Memories of Mario Niedda, born in 1931, old bomber and elementary school teacher: “Once we escaped from Calangianus aboard the trunk of a truck.”
SENT TO OZIERI. Maestro Niedda, what a beautiful goal. But how many have you done in his career?
The student with the black apron, the white collar and the red bow, waiting for the answer, stares with lively eyes at the young teacher, sitting behind the desk. “Someone happened to mark it. But now let’s go on with the lesson ». Seventy years later, the old master leafs through the album of memories in the living room of his house, in the upper part of Ozieri. Black and white photos of elementary school classes alternate with sepia-toned shots of men in shorts and very tight woolen sweaters. Inkwells and shoes bolted, dictations and shots on the band.
“I actually happened to score a few goals,” smiles Mario Niedda, who at 91 still gives his memories exactly the same way he gave the ball many years ago. “To tell the truth, I was not technically a lot of stuff – he points out immediately -. I was fast and agile, yes, and I was getting along pretty well with my head too. At first, maybe I was even a little too good, then I started to adapt. Perhaps from a time when I was marked against Ilva by a criminal, who at every contact threw a head at me. I gave him two punches, right-left, and he calmed down ».
We are at the end of the forties, this young and long-limbed player leaves Ozieri and moves to Sassari to wear the Torres shirt. Two seasons in the Rossoblu, from 1948 to 1950, 17 goals scored and many “training” experiences around Sardinia. «Every game was a battle – he says – even when relations with the other team were good. We went to Calangianus once for signing honor, as we had already won the championship. The old field was in the middle of the schools, the changing rooms were the classrooms, we undressed among the desks. It should have been a party, the reception was good, only we were so “imprudent” as to score a goal. The climate heated up and ended very badly: our bus was smashed with stones, we walked to the Luras station and there we asked a truck driver for a ride. We went back to Sassari sitting inside the chest, laughing like crazy ».
Not to mention the derbies with Cagliari. “I was on the pitch the day we won at the Via Pola pitch, the famous match after which the referee Casu from Oristano wrote an imaginative report, inventing that he had suspended the game 10 ‘from the end due to his illness, what ever occurred. The result was not approved, but the federation gave us a prize of 5 thousand lire and we sent the kids to protest at the repetition of the race ».
Two seasons, at Torres, but unforgettable, so much so that even today Mario Niedda frequents the group of the Vecchie glorie rossoblù, of which he has become the dean. «I was very well received and I was able to make myself appreciated immediately, because I scored 6 goals in the first three games, including a hat-trick at Ilva. I was lucky enough to have extraordinary players near and almost forgotten today: Piero Mastino was a fantastic opportunist, “Firumena” Tore Arca I have never seen him lose a contrast with anyone. Umberto Serradimigni was a superior athlete. I can only say one thing about Vanni Sanna: in my opinion his class was superior even to that of Zola, but he thought too much about women … ».
Mario Niedda continued to play for a long time, becoming captain of the Sardinian selection and treading the fields of the whole island, including kicks, football and many goals. In the meantime he started working as an elementary school teacher. He also trained many of those children, always in his Ozieri. In his memories, as in this old photo album, aprons and football shirts still go hand in hand.
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