European football champion Mazzola dies – Inter lose icon

Former Italian international Sandro Mazzola has died at the age of 83, as announced by his longtime club Inter Milan. The forward shaped Italian football and is regarded as one of the sport's greatest heroes. His death has caused deep mourning in the football world.

A Life for the Nerazzurri

Mazzola spent his entire 17‑year professional career at the club Inter Milan, the Nerazzurri, and was revered there as an icon. He wore his shirt and his dream his whole life for just one club.

In Inter's obituary it read: „Sandro Mazzola was one of the greatest footballers of all time. Not only in the history of Inter Milan. He was Inter’s history. He owned only one shirt and one dream his whole life.“

In 565 official matches, Mazzola scored 158 goals for the Nerazzurri. This record makes him one of the most prolific forwards in the club’s history.

With Inter he became a four‑time Italian champion and a two‑time European Cup winner. In the 1964 final against Real Madrid he scored both goals in the 3‑1 victory, and a year later he successfully defended the title.

On the international stage Mazzola won the European Championship with the Italian national team in 1968 and reached the World Cup final in 1970, where Italy finished as runners‑up.

His father, the legendary star Valentino Mazzola, was the captain of the Grande Torino, which won the Italian championship five times in the 1940s. Valentino died in the Superga plane crash on 4 May 1949, when Sandro was six years old.

Italian football mourns one of its great heroes; his influence remains a permanent part of Italian football history.