76 years have passed since the Fiat G.212 aircraft of Aepio Linee Italiane, in which the football players of the campus were traveling Italian Torino from Lisbon to his cityto northern Italy, he crashed into one of the faces of the Superga Basilica, located in the hills of Turin.
That was one of the biggest tragedies of world football in the 20th century: 31 people died. Of these, 18 were players of the squad that, at that time, was considered one of the best on the planet. That squad, which went to Portugal to play the farewell match of the Portuguese player Xico Ferreira, was the basis of the Italian team that would play the World Cup in 1950.
The incident generated so much pain that, more than seven decades later, the fans of “El Toro” do not forget it. On the contrary, every year they pay tribute to the victims. The plane crash occurred on May 4, 1949. This Monday, May 5, 2025, in the place where the plane crashed, the current squad players met with fans to remember what happened.
Why did Duván Zapata move?
It is tradition that the captain of Torino Lea, in front of the Basilica, the names of the players who died in the tragedy. This year, the person in charge of doing so was the Colombian striker Duván Zapatawho recovers from a cross ligament injury that suffered in October 2024 in a duel against the Inter from Milan.
That took him out of competition, when he was one of the fundamental players of the Italian squad. Its recovery process is not over yet. However, it is going well. A few days ago the press of that country predicted that the Creole striker would return to play next October, since he has advanced well in the therapies.
Zapata, who has been living in Italy for almost 15 years (Napoli arrived in 2013), He was excited while he read, with the solemnity of a Roman celebration, the names of the victims. The attacker, who a few years ago was part of the Colombian National Team, arrived in 2023 to the Turin team. He used to wear Udinese, Sampdoria and Atalanta shirts, where he had a good level.