April 12, 2000: Lazio Inter 2-1, Coppa Italia
- Simon Basten
- 15 hours ago
- 9 min read
Horrendous injury to Ronaldo
Lazio beat Inter in the first leg of the Coppa Italia final, but the match is marred by the terrible injury suffered by Ronaldo
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The season so far
In the previous season Lazio had gone agonisingly close to winning the scudetto. With eight games to the end of the season they were leading with five points over Fiorentina and seven over Milan. But a single point in the next three games reduced the cushion over Milan to just one point. Lazio then won three consecutive games but so did Milan. In the penultimate match in Florence, the Biancocelesti were held to a draw and denied a clear penalty by a distracted referee. Milan won, overtook them, and maintained the lead in the last game. But Lazio did win the Cup Winners Cup in the final against Real Mallorca.
In the summer transfer window, Lazio surprisingly sold their centre forward Christian Vieri to Inter in exchange for 90 billion lire (45 million euros) plus Diego Simeone. Other signings were Juan Sebastian Veron and Nestor Sensini from Parma, Simone Inzaghi from Piacenza and Kenneth Andersson from Bologna. The Swede would go back to Emilia Romagna in the winter and Lazio would add Fabrizio Ravanelli.
The 1999-00 season opened with the victory against the mighty Manchester United in Monte Carlo for the UEFA Super Cup with a Marcelo Salas goal. Another European triumph after having won the final Cup Winners Cup the previous year in Birmingham against Real Mallorca.
Lazio had passed the first group round of the champions league. The 1999-00 Champions League saw the Biancocelesti participate for the very first time. In the 1974-75 season Lazio should have played the European Cup but had been disqualified following the brawl with Ipswich Town players in the UEFA Cup earlier the previous season.
Lazio were grouped with Bayer Leverkusen, Dynamo Kiev and Maribor. Two draws against the Germans, two wins against the Ukrainians and two against the Slovenians allowed Lazio to top their group and qualify for the second group round. Here they were joined by Chelsea, Olympique Marseille and Feyenoord. In the first two games they had won in France and drawn against the Londoners. Then a defeat at home against the Dutch and a draw in Rotterdam put the qualification in peril. Fortunately, a win at home with OM and away in London secured first place. In the first leg of the quarter finals Lazio had collapsed in Valencia 5-2 and now had to win 3-0 to secure the semi-finals.
In Serie A this season Lazio were currently in 2nd place three points behind leaders Juventus. Just three weeks earlier there had been a nine-point gap but with Juve's defeat against Milan, the same weekend Lazio beat Roma, and the consequent Lazio win in the direct clash in Turin had reduced the deficit and now the Biancocelesti were in striking distance. They had won 17, drawn 8 and lost 4.
In Coppa Italia Lazio were through to the final. Lazio had eliminated Ravenna (1-1, 4-1), Juventus (2-3, 2-1) on away goals rule and Venezia (5-0, 2-2). In the final they faced Inter who had beaten Bologna (2-1, 3-1), Milan (3-2, 1-1) and Cagliari (3-1, 2-1).
This evening was the first leg. The return match would then be on May 18, after the end of the league fixtures.
The match: Wednesday, April 12, 2000, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Lazio started well and in the beginning of the match a Diego Simeone shot was parried into corner by Angelo Peruzzi. But it was Inter who scored first in the 8th minute. Roberto Baggio to Adrian Mutu on right, low cross into the box and Clarence Seedorf volleyed the ball into the net as Guerino Gottardi just watched him.
The Biancocelesti took their time to react with the exception of a couple of attempts on free kicks by Sinisa Mihajlovic but with no results. In 31st minute cross into the box, Simone Inzaghi passed the ball back to Pavel Nedved whose shot went wide. In the 40th minute Simeone on the left passed to Nedved in the top hand corner of the Inter penalty area. The Czech international controlled the ball and with a clinical shot beat Peruzzi.
In the 52nd minute Lazio went ahead. Sergio Conceição crossed from the right and Simeone headed the ball in.
