DuaneTheReturn!

Perhaps some of you have forgotten this article: Pills in the coffee. That Herrera gave to the players. Many of whom have died. A former player recounts the doping of the Great Inter. And calls to the stand all the champions of that time in an interview with Ferruccio Mazzola. They are champions who have made the history of Italian football, those who will pass, one after the other, in a courtroom in Rome to talk about doping. Like Giacinto Facchetti, brilliant left back and today president of Inter; or like Sandro Mazzola, Mariolino Corso, Luis Suarez. And also: Tarcisio Burnich, Gianfranco Bedin, Angelo Domenghini, Aristide Guarneri. All called to testify by their then teammate, Ferruccio Mazzola, younger brother of Sandro, who wants to hear from their voices - and under oath - the truth about that Great Inter that won in Italy and around the world in the 1960s. “I didn't seek this trial: they dragged me into it. But now everything must come to light,” says Ferruccio. What does Mazzola refer to? “I was part of that Inter too, even though I played little as a starter. I personally witnessed the practices that the players were subjected to. I saw the coach, Helenio Herrera, giving the pills to place under the tongue. He tested them on the reserves (I was often among those) and then gave them to the starters. Some took them, some secretly spat them out. It was my brother Sandro who told me: if you don't want to swallow it, go to the bathroom and throw it away. That's what many did. But then one day Herrera noticed we were spitting them out, so he started dissolving them in coffee. From that day on, Herrera's "coffee" became a practice at Inter.” What was in those pills? “I don't know for sure, but I believe they were amphetamines. Once, after that coffee, during a Como-Inter match in 1967, I was in a state of total hallucination for three days and three nights, like an epileptic. Today everyone denies it, incredibly. Even Sandro...” Your brother? “Yes. Sandro and I, since I decided to bring this story to light, no longer speak. He says that dirty laundry should be washed in the family. I, on the other hand, believe it is right to say these things, even for my teammates from back then who got sick and perhaps paid the ultimate price. Too many...” Who is he referring to? “The first was Armando Picchi, the captain of that team, who died at 36 from spinal cancer. Then it was the turn of Marcello Giusti, who played in the reserves, killed by brain cancer in the late 90s. Carlo Tagnin, who never refused the pills because he wasn't a superstar and wanted to extend his career by running like a youngster, died of osteosarcoma in 2000. Mauro Bicicli left us in 2001 due to liver cancer. Ferdinando Miniussi, the reserve goalkeeper, died in 2002 from advanced cirrhosis due to hepatitis C. Enea Masiero, who was at Inter between '55 and '64, is undergoing chemotherapy. Pino Longoni, who went through Inter's youth system before moving to Fiorentina, has a vascular disease and is in a wheelchair, with no hopes of recovery…” Aside from Picchi and perhaps Tagnin, the others are less known compared to the great champions. “Because the reserves took more of those little white pills. I told you, us benchwarmers were used as guinea pigs. I talked about it for the first time a few months ago in my autobiography ("Il terzo incomodo," written with Fabrizio Càlzia, Bradipolibri 2004, ed.), which led to the trial in Rome.” Why? “Because after the publication of that book, I received a defamation lawsuit signed by Facchetti, in his capacity as president of Inter. Do they want to go before a judge? Fine: on November 19 there will be the second hearing, and we will ask that all the players of the team back then, I mean those who are still alive, come to court to testify.

But fuck off

And you to mind your own damn business.

it is certainly more interesting than the topic of this review and then it is always good to remember...

