This week in Lazio history focuses on a demolition of Inter, a win in Istanbul and a special focus on a game against Arsenal.
Matches of the Week
Date: Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Venue: İnönü Stadium, Istanbul
Fixture: Beşiktaş – Lazio 0-2, Champions League
Lazio win in Turkey thanks to Stam and Fiore.
Date: Sunday, September 18, 1983
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Fixture: Lazio Inter 3-0
Lazio demolish Inter 3-0 with goals from Giordano, Cupini and Laudrup.
Date: Thursday, September 19, 2002
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Fixture: Lazio AC Skoda Xanthi 4-0, UEFA Cup first round
With four unanswered goals Lazio look with confidence to the return leg.
Date: Sunday, September 19, 1999
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Fixture: Lazio Torino 3-0
Despite a non-vintage first half, Lazio lead by two goals at the break, then outclass Toro and finish them off with the Matador.
Date: Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Fixture: Lazio Milan 1-1
Floccari gets a late equalizer on the day Olympia does her first pre-match show.
Match In Focus
Date: Wednesday, September 16, 1970
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Fixture: Lazio Arsenal 2-2, Fairs Cup First Round
After the 1969-70 season Lazio had qualified for the Fairs Cup.
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was a European football competition played from 1955 to 1971. The idea came from Ernst Tommen, FIFA Vice President, Ottorino Barassi, President of the Italian Football Federation, and Stanley Rous, English Football Association secretary.
Initially, the cup was used to promote international trade fairs. Until 1964, the clubs that played were either chosen by their Federations or invited by the organizers. After that the teams that played the Fairs Cup were based on league positions and the competition looked more like what the UEFA Cup would become.
Lazio, never lucky when international draws come along, had to face Arsenal in the first round. The Gunners had not done particularly well the previous season, finishing twelfth in the first division, but they had beaten Anderlecht to win the Fairs Cup.
The rivalry started the day before when Arsenal manager Bertie Mee in the press conference for the British press stated that the game against the Italians was going to be a real battle and he was sure that his players would be physically attacked on the pitch. This was because Juan Carlos Lorenzo, Lazio’s manager, in the World Cup of 1966 was the head coach of Argentina who were pretty brutal in the game against England. It was so bad that Sir Alf Ramsey described the Argentinians as animals.
These declarations certainly did not go down well with the Lazio team and since both Giorgio Chinaglia and Pino Wilson understood English, they could tell when the Arsenal players were making fun of them. In contrast, the Gunners claimed that they were foul-mouthed and spat at during the game.
Anyway, the match started with Lazio attacking with shots from outside the box from Ferruccio Mazzola, Chinaglia and Giuseppe Massa. In the 25th minute Pierpaolo Manservisi dribbled past a few defenders but once in front of the keeper shot directly at him, Chinaglia tried to score on the rebound but Frank McLintock managed to save into the corner. Long John was dangerous in the 33rd minute with a shot that hit the outside of the net.
After a good first half, Lazio had a blackout at the beginning of the second 45 minutes. In the 52nd minute, John Radford headed a lob over Michelangelo Sulfaro who was way too far out of the goal and gave the Gunners the lead. Which four minutes later became 2-0. George Armstrong ran down the left and crossed, Nello Governato was busy tying his bootlace, and Radford in complete solitude headed the ball into the net.
This one-two almost knocked Lazio out, but they pulled their socks up and started to press the Arsenal team. At this point enter Schulenburg, West German referee. After ignoring a blatant foul on Governato in the box, in the 66th minute, he claimed his masterpiece. After a Giuliano Fortunato-Massa-Chinaglia play, Long John tried a shot that was parried into the corner by Bob Wilson. On the subsequent corner, Mazzola crossed, Pat Rice intervened with a studs-up tackle on Franco Nanni who was about to shoot but Chinaglia then managed to score anyway. At that point the ref gave an indirect free kick to Lazio, not conceding the goal. Huge protests from the Lazio players and fans with an attempted pitch invasion.
Massa, Mazzola and Arrigo Dolso tried shots that shaved the woodwork and then Chinaglia decided to sort things out himself. In the 85th minute Dolso to Chinaglia, big whack, and Lazio reduced the deficit. Mazzola missed the equaliser a few seconds later but then Chinaglia in the 89th minute went solo, dribbled past a couple of players and went forward like a bulldozer. He went past Wilson and shot at goal, on the line McLintock saved with his hands, penalty. Long John made no mistake, Lazio 2 Arsenal 2.
After the match, there was an official dinner for the two teams. As they were leaving Ray Kennedy, maybe as a joke, kicked Giuseppe Papadopulo’s backside. His prompt reaction was an uppercut. This generated a massive brawl between the players. Papdopulo, Sulfaro and Rosario Di Vincenzo were forced to go to the hospital to be medicated.
The British press claimed that it was the Lazio players who started it, incited by Lorenzo, but one can also read a little vendetta by the Brits following the 1966 battle in the World Cup.
Lazio were eventually beaten 2-0 in the return match.
This would not be the only time that a game with the Brits ended up in a fight. It happened again three years later, but that is another story we will be writing about.
Birthdays This Week
- Roberto Galbiati, 16/9/1957, defender, Italy, 35 appearances (1985-86)
- Giancarlo Marini, 16/9/1964, midfielder, Italy, 41 appearances, 1 goal (1982-85)
- Karl-Heinz Riedle, 16/9/1965, forward, Germany, 94 appearances, 32 goals (1990-93)
- Christos Mandas, 17/9/2001, goalkeeper, Greece, 12 appearances (since 2022)
- Angelo Cupini, 18/9/1958, midfielder, Italy, 29 appearances, 3 goals (1983-84)
- Enrico Vella, 18/9/1957, midfielder, Italy, 52 appearances, 6 goals (1982-83)
- Ettore Agazzani, 19/9/1902, goalkeeper, Italy, 19 appearances (1922-23)
- Tommaso Rocchi, 19/9/1971, forward, Italy, 293 appearances, 105 goals (2004-13)
- Mauricio, 20/9/1988, defender, Brazil, 56 appearances (2015-18)
- Carlo Parola, 20/9/1921, midfielder, Italy, 7 appearances (1955-56)
- Giuliano Giannichedda, 21/9/1974, midfielder, Italy, 138 appearances,1 goal (2001-05)
- Roberto Muzzi, 21/9/1971, forward, Italy, 62 appearances, 11 goals (2003-05)
- Sergio Piacentini, 21/9/1920, defender, Italy, 75 appearances, 1 goal (1947-50)
- Luigi Vettraino, 21/9/1920, forward, Italy, 71 appearances, 18 goals (1938-42)
- Dino Canestri, 22/9/1907, defender, Italy (1927-29, manager 1941, 1943-45, 1958)
- Alceste Grifoni, 22/9/1882, defender, Italy (early years)
This Article Was Written by Dag Jenkins & Simon Basten from Lazio Stories. More Information on the Above Matches and Players can be found on LazioStories.com.