Six minutes later manager Marcello Lippi sent in Ivan Zamorano and Ronaldo, coming back after a long period of inactivity due to injury. The Brazilian’s match lasted six minutes. While he was running he got injured again. A horrendous sight as his knee snapped. He immediately went to the hospital for a diagnosis: a complete rupture of the knee-cap tendons.
The match ended here. What happened was horrendous and obviously affected everybody present. Nobody really felt like playing anymore and the two teams wasted time until the end.
Lazio would have to battle it out in Milan if they wanted to win the cup.
Who played for Lazio
Ballotta, Gottardi, Couto, Mihajlovic, Pancaro, Conceição, Sensini, Stankovic (55’ Mancini), Simeone (81’ Almeyda), Nedved, S. Inzaghi (76’ Salas)
Substitutes: Marchegiani, Negro, Lombardo, Veron
Manager: Eriksson
Who played for Inter
Peruzzi, Panucci, Blanc, Cordoba, Moriero (46' Di Biagio), J.Zanetti, Seedorf, Cauet, M.Serena, Mutu (58' Ronaldo), Baggio (58’ Zamorano)
Substitutes: Frezzolini, Colonnese, Domoraud, Recoba
Manager: Lippi
Referee: Trentalange
Goals: 8’ Seedrof, 40’ Nedved, 52’ Simeone
What happened next
The gap with Juventus went up to five points over the weekend when the Biancocelesti drew in Florence and the Bianconeri beat Inter away. Furthermore, the Biancocelesti only managed to win 1-0 in the Champions League quarter final with Valencia and were eliminated.
There were four games to go. Everybody thought it was all over but manager Sven Goran Eriksson tried to get the team to believe in the impossible. In the 32nd game of the season Lazio beat Venezia and Juventus lost at Verona. Two games to go, two points difference. Lazio beat Bologna away and Juventus were winning 1-0 against Parma. Towards the end of the match there was a corner for Parma. Mario Amoroso crossed and Fabio Cannavaro equalised but the referee inexplicably disallowed it.
This was the talking point in Italy for the entire week. Juve had already won a controversial scudetto a couple of years back when a clear penalty on Ronaldo was not given to Inter in Turin. So, there was massive media pressure on the last two games of the season: Lazio-Reggina and Perugia-Juventus.
Perugia President Luciano Gaucci, ashamed of the lack of fighting spirit his team had shown against Milan in the last game of the previous season, stated that it would not be a walkover for Juventus. Lazio fans hoped for a draw and then to go to a playoff. And this is what was happening at the end of the first half. Lazio were winning 2-0 and it was still goalless in Perugia. But a massive storm had blown up over the Umbrian capital and the pitch was waterlogged. Referee Pierluigi Collina tried a number of times to see if the ball would bounce on the flooded pitch, but no. There was a problem however. If the game had been abandoned, they would have to start from scratch the next day. With what had happened in the previous match when Cannavaro’s goal was disallowed for no reason at all, the Italian referee felt that the repetition of the game would have been unfair. So, he insisted. Just when they were about to give up, the rain stopped. The pitch was not in ideal condition, but playable. The second half could recommence, an hour later than it should have. In the 50th minute Alessandro Calori scored for Perugia. Juve did not manage to equalise and Lazio won their second scudetto.
Still smelling of champagne and without any training whatsoever since the Sunday match, Lazio faced Inter for the second leg of the Coppa Italia final. There were chances for both sides, particularly for Inter in the dying seconds of the match when Alvaro Recoba hit the woodwork, but the game was goalless and the Biancocelesti won the double.
Let's talk about Ronaldo
Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima, better known as Ronaldo, was born on September 18, 1976, in Itaguaí near Rio de Janeiro.
He first started playing futsal and joined the Social Ramos Clube at the age of 12. His club scored a record 166 goals in his first season and he was noticed by former Brazil international Jairzinho who was coach for São Cristóvão. He was a phenomenal player for his age, and played for the under-17s and under-20s despite the fact he was only 15. Jairzinho then recommended him to his former club Cruzeiro and that is where he went for the 1993-94 season.
