This week in Lazio history: 4-4 draw with Milan, Giordano’s double lob goal, the first Serie A game, and we remember the great Silvio Piola.
Matches of the Week
Date: Sunday, September 30, 1984
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Fixture: Lazio Inter 1-1
Juan Carlo Lorenzo returns and Lazio finally get their first point.
Date: Sunday, October 1, 1972
Venue: Stadio Comunale, Florence
Fixture: Fiorentina Lazio 0-1
A Garlaschelli first-half goal gives Lazio an important win.
Date: Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Fixture: Lazio Real Madrid 2-2, Champions League
The Biancocelesti hold the mighty Real Madrid to a draw in a match they could even have won.
Date: Wednesday, October 4, 2023
Venue: Celtic Park, Glasgow
Fixture: Celtic Lazio 1-2, Champions League
A last-second Pedro goal allows the Biancocelesti to win their first away game in Champions League for twenty years.
Date: Sunday, October 6, 1929
Venue: Stadio Rondinella, Rome
Fixture: Lazio Bologna 3-0
In the first Serie A game in Lazio’s history, the Biancocelesti crush Bologna.
Match In Focus
Date: Sunday, October 3, 1999
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Fixture: Lazio Milan 4-4
The previous season Lazio had come agonisingly close to winning the title. They were only overtaken by eventual champions Milan in the penultimate game of the season and in controversial circumstances. Lazio were held to a 1-1 draw in Florence with some extremely dubious refereeing decisions by Treossi, including the denial of a clear penalty on Marcelo Salas.
This evening was the continuation of the previous season’s rivalry. Lazio were desperate for revenge.
A crowd of almost 60,000 were present for this much-awaited clash. It was still warm in Rome, as it often is in early October.
Lazio started at lightning speed. After only one minute a venomous Sinisa Mihajlovic corner had to be punched away on the front post by Christian Abbiati. A minute later Alen Boksic burst into the Milan area but Abbiati rushed off his line, dived low and blocked.
Milan popped up in the 8th and 10th minute with shots by Massimo Ambrosini and Federico Giunti which went wide.
In the 18th minute, Lazio took the lead. Roberto Ayala messed up the control of the ball inside the area and it rolled to Sebastian Veron who hit a first-time half-volley and beat Abbiati on the near post. Lazio 1 Milan 0.
The Biancocelesti almost doubled in the 21st minute when a thundering, long-range Juan Sebastian Veron shot came off the crossbar.
Milan responded with Andrij Shevchenko who beat Alessandro Nesta for speed and hit a low cross goal shot but Luca Marchegiani dived to his left and palmed away. This was a warning for Lazio, Shevchenko was alive, kicking and fast.
In the 35th minute, Milan equalized. Serginho crossed from the left and George Weah went for a back heel that didn’t really come off but it then fortuitously hit Mihajlovic’s head and went in. Lazio 1 Milan 1. A lucky goal, continuing from the previous year when Milan had the knack of scoring “unorthodox” goals.
Lazio however reacted well and a minute later Boksic, through on goal, blasted a shot that Abbiati double-fisted over the bar. On Mihajlovic’s successive corner Diego Simeone and Abbiati got in each other’s way and the ball came off the keeper on the front post and into the net. Lazio 2 Milan 1.
Milan were groggy and two minutes later Lazio scored again. A perfect cross by Sergio Conceição was headed in by Marcelo Salas. Lazio 3 Milan 1. Lazio fans were in heaven.
Unfortunately for the Biancocelesti the “Devil” was not finished yet. Just before halftime, in the 43rd minute, Massimo Giunti teed up Shevchenko who anticipated a hesitant Beppe Favalli, raced towards goal, went around Marchegiani and put the ball under the crossbar. All at lightning speed. Lazio 3 Milan 2.
The second period started with Lazio on the attack. In the 46th minute, a Conceição curler went just over the bar. In the 47th Veron teed up Salas but the Chilean arrived just short. In the 62nd Abbiati saved superbly from a Salas header which bounced in front of the line and looked like a winner but the young keeper somehow got a hand to it.
In the 63rd minute, Milan were awarded a penalty. The Rossoneri struck on the break and Weah went around and then into Marchegiani and collapsed theatrically (as most strikers do in fairness). Shevchenko stepped up and scored with a low shot to Marchegiani’s right. Lazio 3 Milan 3.
