ROME – Seventy-one years ago the plane that was bringing Valentino Mazzola's Grande Torino home back crashed into the basilica of Superga in Turin.
The team was returning from Lisbon where they had played a European Cup game against Benfica the night before.
Thirty-one people were killed among footballers, staff members, crew and journalists following the team.
Sandro Mazzola , a former striker of Inter and the national team, lost his father Valentino on May 4, 1949, considered at the time to be one of the greatest strikers in Italian football.
Interviewed by Il Giornale , Sandro Mazzola, who was 6 years old at the time, recounts his memories of that sad day.
“I have few memories, because my relatives took me away immediately.
I remember walking on the street with my ball returning from the oratory and people stared at me in a strange way than usual.
They didn't immediately tell me what had happened, only after some time I realized ".
On the memory of that team that won 5 consecutive championships, Mazzola says:
“My dad always took me to the field when he went to train, dressed me in a grenade and always took me with him.
I have good memories, he was a good dad.
I liked him when he took me to the shops in the morning, I held his hand because I was afraid … I saw all the people who spoke to him, greeted him, gave him importance.
I still didn't know what being famous meant.
As a footballer he was very good, I saw goals, class shots and big head-offs even though my father was not a giant … in reality he went higher than everyone else, this thing impressed me ".
Then on the celebration that Turin dedicates to that team every year, paying homage to the 31 victims with a real pilgrimage on the hills of Superga, Mazzola reveals:
“I haven't been to the official celebration for 4 years now. I go there every year and often secretly , I have my children take me ”. (source IL GIORNALE)
Source: Blitz Quotidiano