He immediately attracted the attention of the big European clubs. Not surprisingly since he scored 44 goals in 47 games in his two seasons, leading Cruzeiro to their first Copa do Brasil in 1993 and the Minas Gerais league title in 1994.
In 1994 Ronaldo was selected for the World Cup at just 17 but he never played. Romario advised Ronaldo to join PSV, where he himself had played from 1988 to 1993, and that is where he went.
He stayed two years in Holland using it as a type of apprenticeship for his future years in Europe. In two seasons he scored 54 goals in 57 matches, winning a national cup in 1995-96. During his second season he suffered a knee injury which limited his playing time.
In El he signed for Barcelona for 20 million dollars. With Barca he won a Cup Winners Cup and a Copa del Rey, scoring 47 goals in 49 appearances.
Everybody now knew how good he was and how much potential he had, so it was time to move on. In that era the Italian clubs were the ones with the most money. Massimo Moratti and Sergio Cragnotti battled to the very end to get him and Inter won. It cost the club 51 billion lire, a world record at the time. In his first year at Inter he scored 34 goals in 47 appearances and Inter won a UEFA Cup. He was also awarded the Ballon d’Or.
In 1998 Ronaldo’s Brazil was one of the favourites to win the World Cup in France. They got to the final where they were to play against France. The day before the match Ronaldo had a convulsive fit and should never have been fielded, he could barely walk. But he played and France won 3-0.
Injury issues plagued the 1998-99 season as they did the following season. Having purchased Christian Vieri from Lazio, Inter now had probably the best attacking duo on the planet. But Ronaldo suffered a serious injury in November at Lecce when he ruptured a tendon in his knee. He came back on the pitch on April 12 2000 in the first leg of the Coppa Italia final against Lazio. After six minutes another serious injury, a complete rupture of the knee-cap tendons.
He missed the 2000-01 season completely and returned in September 2001. He did not play much, just 16 games, but he did score 7 goals and Inter came into the final game against Lazio. They had a one-point lead over Juventus who played at Udine and two over Roma who faced Torino away from home. The Neroazzurri threw away the game and lost, handing Juve the title. One of the most iconic images of that time was Ronaldo sitting on the bench in tears.
But, most importantly for him, Ronaldo was ready for the World Cup 2002. Brazil won, beating Germany in the final. He scored 8 goals including a brace against the Germans.
Apart from the win, his message was “I’m ready for bigger things”. Despite Inter having waited for him to come back for over a year, after the World Cup he pleaded Moratti to sell him to Real Madrid claiming to have a bad relationship with manager Hector Cuper. He went to Spain for 45 million euros.
With Real Madrid in his first year he won the Intercontinental Cup and the Liga plus a second Ballon d’Or. In 2004-05 he started gaining weight and scored less. In the summer of 2006 manager Fabio Capello asked the club to buy him Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ronaldo played less and less. In the January transfer window, he asked to leave and Real sold him to AC Milan.
He continued to have injury problems and in 18 months made just 20 appearances. His contract was not renewed and he went back to Brazil and joined Corinthians. With the Rio club he won the Paulista League and the national Cup. But various injuries and his increasing weight meant an end to his career. While he was at Milan he was diagnosed with hypothyroidism but could not take drugs for it because they were considered doping.
When he quit football in 2011 he founded 9ine Sport & Entertainment, a sports marketing company, he joined the Brazil 2014 World Cup organizing committee, acquired a 10% stake in Fort Lauderdale Strikers in 2014 and 51% stake in Real Valladolid in 2018. In 2021 he bought 90% of the shares of Cruzeiro which he sold in 2024.
Ronaldo was one of the best centre forwards of all time. His speed was phenomenal and he was a goal scoring machine. But his career was marred by injuries, most of them pretty serious too but one must consider that, if one compares it to today, football was rather brutal back in the 90s. He won a lot less than he could have, but he still won two World Cups (plus another in which he did not play), a Liga title, UEFA Cup, Cup Winners Cup, two Copa Americas plus various national Cups. Not too bad after all.
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