Lazio had the chance to close it but now it was suddenly all square again.
Lazio threw themselves forward desperate for the win. Conceição tried his luck but Abbiati got down and caught the Portuguese’s effort.
In the 67th minute came another twist in the story and Milan went ahead. It was Shevchenko again who, after a Weah assist, beat Pancaro and then Marchegiani with a low, left footer on the far post. Lazio 3 Milan 4. An incredible turnaround in just four minutes.
Lazio were undeservedly trailing now and pushed forward again. In the 71st minute, Abbiati brilliantly saved a Mancini header on the goal line from a curling Mihajlovic corner.
A minute later Lazio drew level. Veron squared the ball in low from the right and “El Matador” Salas, who was lurking near the penalty spot, drilled a left-footer past four defenders and the keeper to equalize. Lazio 4 Milan 4.
Lazio were not satisfied and wanted the win at all costs. The Biancocelesti had several chances in the last fifteen minutes. Abbiati however had other ideas and saved well from Roberto Mancini, Veron, in the 90th minute a diving Salas header and finally another venomous Mihajlovic corner. Final score Lazio 4 Milan 4.
Lazio were disappointed but it had been a superb game. Both teams were applauded off the pitch after a game which would go down in history.
Bruno Giordano vs Juventus 1977
Last week we mentioned some of the great goals of Lazio history, among which Bruno Giordano’s remarkable goal against Juventus in 1977.
After reaching a UEFA Cup qualification the previous season thanks to Luis Vinicio’s zonal organization and a mixture of young as well as experienced players, Lazio were quite positive that the 1977-78 season would have been a great one. But the start had been rather dismal with an early exit from the Coppa Italia. Furthermore, Vinicio had decided to play with a young keeper, Claudio Garella, and got rid of scudetto winner Felice Pulici, much loved by the fans. There was not much money and not a lot could be done as far as transfers were concerned.
The bad start continued in Serie A and in the first three games Lazio had lost one and drawn two. Next up were the mighty Juventus which made up most of the Nazionale.
But the Biancocelesti played one of the best games ever. After three minutes Renzo Garlaschelli had already put Lazio in the lead. In the second half, Giordano doubled the score with a marvellous acrobatic volley.
Then came one of the best goals in Lazio history. In the 66th minute, a Roberto Bettega header was parried by Garella. Ball back to Lazio, Pietro Ghedin crossed, Francesco Morini missed the ball that arrived to Giordano. Lob over Morini, Dino Zoff advanced, lob over Zoff. Lazio 3 Juventus 0.
A truly fantastic goal. The crowd was so wild with excitement that the noise they made was used for the Biancocelesti’s famous anthem “So’ già du’ ore”.
In Memory: Silvio Piola
Silvio Piola can still today be considered the best Italian centre-forward ever. He is the top Serie A goal scorer of all time with 274 goals (290 if one also adds the 1945-46 championship which was divided into two groups of teams due to the post-war difficulties), the current leading Serie A goal scorer for Pro Vercelli and Novara, third goal scorer in Nazionale behind Gigi Riva and Giuseppe Meazza, and second with Lazio behind Ciro Immobile.
Born in Robbio, near Pavia, where his parents were working, on September 29, 1913, but not long after his family moved back to Vercelli. He started playing football in a local youth team, Veloces 1925, which were soon annexed by Pro Vercelli. He debuted in Serie A at 16 years of age on February 16 1930 in Bologna. He became a first-team player the year after. He stayed five years at Vercelli, appearing in 127 games and scoring 51 goals. In a game against Fiorentina, won by Pro Vercelli 7-2, he scored six goals, a record that still stands (equalled by Omar Sivori in 1961 in a Juventus-Inter 9-1 but in different circumstances since Inter had played with the youth team in protest against the Italian Federation).
By 1934 the time had come to go and there were huge bids to sign this world-class champion. In the end, Lazio bought him, thanks to the political intervention of high-level members of the fascist party. He did not come cheap, Lazio had to spend 250,000 Lire, an enormous sum of money at the time.
He stayed for nine years, played 243 games (227 in Serie A, 10 in Coppa Italia and 6 in the Mitropa Cup) and scored 159 goals (143 in Serie A, 6 in Coppa Italia and 10 in the Mitropa Cup). He was the top scorer in Serie A twice (1936-37 and 1942-43).
