Do you know when the word grande is used in football? There have been times when a team has been called a 'grande'. Just as Hellenio Herrera's Inter was called "Grande Inter", so was '70's Brazil' called 'Grande Brazil'. Supposedly it looked like if you play an outworldly brand of football or win some extraordinary titles, you got this name. In fact, the trophy was not exactly the case, the name was given depending on the football.
Similarly, another Italian club was called "Grande Torino" in the '50s. Almost everyone on the Italian national team then played in Torino. Torino was ruling in the Serie A. The team includes the then best goalkeeper Valerio Basigalupo, forward Guglielmo Gabeto, midfielder Agio Luic, defensive midfielder Danilo Martelli, striker Romeo Menti. Although everyone on that Torino team was a star, the main star was the inventor of the role of 'Mazzola' in midfield and the then captain of Torino 'Valentino Mazzola'. Probably the most creative player Italy has ever produced.
Source
May 4, 1949
That day was Wednesday. The Torino team was returning from Lisbon after playing a match in honor of Benfica's legendary captain Francisco Ferreira. On the way back, the plane stopped in Barcelona, Spain. AC Milan players meet with Mazzola at the airport. AC Milan was heading to Madrid to play a match with Real Madrid. The players of the two teams had lunch together. The flight leaves for Turin Airport at 2:50 pm. They are about to enter Italy via France. The weather in Turin that day was miserable. So much fog, the pilot could not see the situation a few feet ahead. With the wind speed was much higher than normal. The pilot could not be reached properly via radio from Turin Airport. The plane was nine miles from Turin Airport, right next to the famous Italian church, the Basilica of Superga, which was perched on a hill. The pilot of the plane carrying Torino FC players could not see the Tower of Basilica in front. Due to the high wind speed, the plane appeared right next to the tower. At exactly 5:03 pm the plane crashed into the Tower of Superga. At 5:05 pm the officials tried to make contact from Turin Airport to the plane carrying Torino, but by then everything went quiet.
The plane had a total of 31 people on board, including pilots, crew and players, coaches and staff of Torino FC, none of whom survived that day. After the crash, the entire body of the plane was destroyed except for the tail. The whole world was stunned that day with the players of Torino FC. Along with the city of Turin, darkness descended on Italy as a whole. Within a few years of the end of World War II, Italian football was plunged into such a darkness that it took Italy a long time to come to light. Torino's team was so good that it can't really be explained by stats. They won the Serie A four times in the '50s. The three in a row were 1945-46, 1946-47, 1947-48. At the request of all Italian teams, the 1948-49 Serie A was also awarded to Torino. Players from all Italian clubs are offered to Torino. Torino's biggest rival Juventus also came forward at this time.
Of the 18 players killed, 16 were Italians, one was from France and one was from Hungary. Coach Arno was also Hungarian. However, Kubala, the legendary player of Barcelona, survived that day. Kubala signed for Torino at the time and he was meant to play that game against Benfica. But in the end, Kubala's son fell ill and Kubala did not go to Lisbon that day. Torino's accident shook Italian football. Torino had the maximum member of the 1950 World Cup main team. The Italian football team was so intimidated by the accident that the Italian team set sail for Brazil for the 1950 World Cup by sea and not by plane. Italy had not been able to recover from this trauma for a long time.
love and respect from the deepest of our hearts to those heroes who died at Superga.