Mario Corso

Italian left winger, key to Grande Inter, three Serie A titles, 23 Italy caps.

Mario Corso (25 August 1941 – 19 June 2020) was an Italian football player and coach. A famed and dynamic left winger, he was regarded as one of the greatest Italian players in his position, earning the nicknames "Mandrake" and "God's Left Foot", due to his skills, free kick technique and crossing ability. Corso was mostly remembered for his highly successful club career at Inter Milan, and was a key member of Helenio Herrera's Grande Inter side. He also represented the Italy national team on 23 occasions. After retiring, he later served as a coach for Inter Milan and other teams, winning the B group of the 1987–88 Serie C2 campaign with Mantova.

Quick Facts

Born: 25 August 1941
Birthplace: Verona, Italy
Died: 19 June 2020
Place of death: Milan, Italy
Height: 1.75 m / 5 ft 9 in
Position: Winger
Total caps: 439
Total goals: 78

Lore & Background

Corso was an important player of Inter Milan, the team with which he played almost exclusively throughout his entire career, from 1957 to 1973, winning three Serie A titles (1962–63, 1964–65, 1965–66), two European Cups and two Intercontinental Cups, also reaching another European Cup final, and a Coppa Italia final. Corso made his Inter debut on 23 November 1957, in a 5–1 Serie A win against Sampdoria, soon becoming a permanent member of the starting eleven, and later serving as captain of the squad. Corso had a role on the left wing in Helenio Herrera's Inter Milan team of the 1960s, which is known as La Grande Inter, winning consecutive Serie A, European Cup, and Intercontinental Cup titles. Following his time with Inter, Corso briefly moved to Genoa in 1973, remaining there for two seasons before retiring in 1975. In total, he played 436 matches with 78 goals in Serie A.

Reader's Guide

In total, Corso made 23 appearances for the Italy national team over ten years, scoring four goals. He made his debut in 1961, in a 3–2 home loss against England in an international friendly match. On 15 October 1961, he scored his first goals for Italy, scoring two goals against Israel in a 1962 FIFA World Cup qualifying match, which Italy won 4–2 away from home. He also scored a goal in the return leg on 4 November, in Turin. He was selected for the 1962 FIFA World Cup squad. He returned to the starting line-up in 1964, and on 10 May, he scored his final goal for Italy in a 3–1 victory against Switzerland. He would also later be excluded from Italy's squad in their similarly disappointing 1966 FIFA World Cup campaign, as well as Italy's victorious UEFA Euro 1968 squad, which won the tournament on home soil. He was once again excluded from the Italian side that would reach the final of the 1970 FIFA World Cup. Corso made his final appearance for Italy on 9 October 1971, in a 3–0 victory against Sweden. Along with Giuliano Sarti, Armando Picchi, Gianfranco Bedin, and Antonio Angelillo, he is one of the most successful Italian, Inter club players to have never been called up for a World Cup. Despite his exclusion from the national side, in 1967 FIFA placed him in their All-Star team for an international friendly against Spain, in honour of goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora, winning the match 3–0.