Sandro Mazzola, Inter Milan Legend, Dies Aged 83

Sandro Mazzola, the Inter Milan legend who played his entire career for the club, has died aged 83.

Inter marked the centenary of the San Siro stadium with a tribute on Saturday, only for news of his passing to emerge shortly after. The club described him simply as "Inter history" and confirmed he was one of their most enduring figures.

Mazzola played 565 official matches for Inter between 1957 and 1977, scoring 158 goals. He won four Serie A titles and two European Cups during his 17-year spell. In the 1964 European Cup final against Real Madrid, he scored two of Inter's three goals in a 3-1 victory.

His career was shadowed by the Superga air disaster in 1949, when his father, Valentino Mazzola, the captain of the Torino team, died aged 30. Sandro was six years old at the time. He later spoke of a personal vow he made as a youth to die young like his father if he could become a champion, a secret he confessed to Padre Pio.

With Italy, Mazzola won the 1968 European Championship and played in the 1970 World Cup final, which his country lost 4-1 to Brazil. He earned 70 caps and scored 22 goals. He finished second in the Ballon d'Or voting in 1971 behind Johan Cruyff.

Inter president Giuseppe Marotta said: "Today another piece of Nerazzurri legend leaves us. Sandro was Inter; he came here as a boy and chose to stay here forever: one shirt, 17 seasons, an entire lifetime."

He once called Inter "like a mother to me."

The squad for the upcoming fixtures has not yet been announced.