"I want to see if under oath they will have the courage not to tell the truth." But wasn't he a friend of Facchetti? "Yes, but let's leave Facchetti alone, I don't want to say anything about him. That would be too heavy." Do you think a different image of the victorious Inter from those years will come out of the trial? "I don't know, I don't care. If I really wanted to hurt Inter, I would have written a lot of other things in that book. I would have talked about fixed matches and bought referees, especially in the cups. Instead, I let it go..." But was it just Inter that was doping back then? "Of course not. I was also with Fiorentina and Lazio, so I can speak directly about those experiences too. In Florence, on Saturday morning, either the masseur or the team doctor would come by and give us IV drips, the same ones Bruno Beatrice talked about with his wife. I was in the room with Giancarlo De Sisti, and we took them together. Not that they were mandatory, but those who didn't take them found it hard to play. It's now well known that from that team, besides Bruno Beatrice, Ugo Ferrante (heart failure in 2003) and Nello Saltutti (cancer in 2004) have died. Others have had very serious illnesses, like Mimmo Caso, Massimo Mattolini, and De Sisti himself..." De Sisti denies having taken drugs. "'Picchio' says one thing on television, but when we are out together smoking a cigarette he says another..." And at Lazio? "There they gave us Villescon, a drug that made you feel no fatigue. It came directly from the pharmacy. Stuff that would make you run like a train." Other teams? "When Herrera moved to Roma, he brought the same methods he used at Inter. What do you think the Roma striker Giuliano Taccola, at 26 years old, died of during a trip to Cagliari in '69?" But why do you think no one is talking about it even now? They are all - you are - sixty years old now... "Those who are still in football don't want to expose themselves; they're afraid of being left out of the loop. They are all tied to a system; they don't want to lose their privileges, go on TV, and so on. Take my brother: he has been treated terribly by Inter, they kicked him out in a horrible way and even took away his honorary card to enter San Siro, but he is still afraid of making the Inter executives angry and always speaks very well of them on TV. Mariolino Corso, a guy who has had serious heart problems because of those little pills, goes around saying he doesn't even know me. Even Angelillo, who has had serious heart issues, doesn’t want to say anything: he knows, he still works as a scout for Inter. The only ones talking about those years are the relatives of those who have passed away, like Gabriella Beatrice or Alessio Saltutti, Nello's son. It's with them, thanks to Mrs. Beatrice's lawyer, Odo Lombardo, that an association of victims of doping in football is now being formed." Of course, if a great champion like your brother were on your side, your battle would have an extraordinary testimonial... "To put it bluntly, Sandro doesn’t have the guts to do something like that." And do you think doping is still around today? "Yes, especially in amateur leagues, where there are no controls: there, they are doping like beasts. What hurts me the most, though, are the kids..." The kids? "Now they are starting to give pills and concoctions from the age of 14-15. I work with the Borghesiana team in Rome, where my son Michele plays, and I always tell the boys to be careful even with hot tea if they don’t know what’s in it. I also made a statement for the juvenile court in Milan: dozens of complaints from fathers and mothers of kids taking strange stuff are coming in, maybe they run like crazy on the field and then fall asleep at their desk the next day at school. That's who I'm bringing everything out for."

