May 1949th 10. Just before 4 am, the plane carrying the Torino players took off from Lisbon. Torino played a friendly match with Benfica the night before and lost 3:XNUMX. It was the farewell match of Francisco Ferreira, the legend of the Lisbon club. Ferreira wanted a grand farewell and the best team for the rival. And Torino was the best team that post-war Europe had seen.
From Lisbon, the plane landed in Barcelona. Pilot Pierulidji Meroni lowered the aircraft to fill the tank. They warn him from his homeland - there is a big storm in Turin, he better send the team down to Milan. Meroni ignores the advice. According to the plans, the plane would land in Turin in the afternoon from Barcelona via Toulon, Nice and Savona.
Fiat's G212 has entered Italian airspace. The mountain of Superga is visible. The rain is falling harder, the thunder is deafening, visibility is poor. Meroni informs his colleagues from the control tower that the plane is at an altitude of two thousand meters above sea level - the aircraft will bypass the basilica on the hill and head for the target. He does not know that the control panel has failed and that they are at a lower altitude. Silence on the plane. Travelers trust Meroni's assessment. A moment later an explosion. The plane crashed into the basilica. There are no survivors. A total of 31 people were killed. Football players, journalists, crew, members of the expedition...
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Grande Torino is one of the best Italian teams of all time. The rise of the "bulls" began in 1939, when the former Torino player and wealthy businessman, Ferućo Novo became the president of the club. Novo surrounds himself with great football experts. Vittorio Pozzo, the coach who led "azure" to the world championship title in 1934 and 1938, became an advisor, the Hungarian Erni Erbstein the technical director, later a coach, while the Englishman Leslie Livesley was entrusted with the task of forming the youth section.
Italy was full of talent. Novo sees a chance to create a strong team and develops the first scouting service in the Apennines. Goalkeeper Alfredo Bodeira (defended until 1945) and striker Guilhelmo Gabeto arrive from Juventus. Right winger Romeo Menti comes from Varese, and left winger Franco Osola from Fiorentina. Torino, following Herbert Chapman's Arsenal, is developing a WM system. Good technique, great possession and as many passes as possible are the basis of this system, which will evolve into a 3-4-3 formation.
The progress was noticeable. "Granata" finished 1939 in second place with four points less than champions Bologna.
However, there was no trophy in sight. For a step higher, reinforcements are necessary. New finds them in Venice. Ezio Loik and Valentino Macola arrived at the "Philadelphia" stadium in 1942. It was a move that influenced the creation of a champion generation of "bulls".
Season 1942/1943. is historical. Torino is the champion with one point more than Livorno. The Cup was also won. For the first time in Italy, a team took the double crown...
Meanwhile, World War II was raging, but Mussolini did not want to mobilize football players. However, it was impossible against bombs and tanks. The championship was suspended until 1945, when the dominance of one team began...
Post-war Torino is the most powerful team of that era in the Apennines. Valerio Bacigalupo in goal, Aldo Balarin, Virgilio Maroso and Mario Rigamonti in defense. In front of them, in connection, Eusebio Castiliano and Giuseppe Grezar, then Romeo Menti on the right and Franco Osola on the left and in attack Loik, Macola and Gabeto.
Torino won the first post-war title in 1946 with three points more than Inter, the second (1947) with 10 more than Juventus, the third (1948) with 16 more than Milan, Juventus and Trieste. The team is in the 1947/1948 season. was at its peak - 125 goals scored and 33 goals conceded.
The good games of Turin affected the Italian national team. In a friendly match with the Hungarians in 1947, there was no "grenade" player in the first line-up only in goal. "Azuri" celebrated with 3:2.
The 1948/1949 season is in full swing. Torino rushes towards a new title. In the meantime, the Italian national team celebrated against Portugal in a friendly match in February (4:1). After the match, the captain of Portugal, Francisco Ferreira, invites Mazzola to be a guest of Torino at his farewell match. Macola accepts.
Nova did not like the captain's deal. Torino is the leader in the table and going to the exhibition match - when the championship is not decided - should not be considered. With five rounds to go, Granata had five points more than Inter. A compromise was made - if Torino doesn't lose against the Nerazzurri, the team will go to Lisbon. The match ended 0:0. The players packed up and flew to Portugal.
There is a carnival atmosphere in Portugal. Spectacle. Ferreira's last match. And the last match of an avant-garde generation from the Apennines.
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The explosion at Superga disturbed the citizens of Piedmont. Novo and Poco came to the scene of the accident. Novo did not travel with the team, the flu brought him down. Poco didn't go either. At the incinerator, they find an apocalyptic scene. Bodies scattered across the meadow. Poco goes from one to the other and identifies them.
Half a million people at the funeral. There are four rounds left until the end of the championship. "Granata" plays matches with youth. Out of solidarity, opponents make the same move. Torino is the champion. The fifth consecutive title comes to Piedmont. Torino never recovered from the loss. She won the only title after the "grenade" tragedy in 1976.
The accident also affected the Italian national team. The shocked "azuri" refuse to travel by plane to the World Cup in Brazil in 1950. The ship is the only solution - on the deck they train and prepare for the tournament, where they fail ingloriously.
They were already eliminated in the first round. A year earlier, the world saw them as future champions.
Six years after the tragedy, the European Champions Cup started. The first years were marked by the brutal dominance of Real Madrid. The experts are in agreement - had it not been for the tragedy, a couple of European trophies would have ended up in the club's showcases in Turin.
Like father, like son: Italy once again bowed to Mazzola
The Macola family line has given Italy another great player.
Sandro Macola, Valentino's son, grew into a top footballer, one of the best that the Apennine Peninsula has produced. He dedicated his career to Inter.
With "Neroazuri" he won two European Champions Cups (KEŠ) and four Scudettos. Inter fans especially remember the KEŠ final in 1964, when he scored two goals against Real in Vienna's "Prater" in Inter's 3:1 triumph. It was a powerful team, led by Elenio Herrera.
With the Italian national team, Macola was the European champion in 1968, and two years later he played in the World Cup final with the Azzurri.
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