Highlander Ballotta is hero in five-goal thriller
Lazio win but have to thank veteran keeper
Also on this day: April 9 1978, Lazio Fiorentina 1-0. A spectacular header by Giordano towards the end of the game could prove to be decisive in the relegation battle. Player of the day: Pietro Ghedin
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had flirted with relegation but had managed to escape and ended up 13th. They had then even qualified for the Intertoto Cup due to Livorno and Messina dropping out for various reasons.
This year saw the arrival of new manager Delio Rossi who took derby and relegation battle hero Giuseppe Papadopulo's place.
The main players coming in were: defenders Manuel Belleri (Udinese), Guglielmo Stendardo (Perugia) and Emilson Cribari (Udinese on loan), midfielders Valon Behrami (Genoa), Gaby Mudingayi (Torino) and Fabio Firmani (Catania) plus forward Igli Tare (Bologna).
Over twenty players were leaving Lazio, but those worthy of note were: Scudetto heroes Fernando Couto (Parma) and Paolo Negro (Siena) plus the Filippini twins (both to Palermo) and Giuliano Giannichedda (Juventus). In January César had also left (Inter).
In August Lazio had taken part in the Intertoto Cup in an attempt to qualify for the UEFA Cup. They had first eliminated Tampere United 4-1 on aggregate but then lost in the semi-final to Olympique Marseille 1-4 on aggregate.
In Coppa Italia, Lazio had been eliminated by Inter in the quarter finals, 1-2 on aggregate.
In the first league game of the season, on August 28, Lazio had defeated Messina at home thanks to a Goran Pandev goal in the first half. An underwhelming performance but a winning start at least.
The atmosphere surrounding the club however was heavy with the fan base unsatisfied with the owner Claudio Lotito's lack of ambition and investment in the transfer market.
Lazio however were doing surprisingly well. The Biancocelesti were in 7th position, only two points behind Chievo who occupied the last UEFA Cup slot. Lazio had won 11 (including Siena 3-2) drawn 13 (including derby 1-1) and lost 8 (including second derby 0-2). Top scorer was Tommaso Rocchi with 11 league goals.
Siena had finished 14th the previous season, first under Luigi Simoni and then, from January, Luigi De Canio. They had beaten Lazio at home and drawn away. Top scorer was former Lazio, Enrico Chiesa with 11 league goals.
This year De Canio was still the manager, with Antonio Conte as his assistant. The main new players were keeper Antonio Mirante (Juventus-on loan), defenders Paolo Negro (Lazio - after 376 games), Nicola Legrottaglie (Juventus- on loan), Cristian Molinaro (Salernitana), midfielders Tomas Locatelli (Bologna), Alberto (Udinese), Matteo Paro (Juventus-on loan), plus forward Erjon Bogdani (Verona). In January they had added defender Igor Tudor (Juventus), midfielder Tomás Guzman (Crotone) and forward Massimo Maccarone (Middlesbrough).
Leaving were defender Andrea Ardito (Torino), Stefano Argilli (Modena- after 227 league games), midfielder Rodrigo Taddei (Roma) plus forwards Tore André Flo (Vålerenga) and Francesco Cozza (Reggina-on loan).
The Tuscans were currently 13th and had a comforting eight-point cushion on Messina who were 18th. "Robur" had won 9 (including Roma 3-2 away, with all 3 goals by former Lazio players), drawn 9 and lost 14 (including Lazio 2-3 in Rome). Top scorers were Bogdani and Chiesa with 10 league goals each.
In Coppa Italia the Bianconeri had crashed out in the preliminary rounds losing 0-4 at home to Atalanta.
Lazio were slight favourites today but Siena were not safe yet so should not be underestimated despite their seven home defeats already this season.
The match: Sunday, April 9, 2006, Stadio Artemio Franchi, Siena
A mild, sunny day in the valley below the beautiful town of Siena. The small ground gathered about 10,000 spectators.
