VEDANO AL LAMBRO (MONZA) – A fragile and gentle man has been chasing his father’s shadow for 75 years. Sandro Mazzola welcomes us on the doorstep of his house, a low and light building in the hinterland of Monza. Between his lips, the inevitable unlit cigar. The handshake is little more than a caress. Today, Mazzola is a creature from other worlds.
Sandro, what do you remember about when the great Valentino died in Superga?
“I was six and a half years old. My mother took me to my grandparents in Cassano d’Adda, to protect me. We lived near the sports field, where I played football with the other children. There were these people who came to caress me and spoke to me in dialect: it took me a long time to realize that they were telling me that my dad was dead.”
In a very famous photograph, the captain of the Grande Torino ties the socks of a child in a grenade uniform: you, Sandro.
“I have the original of that photo. Dad took me to training, I stayed dribbling in the locker room and watched the champions. Sometimes, goalkeeper Bacigalupo made me take a penalty: I kicked, and he dived the other way. I scored goals and felt like a real player. Grande Torino was the strongest team of all time.”
Did you and your brother Ferruccio, who also became a player, ever talk about dad?
“No, because Ferruccio was too young to remember it: May 4th will mark 75 years since the tragedy. However, I think back to when he and I played games with Coca Cola caps, and we placed dad’s grenade shirt next to us.”
She was the grenade mascot.
“Before the derbies against Juventus I entered the pitch holding my father’s hand, and the Juventus player Depetrini did the same with his child. We little ones looked at each other askance.”
The cover of Sandro Mazzola’s book
Was it a burden to be the son of a legend?
“Yes. At the beginning the Inter fans said “he will never be like his father, if his name was Brambilla and not Mazzola he wouldn’t be here”. I suffered from it. I would come home and not eat, I would go straight to bed. Then when I really became a player, every time I returned to Turin I felt dazed: I looked at the basilica on the hill and my legs trembled. I saw myself as a child. When the historic warehouseman Zoso took me to the Philadelphia locker room to show me dad’s locker, I started crying. For me, Valentino Mazzola was the cemetery, the flowers and the tears of my mother.”
Is it true that the legendary Puskas spoke to you about him after the 1964 European Cup final?
“We beat Real Madrid in Vienna and I scored two goals. After the match, I waited for Puskas in front of the door of their large room: he came out, came towards me and said “Well done, I played with your father and I can say that maybe you are worthy of him, maybe”. I no longer understood anything from the joy.”
Were there many people who told you about Valentino?
“Gianni Brera told me that he was the greatest Italian player in history. It was like this for Boniperti too. Juve tried two or three times to buy me, but I would never have been able to wear that shirt. Someone else who spoke to me about dad was the artisan shoemaker in Via Olmetto, in Milan, who sewed his playing boots. I went there too: I was just a boy, and then it was a question of paying them. I saved 25 lire a week on tram rides that Inter reimbursed me, I went on foot and that’s how I bought my shoes. Or, I’d get a pair passed to me by some older player, only they always fit me too big. When I finally became the owner, that craftsman made the shoes for me for free.”
For many years, you didn’t want to talk about Valentino Mazzola: why?
“I felt like I wasn’t worthy, after all what did I have to do with it? A great pain that I preferred to keep to myself. Then she gets older and things change”.
The great Meazza was one of your coaches: what did he tell you about Valentino?
“More than listening to him, I was enchanted by watching Pepp play. He was already old, but when he appeared on the field in a t-shirt and shorts it was a celebration. He passed the ball and still shot it wonderfully.”
Instead, what memories do you have of Pelé?
“I faced him for the first time at San Siro, in 1963. I stood still admiring him, to the point that he approached me and said “boy, if you don’t wake up I’ll score you three goals”.”.
One, memorably, he scored against Italy in the ’70 final.
“We were very tired after the epic semi-final win against the Germans. I only knew that I would start against Brazil the night before, and it was a sleepless night.”
The famous relay with Rivera.
“Only in Italy could such an absurdity be invented. Gianni and I were born to play together: I had fun with him like few others. He looked to the left and then, well, he passed the ball to the right. Like the great Meazza. But I ran more than Gianni.”
Another of those giants, Gigi Riva, recently left us.
“Fantastic Gigione! He always wanted to win and score. He darted like lightning down the left wing and demanded the perfect pass: if you didn’t give him the ball well, at the end of the move he would come closer, point a finger at you in the middle of your forehead and tell you “if next time you don’t pass it to me like you have to, I’ll split you in two and send you to the stands.” Then he started laughing. Oh mama…”.
Mazzola, how are you today?
“I get by, every now and then some memories disappear but not the most distant ones: I keep those close. Let’s say I’m quite fit and can play the last ten minutes. But not in Rivera’s place, eh: he and I play those ten minutes together! I come in in the eightieth minute and score a goal.”
2024-03-25 05:00:00
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