Perhaps some of you have forgotten this article: Pills in the coffee. That Herrera gave to the players. Many of whom have died. A former player recounts the doping of the Great Inter. And calls to the stand all the champions of that time in an interview with Ferruccio Mazzola. They are champions who have made the history of Italian football, those who will pass, one after the other, in a courtroom in Rome to talk about doping. Like Giacinto Facchetti, brilliant left back and today president of Inter; or like Sandro Mazzola, Mariolino Corso, Luis Suarez. And also: Tarcisio Burnich, Gianfranco Bedin, Angelo Domenghini, Aristide Guarneri. All called to testify by their then teammate, Ferruccio Mazzola, younger brother of Sandro, who wants to hear from their voices - and under oath - the truth about that Great Inter that won in Italy and around the world in the 1960s. “I didn't seek this trial: they dragged me into it. But now everything must come to light,” says Ferruccio. What does Mazzola refer to? “I was part of that Inter too, even though I played little as a starter. I personally witnessed the practices that the players were subjected to. I saw the coach, Helenio Herrera, giving the pills to place under the tongue. He tested them on the reserves (I was often among those) and then gave them to the starters. Some took them, some secretly spat them out. It was my brother Sandro who told me: if you don't want to swallow it, go to the bathroom and throw it away. That's what many did. But then one day Herrera noticed we were spitting them out, so he started dissolving them in coffee. From that day on, Herrera's "coffee" became a practice at Inter.” What was in those pills? “I don't know for sure, but I believe they were amphetamines. Once, after that coffee, during a Como-Inter match in 1967, I was in a state of total hallucination for three days and three nights, like an epileptic. Today everyone denies it, incredibly. Even Sandro...” Your brother? “Yes. Sandro and I, since I decided to bring this story to light, no longer speak. He says that dirty laundry should be washed in the family. I, on the other hand, believe it is right to say these things, even for my teammates from back then who got sick and perhaps paid the ultimate price. Too many...” Who is he referring to? “The first was Armando Picchi, the captain of that team, who died at 36 from spinal cancer. Then it was the turn of Marcello Giusti, who played in the reserves, killed by brain cancer in the late 90s. Carlo Tagnin, who never refused the pills because he wasn't a superstar and wanted to extend his career by running like a youngster, died of osteosarcoma in 2000. Mauro Bicicli left us in 2001 due to liver cancer. Ferdinando Miniussi, the reserve goalkeeper, died in 2002 from advanced cirrhosis due to hepatitis C. Enea Masiero, who was at Inter between '55 and '64, is undergoing chemotherapy. Pino Longoni, who went through Inter's youth system before moving to Fiorentina, has a vascular disease and is in a wheelchair, with no hopes of recovery…” Aside from Picchi and perhaps Tagnin, the others are less known compared to the great champions. “Because the reserves took more of those little white pills. I told you, us benchwarmers were used as guinea pigs. I talked about it for the first time a few months ago in my autobiography ("Il terzo incomodo," written with Fabrizio Càlzia, Bradipolibri 2004, ed.), which led to the trial in Rome.” Why? “Because after the publication of that book, I received a defamation lawsuit signed by Facchetti, in his capacity as president of Inter. Do they want to go before a judge? Fine: on November 19 there will be the second hearing, and we will ask that all the players of the team back then, I mean those who are still alive, come to court to testify.

Read, read, it does you good...

"I want to see if under oath they will have the courage not to tell the truth." But wasn't he a friend of Facchetti? "Yes, but let's leave Facchetti alone, I don't want to say anything about him. That would be too heavy." Do you think a different image of the victorious Inter from those years will come out of the trial? "I don't know, I don't care. If I really wanted to hurt Inter, I would have written a lot of other things in that book. I would have talked about fixed matches and bought referees, especially in the cups. Instead, I let it go..." But was it just Inter that was doping back then? "Of course not. I was also with Fiorentina and Lazio, so I can speak directly about those experiences too. In Florence, on Saturday morning, either the masseur or the team doctor would come by and give us IV drips, the same ones Bruno Beatrice talked about with his wife. I was in the room with Giancarlo De Sisti, and we took them together. Not that they were mandatory, but those who didn't take them found it hard to play. It's now well known that from that team, besides Bruno Beatrice, Ugo Ferrante (heart failure in 2003) and Nello Saltutti (cancer in 2004) have died. Others have had very serious illnesses, like Mimmo Caso, Massimo Mattolini, and De Sisti himself..." De Sisti denies having taken drugs. "'Picchio' says one thing on television, but when we are out together smoking a cigarette he says another..." And at Lazio? "There they gave us Villescon, a drug that made you feel no fatigue. It came directly from the pharmacy. Stuff that would make you run like a train." Other teams? "When Herrera moved to Roma, he brought the same methods he used at Inter. What do you think the Roma striker Giuliano Taccola, at 26 years old, died of during a trip to Cagliari in '69?" But why do you think no one is talking about it even now? They are all - you are - sixty years old now... "Those who are still in football don't want to expose themselves; they're afraid of being left out of the loop. They are all tied to a system; they don't want to lose their privileges, go on TV, and so on. Take my brother: he has been treated terribly by Inter, they kicked him out in a horrible way and even took away his honorary card to enter San Siro, but he is still afraid of making the Inter executives angry and always speaks very well of them on TV. Mariolino Corso, a guy who has had serious heart problems because of those little pills, goes around saying he doesn't even know me. Even Angelillo, who has had serious heart issues, doesn’t want to say anything: he knows, he still works as a scout for Inter. The only ones talking about those years are the relatives of those who have passed away, like Gabriella Beatrice or Alessio Saltutti, Nello's son. It's with them, thanks to Mrs. Beatrice's lawyer, Odo Lombardo, that an association of victims of doping in football is now being formed." Of course, if a great champion like your brother were on your side, your battle would have an extraordinary testimonial... "To put it bluntly, Sandro doesn’t have the guts to do something like that." And do you think doping is still around today? "Yes, especially in amateur leagues, where there are no controls: there, they are doping like beasts. What hurts me the most, though, are the kids..." The kids? "Now they are starting to give pills and concoctions from the age of 14-15. I work with the Borghesiana team in Rome, where my son Michele plays, and I always tell the boys to be careful even with hot tea if they don’t know what’s in it. I also made a statement for the juvenile court in Milan: dozens of complaints from fathers and mothers of kids taking strange stuff are coming in, maybe they run like crazy on the field and then fall asleep at their desk the next day at school. That's who I'm bringing everything out for."

