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Valentino Mazzola (January 26, 1919 in Cassano
d'Adda (Milano) - May 4, 1949 in Superga, outside
Turin) was an Italian List of football (soccer)
players|footballer and captain of the Torino
Calcio|Torino side killed in the Superga air
disaster.

==Early Life==

Ironically for a man later to die in an accident
himself, at the age of ten, Mazzola saved the life
of Andrea Bonomi, later a defender for A.C. Milan,
by rescuing him from a river.

Mazzola first broke into football by playing for
the team at the Alfa Romeo Milano factory where he
worked, just before World War II|the war. In 1939,
Mazzola was called up to join the Regia
Marina|Italian Navy at Venezia. While there, he
was encouraged to attend the trials at Venezia
A.C. and did so.

It was during this time at Venezia that Mazzola
fist met Ezio Loik, when the latter moved to the
club from Milan due to his disappointment at being
unable to make an impression because of the
arrival of Fabio Capello at the San Siro. This
started a nine-year partnership.

==Career==

Mazzola's career with Venezia started modestly,
with a tenth-placed finish in 1940 and a
twelfth-place finish the next season. In 1941,
however, the team won the Coppa Italia Final
against As roma|Roma and finished third in the
league in 1942.

Mazzola then made his debut for Italy national
football team|the national side on April 5, 1942,
when he scored a goal.

As they finished third in the league, Venezia were
only a single point behind Torino Calcio|Torino,
who promptly began to take notice of Mazzola. The
only problem was that Juventus had a verbal
agreement with Venezia that they would sign
Mazzola. However, Torino eventually offered two
hundred thousand lira plus two players and won the
player's signature.

Although the deal was intended to be kept secret,
news of the upcoming move got out and as Venezia
played Torino, the crowd began to taunt Mazzola,
calling him a "sell-out". Mazzola promptly led
Venezia to a 3-1 win.

With Torino, Mazzola won the wartime league title
in 1943. In 1944, the championship ended early,
but Mazzola managed to score 10 goals (in context,
however, Silvio Piola scored 31).

In 1946, Mazzola helped the team to the title,
which they won over Inter Milan by 13 points. The
next season, Torino won the title again, beating
second-placed Juventus by 10 points. In 1948,
Torino broke numerous records, including ending
the season with the biggest ever advantage over
the second-placed team (they beat Milan to the
title by 16 points) and on May 11, 1947, Torino
provided 10 of the 11 players who took to the
field against Hungary national football
team|Hungary. Mazzola played 12 matches with the
Italian National Team and scored 4 goals.

In the 1948-1949|49 season, Torino won the last
title they would get until 1976.
Mazzola scored 109 goals in the Italian
Championship with Venezia and Torino in totally 8
years.

==Family==

Mazzola's first child, Sandro Mazzola, was born on
November 8, 1942, just after Valentino had arrived
at Torino. On February 1, 1945, his second son was
born and was named 'Ferruccio' after Ferruccio
Novo, the president of Torino.

Around 1946, however, his marriage broke up.
Valentino remarried and got custody of one son,
Sandro.

The football lessons given to Alessandro by his
father would pay off later, when the young boy
would play for Inter Milan and Italy national
football team|Italy. He won 4 Championship, 2
Champions Cups, 2 World Cups for clubs and the
1968 European Cup with Italia.

==Disaster==

Despite suffering from illness, Mazzola was
determined to attend the match he had organised
for Torino in Lisbon. On the return journey from
the game, the aircraft carrying Mazzola and the
rest of the team crashed, killing everyone on
board and leaving only one first-team player at
Torino alive.

==Quotes==

By Mazzola

*“You can always win in soccer, as long as you
change.”
*“Soccer will always be a game of eleven."

On Mazzola

*“He alone is half the squad. The other half is
made by the rest of us together.” (team-mate
Mario Rigamonti).

==Trivia==

*José Altafini, a great player with Brazil
national football team|Brazil and AC Milan for
many years, was called 'Mazzola.' as a reference
to Valentino.