It was the end of a spring afternoon, on 4 May 1949, when the Fiat G212 aeroplane, carrying the entire Turin football crashed at the foot of the Basilica of Superga which was surrounded by a thick fog caused by bad weather. The aeroplane had been due to land in Milan and it was never known why the pilot was flying towards Turin. The team, which was returning from a friendly match in Lisbon against Benefica, was considered one of the strongest in the world at the time. It had won 5 successive championships in the previous seven years (in ‘43-‘44 and ‘44-‘45 there had been no championships because of the war) and its players made up most of the Italian national team. 31 people lost their lives in the crash. The entire squad, composed of 18 players, the managers and accompanying people, members of the crew and three of the best Italian journalists: Renato Casalbore (Tuttosport), Renato Tosatti (Gazzetta del Popolo) e Luigi Cavallero (La Stampa). Their bodies were laid in repose in Palazzo Madama. Turin came to a complete standstill on the day of the funeral. It was attended by more than 500,000, including all the main international delegations. The Government was represented by the young Giulio Andreotti. The President of the Football Federation, Ottorino Barassi, called out to the team as though they were about to come onto the pitch: Bacigalupo, Maroso, Ballarin, Mazzola "Captain Valentino, this is the fifth Cup, the Turin Cup, look how big it is, it contains the heart of the whole world". These words were aimed at the team as he lifted the 5th trophy up to the sky. When the team died there were still 4 days left before the end of the championships. The Figc, in response to a request by Inter and Milan made on behalf of other teams had decided to award the trophy to Turin in their memory. The Club was able to form a team from their reserve players who won all four matches against the opponents’ reserve teams, who had been sent to play out of respect and solidarity.