In his first two years, Lazio came 5th and 7th. It was only in 1936-37 with the signings of Giovanni Riccardi, Umberto Busani, Bruno Camolese and Giovanni Costa that Lazio became competitive. That season Lazio topped the table in the first half of the season but a number of injuries, including Piola’s, in the second half allowed Bologna to overtake the Biancoclesti who however arrived second with a strong finale. Lazio became less competitive over the years despite a good 4th place in 1939-40 and 5th in 1941-42.
Silvio Piola’s last year at Lazio was in 1942-43 where he scored 21 goals. He was the oldest player to score 10 goals in the first 8 games of the season (a record broken by Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2020). His 149 goals in Serie A with the Biancocelesti was only overtaken in 2021 by Ciro Immobile. Once the war interrupted national football, Piola moved back to Piedmont in 1944 and was allowed to play for Fiat Torino. He then decided to stay and asked for a transfer. Lazio sold him to Juventus where he played for two seasons.
Juventus then thought he was too old and sold him to Novara. Piola proved them wrong by playing seven seasons with the Piedmontese club, taking them back to Serie A in his first year and keeping them there until he quit in 1954.
In total Piola played 635 professional games and scored 349 goals.
The great Silvio never won a scudetto, but he won a World Cup in 1938 which was played in France. He played four games and scored five times including a brace in the final against Hungary.
Piola would go on to play 34 games for Italy, the last one in 1952 in a draw against England. To note is that before Diego Maradona’s hand of God (his famous goal with his hand in Argentina England 2-1 in the quarter-finals of Mexico 1986), there was Piola’s goal. In the game played on May 13 1939, Piola tried to head the ball but seeing he could not get to it he thumped it in with his fist. So England has a history of being tricked. In the end, Piola scored 30 goals for the Nazionale.
Piola died in Gattinara near Vercelli on October 4, 1996.
He still holds a number of records:
- Italian footballer to have scored most goals in official competitions (390)
- Leading goal scorer in the Italian first-tier championship (290)
- Leading Serie A scorer (274)
- The only player, together with Sivori, to score 6 goals in a game
- Youngest player to score a hat trick in Serie A (17 years and 132 days)
- Youngest player to score four goals in a match (18 years and 54 goals)
He was a complete player. He could shoot with both feet, acrobatic, quite fast despite his height. He could score with shots from outside the box, headers, left foot, right foot, and bicycle shots. An Italian journalist claimed he had the power of Gunnar Nordahl (powerful Swedish forward who scored more than 200 goals in Serie A), the header of John Charles (the tall Welsh champion who played for Juventus in the 1950s), Gigi Riva’s shot (legendary Cagliari and Italy forward), the quick thinking of Gianpiero Boniperti (one of the greatest forwards in Italian history) and the acrobatics of Guglielmo Gabetto (one of the protagonists of the Great Torino of the 1940s).
He is the greatest Italian centre-forward of all time, and he played with Lazio.
Birthdays This Week
- Emilio Caprile, 30/9/1928, forward, Italy, 20 appearances, 2 goals (1952-53)
- Eliseu, 1/10/1986, midfielder, Portugal, 9 appearances (2009-10)
- Gaby Mudingayi, 1/10/1981, midfielder, Belgium, 83 appearances, 1 goal (2005-07)
- Amarildo, 2/10/1964, forward, Brasil, 31 appearances, 9 goals (1989-90)
- Martin Castroman, 2/10/1980, midfielder, Argentina, 55 appearances, 6 goals (2001-03)
- Etrit Berisha, 3/10/1989, goalkeeper, Albania, 60 appearances (2013-16)
- Taty Castellanos, 3/10/1998, forward, Argentina, 52 appearances, 9 goals (2023 onwards)
- Quinto Rosso, 3/10/1905, forward, Italy, 10 appearances, 5 goals (1925-26)
- Arcadio Spinozzi, 3/10/1953, defender, Italy, 132 appearances 1 goal (1980-86)
- Egidio Turchi, 4/10/1913, midfielder, Italy, 17 appearances (1935-36)
- Claudio Vagheggi, 4/10/1956, forward, Italy, 46 appearances 9 goals (1981-82)
- Riccardo Okely III, 5/10/1906, forward, Italy, 33 appearances, 7 goals (1926-31)
- Kennet Andersson, 6/10/1967, forward, Sweden, 2 appearances (1999)
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.