Serie A clubs and Italy pay tribute to legend Sandro Mazzola
Tributes have poured in following the death of Inter and Italy legend Sandro Mazzola, who passed away on Saturday aged 83.
Mazzola is widely regarded as one of Italy’s best players of all time. Second-ranked for the Ballon d’Or in 1971, Mazzola won two consecutive European Cups (now Champions League) with Inter between 1963 and 1965.
He contributed to Inter’s first-ever European Cup victory by scoring seven goals during the competition in 1963-64, including a brace in a 3-1 win in the Final against Real Madrid.
Tributes for Inter and Italy legend Mazzola
With the Italy national team, he won the 1968 Euros and reached the 1970 World Cup final, losing to Pelé’s Brazil.
“Farewell to Sandro Mazzola, champion, legend, and icon for generations of Italians,” FIGC President Giovanni Malagò wrote on X.
“On behalf of myself and the entire FIGC, I extend my deepest condolences to his family and to Inter. Goodbye, Sandro. You will be deeply missed.”
Several Italian clubs have paid tribute to Mazzola today.
A minute’s silence will be observed before each game across Italy’s professional leagues, and Inter will wear a black armband in their away game at Roma.
Torino paid one of the most touching tributes to Mazzola, sharing an iconic photograph of his father, Valentino, tying the young Sandro’s football boots.
Valentino Mazzola was an Italian football legend and captain of the legendary Grande Torino side, who tragically died alongside his teammates in the Superga air disaster in 1949. Sandro Mazzola hadn’t even turned seven when he lost his father.
