Former Italy forward Sandro Mazzola, who spent his entire 17-year senior career at Inter Milan, has died aged 83, the club has announced.
Mazzola, regarded as an Inter icon, scored 158 goals in 565 appearances for the club, helping them win four Serie A titles and two European Cups.
He was also part of the Italy team that won the European Championship in 1968 and reached the World Cup final in Mexico two years later.
"Sandro Mazzola was one of the greatest footballers in history. Not only in the history of the Nerazzurri," Inter said in a statement on its official website, using the nickname for the team. "He was Inter’s history: he joined the club as a boy and never left it."
Mazzola was six when his father, Valentino, an Italy international, died in the Superga air disaster in May 1949. The plane crash killed the entire Torino team as they returned from a match in Lisbon.
Mazzola made his senior debut for Inter at the age of 18 after the club fielded its youth side against Juventus. The Italian federation had overturned a decision awarding Inter a 2-0 victory following a pitch invasion by Juventus fans and ordered a replay.
Mazzola, who had been an Inter mascot as a child, completed a school exam before travelling to Turin for the match. He scored Inter's only goal from the penalty spot in a 9-1 defeat by Juventus.
He soon became a regular in Inter's first team and helped the club win its first European Cup in 1964, scoring twice in a 3-1 victory over Real Madrid in the final. He played a key role as Inter retained the title the following season.
Mazzola retired from playing in 1977 and later became Inter's sporting director. He also held the same role at Torino, the club where his father had played.
"The star with the moustache shone on the pitch, and still does today. As he often said, he had one final wish: to be remembered as a good man, someone who keeps fighting even when winning is impossible, like in that 9-1," Inter said.
By Aghakazim Guliyev
