in July 1944, Mazzola and his teammates played several matches for charity. The league resumed in 1945, and was characterised by the Campionato Alta Italia. Mazzola contributed 16 goals to Torino's scudetto-winning formation, with five braces; the first in the third round when he scored twice against Sampierdarenese in Genoa. In this season, Mazzola would also begin rolling his sleeves up to mark the quarto d'ora granata ("the maroon quarter-hour") when the team needed the extra push. In the 1946–47 season, Mazzola was promoted to captain, and finished the season as the league top scorer with 29 goals. On 20 April 1946, he scored the fastest hat-trick in the history of Italian football, with three goals in three minutes against Vicenza. Mazzola and Loik would constitute the two points of greatest strength of the formation, with Torino winning their fourth overall Scudetto at the end of the season. Mazzola would continue his form in the 1947–48 season, and after the first seven rounds he was top scorer with eight goals. On 5 October 1947, at the Stadio Nazionale in Rome, Torino closed the first half with a score of 1–0 for the Giallorossi; returning from the locker room, Torino scored seven goals in 25 minutes, three of which were scored by Mazzola, who was forced to leave the field prematurely, amid the applause of the entire stadium due to a thigh strain. His physical problems continued in the months of November and December, yet Mazzola continued to play, offering repeated discontinuous performances. On 23 May 1948, the match against Triestina in Trieste finished goalless; Mazzola refused to pass to his teammates, who showed impatience for his actions. Various interpretations of this event exist: besides the simple justification that the Mazzola wanted to rest, as he was tired and struggling with injuries, there were also rumours that he intended to end his relationship with Torino and move to Internazionale. Amidst this, Torino would go on to win their fourth consecutive title with five rounds in advance, with Mazzola scoring the decisive goal in a 4–3 win over Lazio. Mazzola finished the season with 25 goals as second top scorer behind Giampiero Boniperti. At the end of the season, Torino were invited to play four friendly matches in Brazil by the Brazilian Football Confederation; Mazzola before leaving, on 29 June, announced in a radio interview his farewell to Torino, amid the dismay