Inter Milan legend Sandro Mazzola has passed away
Former Inter Milan star Sandro Mazzola, and Celtic’s Lisbon 67 rival has sadly passed away…
Former Inter Milan star Sandro Mazzola, who scored against Celtic in the 1967 European Cup final, has sadly passed away aged 83.
The Inter man opened the scoring from the spot after just seven minutes on that iconic day in Lisbon on the 25th of May 1967, only for Tommy Gemmell and Stevie Chalmers strikes to clinch a much deserved and historic victory for Jock Stein’s Celtic, who would of course become known as the immortal Lisbon Lions.
Mazzola is a legendary figure at not just Inter Milan, but in Italian football.
A gifted midfielder who could adapt to any position, was known for his athleticism, defensive work-rate, and acrobatic ability in the air.
Mazzola who was a ballon d’Or runner up in 1971 earned 70 caps and scored 22 goals for Italy, won four Serie A titles with Inter as well as two European cups.
He was just as successful when it came to international football, winning the European championship with Italy in 1968, as well as appearing in the World Cup final of 1970.
Celtic are due to mark the 60th anniversary of their historic triumph next year, with Mazzola having frequently spoken of his admiration for the Lisbon Lions and the impact of their achievement.
He said: “If there was one game in my career I would have liked to have played again, it is definitely the European Cup final defeat by Celtic in 1967.
“Back then, you didn’t get to see all the games, and it wasn’t good that we didn’t always know our opponents so well.
“Then, the day before the final, we stopped to watch them in training, and even then, they seemed totally disorganised. Everyone was doing what they wanted.
“We thought it would be an easy game and it was the biggest mistake we could have made.”
AN INTERVIEW WITH SANDRO MAZZOLA FROM OUR ARCHIVES…
Inter Milan took an early lead in the 1967 European Cup Final in Lisbon. Milan were the favourites to lift the trophy again and when Sandro Mazzola stroked the ball into the net then the Italian superstars reckoned that the cup was theirs. In Milan in June 2016, Mazzola spoke about that day, in the heat of Lisbon…
“Helenio Herrera, our Internazionale Milan manager, went to Scotland to check on Celtic in person. He returned with a tape of the game,” said Mazola.
“The players watched the film of them in action and we weren’t particularly impressed. I thought, ‘These guys are mediocre.’ So, we possibly did not give them the full respect they were due,” Mazzola revealed.
“Remember, we had won the European Cup in two of the previous three years and we had beaten Real Madrid, the 1966 winners, en route to Lisbon. Also, we were favourites. In fact, we believed it would be an easy game. That was the biggest mistake we could possibly have made!
And it was all going to plan when the Italians were awarded a softish penalty after 8 minutes.
“When I scored with my penalty-kick early in the match we thought that would allow us to slow the pace of the game and dictate the tempo. We did this every week in Italy,” the Inter Milan goalscorer said.
“The Celtic players would not allow us to do this. They refused to let us play our normal game. Celtic were superhuman and I have never known a team with so much energy.
So how would Mazzola sum up the 1967 European Cup Final against Celtic?
“You could say they took us by surprise. However, we had no complaints about the result. They beat us fair and square in the European Cup Final in Lisbon in 1967,” he stated.
RIP Sandro Mazzola.