Perhaps some of you have forgotten this article: Pills in the coffee. That Herrera gave to the players. Many of whom have died. A former player recounts the doping of the Great Inter. And calls to the stand all the champions of that time in an interview with Ferruccio Mazzola. They are champions who have made the history of Italian football, those who will pass, one after the other, in a courtroom in Rome to talk about doping. Like Giacinto Facchetti, brilliant left back and today president of Inter; or like Sandro Mazzola, Mariolino Corso, Luis Suarez. And also: Tarcisio Burnich, Gianfranco Bedin, Angelo Domenghini, Aristide Guarneri. All called to testify by their then teammate, Ferruccio Mazzola, younger brother of Sandro, who wants to hear from their voices - and under oath - the truth about that Great Inter that won in Italy and around the world in the 1960s. “I didn't seek this trial: they dragged me into it. But now everything must come to light,” says Ferruccio. What does Mazzola refer to? “I was part of that Inter too, even though I played little as a starter. I personally witnessed the practices that the players were subjected to. I saw the coach, Helenio Herrera, giving the pills to place under the tongue. He tested them on the reserves (I was often among those) and then gave them to the starters. Some took them, some secretly spat them out. It was my brother Sandro who told me: if you don't want to swallow it, go to the bathroom and throw it away. That's what many did. But then one day Herrera noticed we were spitting them out, so he started dissolving them in coffee. From that day on, Herrera's "coffee" became a practice at Inter.” What was in those pills? “I don't know for sure, but I believe they were amphetamines. Once, after that coffee, during a Como-Inter match in 1967, I was in a state of total hallucination for three days and three nights, like an epileptic. Today everyone denies it, incredibly. Even Sandro...” Your brother? “Yes. Sandro and I, since I decided to bring this story to light, no longer speak. He says that dirty laundry should be washed in the family. I, on the other hand, believe it is right to say these things, even for my teammates from back then who got sick and perhaps paid the ultimate price. Too many...” Who is he referring to? “The first was Armando Picchi, the captain of that team, who died at 36 from spinal cancer. Then it was the turn of Marcello Giusti, who played in the reserves, killed by brain cancer in the late 90s. Carlo Tagnin, who never refused the pills because he wasn't a superstar and wanted to extend his career by running like a youngster, died of osteosarcoma in 2000. Mauro Bicicli left us in 2001 due to liver cancer. Ferdinando Miniussi, the reserve goalkeeper, died in 2002 from advanced cirrhosis due to hepatitis C. Enea Masiero, who was at Inter between '55 and '64, is undergoing chemotherapy. Pino Longoni, who went through Inter's youth system before moving to Fiorentina, has a vascular disease and is in a wheelchair, with no hopes of recovery…” Aside from Picchi and perhaps Tagnin, the others are less known compared to the great champions. “Because the reserves took more of those little white pills. I told you, us benchwarmers were used as guinea pigs. I talked about it for the first time a few months ago in my autobiography ("Il terzo incomodo," written with Fabrizio Càlzia, Bradipolibri 2004, ed.), which led to the trial in Rome.” Why? “Because after the publication of that book, I received a defamation lawsuit signed by Facchetti, in his capacity as president of Inter. Do they want to go before a judge? Fine: on November 19 there will be the second hearing, and we will ask that all the players of the team back then, I mean those who are still alive, come to court to testify.

