MILAN - It was an historic triumph and the first trophy of many. In February 1962, Inter took part in Viareggio's Coppa Carnevale for the fourth time. The Nerazzurri were attending for the second straight year, with the competition becoming one of the most important youth tournaments in the world for the Cadetti age group - the forerunner to the current Primavera category. In the previous edition, Inter, led by future legend Giacinto Facchetti, made the semi-finals, only going out to Vicenza on penalties, before beating AC Milan in the third-place play-off. A year on, a decent side featuring some of the previous crop like midfielder Bruschettini and defender Longoni were looking to win the trophy.
That Inter side also included a young man from Mantova, the son of worker in a paper factory and Nerazzurri fan since he was a kid. He was playing in his hometown for the local parish team when Inter scout Eligio Vecchi, in that area of the country on the hunt for a forward, was dazzled by his ability as a wing-half. Vecchi brought him along to two trials in which, playing up front, he scored eight goals. He won everyone over, including the head of the youth academy, the legendary Giuseppe Meazza. That goalscorer was Roberto Boninsegna. Alongside him in that team was another footballing legend, Alessandro Mazzola, son of the great Valentino. After splitting his childhood between Cassano D'Adda and Milan, he - like his team-mate Antonio Fusari - had already made his Serie A debut in June 1961 when Inter named a team of 'kids' in protest against Juventus, scoring the Nerazzurri's only goal from a penalty in a 9-1 loss.
"Sandro" was joined in the tournament by Juventus youngster Piero Gabetto, the son of Guglielmo, another stalwart from the Grande Torino side. Mazzola would score two big goals in Viareggio. The first was against Vicenza in the quarter-finals, before he found the net against Torino in the last four - the opposition so synonymous with the Mazzola footballing dynasty. The kid from Mantova would score more than him, however. Though yet to make his debut with the senior side, he struck four times: three in the two matches against Romanian outfit Progresul Bucharest (3-3; 2-1) in the first round, with Mazzola starring as playmaker, and one against Torino, setting the Nerazzurri on their way to the final. That game was played on 5 March 1962 at the Stadio dei Pini. Inter faced a Fiorentina team boasting Fernando Veneranda (the tournament's top scorer with six goals), winger Paolo Nuti and future Viola legend Giuseppe Brizi.
It was a tough match which wouldn't be settled by either of the Nerazzurri stars. It wasn't Mazzola or indeed Boninsegna on target but Bruno Petroni. The young man from Pesaro had already been handed his first-team debut - and scored - by Helenio Herrera in a Fairs Cup tie against Cologne. The striker, who would go on to win the European Cup at Inter in 1964, opened the scoring and bagged the winner after Fiorentina's Nuti had levelled.
For most of the players involved that day, several of whom would go onto achieve modest success in the professional game, that victory was the highlight of their careers. It was, however, just the start for Mazzola and Boninsegna, who would go their separate ways after Roberto was sold to Prato. He returned to Inter in 1969, winning the 1971 league title alongside Sandro and finishing as top goalscorer in Serie A. They went so close to lifting the World Cup in 1970 too. They stood side by side in Mexico City's Azteca Stadium in the defeat to Brazil after "Bonimba" had earlier levelled the scores. A wonderful tale, which began on a March day just like this one in Viareggio.
Roberto Brambilla and Simone Pierotti
