nerazzurri colours. He died late on Friday at the age of 83, leaving Italian football to remember a player whose story also carried the shadow of Torino’s most painful loss.
The news from the club
Inter marked Mazzola’s death with a video recalling his goals and defining moments on the pitch. For supporters, the tribute was for a one-club figure who helped carry the side through the 1960s, when Milan was a regular destination for Europe’s leading teams.
Mazzola won four Italian league titles with Inter, in 1962-63, 1964-65, 1965-66 and 1970-71. He was a central figure as the club secured consecutive European Cups in 1963-64 and 1964-65, then added Intercontinental Cup victories in 1963 and 1964. On both occasions, Inter defeated Argentina’s Independiente to take the world title.
His standing extended beyond club football. Mazzola scored 22 times in 70 matches for Italy, winning the 1968 European Championship and reaching the 1970 World Cup final, where Italy were beaten by Brazil. In 1971, the year of his last Scudetto with Inter, he received the Ballon d’Or from France Football.
A Turin connection remembered
Born in Turin on 8 November 1942, Sandro was the son of Valentino Mazzola, Torino’s celebrated attacking midfielder. Sandro was six when his father was among those killed in the Superga air disaster, which claimed the entire Torino delegation as it returned from a friendly match against Benfica in Lisbon.
Torino also paid tribute after Sandro Mazzola’s death, sharing an image of Valentino in the club’s shirt alongside his young son. It connected two cities and two historic Italian clubs: Turin, where Mazzola was born amid his father’s legacy, and Milan, where he built one of his own.
