This week in history there were two derby wins, last minute goals against Fiorentina and Inter and we remember Lazio’s first manager, Guido Baccani
Matches of the Week
Date: Sunday, February 25, 1951
Venue: Stadio Torino, Rome
Fixture: Lazio Roma 2-1
An early goal by Sentimenti III and a second by Cecconi inside the first 30 minutes were enough for Lazio to beat Roma
Date: Sunday, February 27, 2005
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Fixture: Lazio Parma 2-0
Lazio continued their good form with a third consecutive victory thanks to Oddo and Filippini, but it was by no means easy
Date: Sunday, February 28, 1993
Venue: Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa
Fixture: Genoa Lazio 2-3
On Zoff’s birthday, Lazio come back from 2-0 down and win the match thanks to a Riedle brace and despite Gascoigne’s red card.
Date: Saturday, March 1, 1997
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Fixture: Lazio Fiorentina 1-0
An injury time goal by Negro gives Lazio three points
Date: Saturday, March 2, 2019
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Fixture: Lazio Roma 3-0
Lazio demolish Roma thanks to goals from Caicedo, Immobile and Cataldi
Match In Focus
Date: Sunday, February 26, 1978
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Fixture: Lazio Inter 1-0
Lazio had to face Inter without Pietro Ghedin and Vincenzo D’Amico, both injured, as well as Ciccio Cordova suspended. Vinicio therefore decided to move Bruno Giordano behind the forwards Renzo Garlaschelli and Sergio Clerici.
It had been raining for days in Rome and the pitch was in a terrible state. The first half however was enjoyable with chances for both sides. In the 16th minute Alessandro Scanziani, just inside the box, had a good chance but Garella saved. A few minutes later a Clerici header hit the woodwork. In the 38th minute Pietro Anastasi’s header following a crossed free kick from Scanziani was well saved by the Lazio goalkeeper. At the end of the first half, Giordano dribbled a few Inter players and once in the box gave the ball a whack. Ivano Bordon saved.
The second half was all Lazio. Inter just defended and prayed. In the 46th minute Bordon sent a Giordano header onto the crossbar. In the 14th minute Roberto Badiani had a chance but again Bordon saved as he did again a minute later when Clerici was in the perfect position to head the ball into the goal.
Lazio continued to attack, occasionally also with defenders Pino Wilson and Lionello Manfredonia, since the Inter attack was practically non-existent. Badiani had another chance in the 29th minute but the Inter goalkeeper saved again.
A comical referee error in the 34th minute. Clerici took a free kick on the right just outside the penalty box. As soon as the ball was shot, Sergio Gonella decided Garlaschelli was offside. But there was an Inter player on the goal line so it was impossible for the Lazio forward to be offside. Gonella realised his mistake and decided on a dropped ball just outside the box but more central. Garlaschelli, first to the ball, was fouled, but the ref said to play on!!! Too much confusion, better to get the ball away from the Inter goal, the referee must have thought. Gonella would later ref the 1978 World Cup final between Argentina and the Netherlands not without controversy.
In the last 15 minutes the conditions of the pitch and the incessant rain started to take their toll on the Biancocelesti as they struggled to create anything decent. It was getting dark too.
In the 87th minute, a corner for Lazio. Luigi Boccolini crossed the ball into the box from the left, Scanziani cleared but it went back to Boccolini who dribbled an Inter player and crossed again into the box, Bordon fumbled, Giordano shot but Bordon saved, ball to Garlaschelli who shot towards the goal but Scanziani saved on the line. The ball was dancing on the line (and may have even gone in) but in came Clerici and tapped it in. 1-0 for Lazio. Game over!!!
This was the last goal by a foreign player in Italy until the clubs were allowed to sign foreigners again in 1980.
In Memory: Guido Baccani
Guido Baccani was born in Rome on April 6, 1882.
He was a keen sportsman and walked, ran, played water polo as well as a new sport, football.
He joined Lazio in February 1900, only a month after the sports club’s foundation. He was an active member of the club in those exciting early years.
In 1902 he obtained the Audax walking patent by completing a 75-kilometre route in the Roman Castelli area. It was after admiring Fortunato Ballerini’s impressive walking abilities that Baccani offered him the Lazio presidency in 1902.
Baccani then became Lazio’s first technical director alongside Sante Ancherani and between 1903 and 1906 was general secretary of the club.
In 1906 he played water polo for Lazio and at the same time became the Lazio football coach.
In 1907-08 Lazio won the Interregional Centre-South League.
The first official Roman football league started in 1909. Lazio won it winning all six games, beating Foot Ball Club di Roma, Juventus Roma and Fortitudo twice each.