"I want to see if under oath they will have the courage to not tell the truth."
But weren’t you friends with Facchetti?
“Yes, but let’s leave Facchetti aside, I don’t want to say anything about him. Those would be too heavy things.” Do you think that the trial will bring out a different image of the winning Inter of those years? “I don’t know, I don't care. If I really wanted to harm Inter, I would have written many other things in that book. I would have talked about rigged matches and bought referees, especially in the cups. Instead, I let it go...”
But was it only Inter that was doping back then?
“Of course not. I was also in Fiorentina and Lazio, so I can directly speak about those experiences too. In Florence, on Saturday mornings, either the masseur or the team doctor would come by and make us have drips, the same ones Bruno Beatrice talked about to his wife. I was in the room with Giancarlo De Sisti and we took them together. Not that they were mandatory, but those who didn’t take them rarely played. It is now known that in that team, besides Bruno Beatrice, Ugo Ferrante (heart attack in 2003) and Nello Saltutti (cancer in 2004) have died. Others have had very serious illnesses, like Mimmo Caso, Massimo Mattolini, and De Sisti himself...”
De Sisti denies having doped.
“'Picchio' says one thing on television, when we’re out together smoking a cigarette he says another...”
And at Lazio?
“There they gave us Villescon, a drug that made you not feel fatigue. It came directly from the pharmacy. Stuff that made you run like a train.”
Other teams?
“When Herrera moved to Roma, he brought the same methods he had used at Inter. What do you think the Roma striker Giuliano Taccola died of at 26 during a trip to Cagliari in '69?”
But why do you think no one is speaking out even now? They are all – you are – in your sixties now...
“Those who are still in football don’t want to expose themselves, they fear being left out of the loop. They are all tied to a system, they don’t want to lose their privileges, go on TV, and so on. Take my brother: he was treated terribly by Inter, they kicked him out in a horrible way and even took away his honorary membership to enter San Siro, yet he is still afraid of antagonizing the Inter executives and always speaks wonderfully about them on TV. Mariolino Corso, one who also had serious heart problems due to those pills, goes around saying he doesn’t even know me. Even Angelillo, who had serious heart issues, doesn’t want to say anything: he knows, he still works as a scout for Inter. The only ones talking about those years are the relatives of those who have passed away, like Gabriella Beatrice or Alessio Saltutti, Nello’s son. It is with them, thanks to the lawyer of Mrs. Beatrice, Odo Lombardo, that an association of doping victims in football is now being formed.”
Of course, if a great champion like your brother were on your side, your battle would have an extraordinary spokesperson...
“To put it bluntly, Sandro doesn’t have the guts to do something like that.”
And today, do you think doping still exists?
“Yes, especially in amateur leagues, where there are no controls: that's where they pump themselves like beasts. What pains me the most, though, are the kids...”
The kids?
“Now they are starting to give pills and brews from the age of 14-15. I work with the team from Borghesiana, in Rome, where my son Michele also plays, and I always tell the kids to be careful even with hot tea, if they don’t know what’s in it. I’ve also given a statement to the juvenile court in Milan: dozens of complaints are coming in from fathers and mothers whose children are taking strange stuff, maybe they run like crazy on the field and then fall asleep at their desks the next day in school. That’s who I’m bringing all this out for.”