They won it again the next two years and in 1912-13 as well as 1913-14 reached the national final but were well beaten by Pro Vercelli in a single match 6-0 and then by Casale 1-9 on aggregate. This was however an impressive feat by Lazio.
In 1914-15 Lazio again reached the national final but never got to play it as all sporting activities were interrupted by the outbreak of World War I. The Scudetto was however controversially awarded to Genoa. An ongoing legal battle, not involving the club directly, is still trying to obtain some justice and possibly an ex aequo title.
In 1919 after the war he was made “Cavaliere della Corona D’Italia” (Order of the Crown of Italy for civilian and military merit). In this period, he also started working as a journalist, collaborating with “La Gazzetta dello Sport” and becoming editor of “La Nuova Italia Sportiva”.
He remained at Lazio after the war while also doing some refereeing in the First Category. In 1923 Lazio won the Southern First Division but were then defeated by Genoa in the national final, this time fair and square, on the pitch 1-6 on aggregate.
He was manager/coach until 1924 when he was replaced by Lazio’s first foreign manager, Hungarian Dezső Kőszegi. Baccani was a firm believer in amateur sport but the football world was already taking other directions.
On November 16, 1924, Baccani was nominated, alongside Augusto Rangone and Giuseppe Milan, as a member of the technical committee in charge of the Italian national team. He was instrumental in getting the first ever call up for Roman player, Fulvio Bernardini who he had worked with at Lazio. This task was carried out until 18 June 1925. On November 4 1925 Rangone was made Italy manager.
In 1929 Baccani was briefly manager of recently formed Roma. He lasted seven games, 2 wins (including Cremonese 9-0), 2 draws and 3 defeats and was replaced by Englishman Herbert Burgess.
Despite this last black mark on his curriculum Baccani was an important figure in Lazio’s history in the first part of the 20th century. As a sportsman, technical director, general secretary and not least as coach for almost twenty years.
He died in Genova on March 4 1938.
In 1948 he was awarded the title of ‘Pioneer of Italian Football’ by the FIGC (Italian Football Federation).
Birthdays This Week
- Augusto Parboni, 24/2/1900, defender, Italy, 83 appearances, 6 goals (1920-27)
- Milan Badelj, 25/2/1971, midfielder, Croatia, 26 appearances, 1 goal (2018-19)
- Giancarlo Camolese, 25/2/1961, midfielder, Italy, 57 appearances (1986-88)
- Ricardo Cenci, 25/2/1958, forward, Italy, 14 appearances, 1 goal (1979-81)
- Alessandro Ferri, 25/2/1921, defender, Italy, 140 appearances, 1 goal (1939-43, 1945-48)
- Brayan Perea, 25/2/1993, forward, Colombia, 33 appearances, 5 goals (2013-15)
- Alberto Mari, 26/2/1941, midfielder, Italy, 71 appearances, 8 goals (1963-68)
- Gabriele Savino, 26/2/1960, midfielder, Italy, 40 appearances, 10 goals (1987-88)
- Flavio Cecconi, 27/2/1923, midfielder, Italy, 59 appearances, 17 goals (1947-51)
- Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, 27/2/1995, midfielder, Serbia, 341 appearances, 69 goals (2015-23)
- Antonio Candreva, 28/2/1987, midfielder, Italy, 192 appearances, 45 goals (2012-16)
- Petar Manola, 28/2/1918, forward, Bosnia, 66 appearances, 7 goals (1943-46)
- Franco Marchegiani, 28/2/1965, midfielder, Italy, 38 appearances, 3 goals (1989-92)
- Claudio Sclosa, 28/2/1961, midfielder, Italy, 154 appearances, 1 goal (1988-94)
- Emilio Carton, 1/3/1922, defender, Italy, 28 appearances (1946-49)
- Aron Winter, 1/3/1967, midfielder, Netherlands, 156 appearances, 27 goals (1992-96)
- Renato Bottacini, 2/3/1901, defender, Italy, 85 appearances (1927-31)
- Cesare Brunetti, 2/3/1920, midfielder, Italy, 53 appearances, 4 goals (1945-48)
- Modibo Diakité, 2/3/1987, defender, France, 90 appearances, 2 goals (2006-13)
- Stefano Ferretti, 2/3/1960, midfielder, Italy, 40 appearances, 4 goals (1978-82)
- Lorenzo Gaslini, 2/3/1890, goalkeeper, Italy, 21 appearances (1911-13)
- Bruno Pereirinha, 2/3/1988, defender/midfielder, Portugal, 27 appearances (2013-15)
- Antonio Renna, 2/3/1937, forward, Italy, 34 appearances, 9 goals (1964-66)
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.