Siena were without midfielders Roberto D'Aversa and Luca Antonini plus forward Francesco Cozza while Lazio were missing goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi and forward Goran Pandev.
The game started with an awful defensive blunder by Lazio which allowed Enrico Chiesa to curl a shot towards the top corner but 43-year old Marco Ballotta showed his reflexes were still there as he saved brilliantly. It would not be the last of his busy afternoon.
In the 14th minute Lazio took the lead. Tommaso Rocchi ran onto a long ball from defence and entered the box from the right, the keeper however narrowed the angle and touched the ball which then spun up across goal where Stefano Mauri lunged in and scored. Siena 0 Lazio 1.
Eight minutes later Lazio scored again. A Rocchi shot was parried by Antonio Mirante and then Valon Behrami tried again on the rebound, it was walled by a defender but then ricocheted back off Behrami to Rocchi in front of goal, the Venetian striker stretched out and with his left foot beat Mirante. Siena 0 Lazio 2.
Lazio's double lead was short-lived as two minutes later the Tuscans pulled one back. A low Paolo Foglio cross from the right was tapped in from close range by Simone Vergassola with the Lazio defenders out of position. Siena 1 Lazio 2. Game on.
In the 28th minute Sebastiano Siviglia had an excellent header but towards the wrong goal and Ballotta plus the post saved his blushes.
The veteran keeper and the post combined again ten minutes later to deny Erjon Bogdani's low strike.
The goal was coming and it materialised two minutes later, in the 40th minute. Bogdani rose higher than the defenders and with his back to the goal headed the ball out towards the edge of the area where Chiesa struck a crisp, low shot into the right corner. Siena 2 Lazio 2. A fair score line at this point. Chiesa celebrated wildly as he had not scored since December 18 (including three missed penalties). Halftime Siena 2 Lazio 2.
For the second period Lazio replaced Paolo Di Canio and threw on Igli Tare.
The Biancocelesti did not take long to take back the lead. In the 50th minute Rocchi was fouled about thirty metres out by Roman and Lazio fan, Daniele Portanova. A considerable distance from goal but Ousmane Dabo stepped up and drilled a powerful low shot into the right corner. An amazing strike, Siena 2 Lazio 3.
In the 57th minute it was Ballotta's turn again to perform miracles. The 43-year-old, leaping backwards, plucked a Chiesa lob out of the top hand corner and then, still on the ground, saved Vergassola's effort from the rebound, Bogdani then fired high. Incredible athleticism by the veteran keeper.
In the 68th minute Siena threw caution to the wind and put on another striker Rey Volpato for a midfielder, Foglio.
Siena pushed forward but were denied yet again by the oldest man on the field. A cross from the left was headed down towards the bottom right hand corner by Bogdani but Ballotta unbelievably dived low and saved into corner. The Albanian striker was caught on camera looking at the Lazio keeper with a mix of admiration and disbelief.
At this point Siena tired or maybe simply resigned themselves to Ballotta's superpowers. Lazio had a couple of chances to close the game on the break. Mirante however had been studying the master and pulled off two great saves on Behrami and Rocchi shots. Full time Siena 2 Lazio 3.
A good win for Lazio but a bit harsh on Siena who had played well. Lazio's victory had one main explanation, the eternal youth of Marco Ballotta.
With these three points the Biancocelesti moved up to 6th place, as Chievo had lost 1-4 away to Milan. At this point Lazio occupied the last slot for Europe.
Siena saw their safety cushion reduced to five points as Messina had beaten Treviso 3-1 at home. On the positive side they were still 13th and if they played like today would definitely stay up.
Who played for Siena
Mirante, Negro, Legrottaglie, Portanova, Foglio (68' Volpato), Alberto (75' Tudor), Paro, Vergassola, Molinaro, Chiesa (80' Guzman), Bogdani
Substitutes: Fortin, Falsini, Colonnese, Packer
Manager: De Canio
Who played for Lazio
Ballotta, Oddo, Siviglia, Cribari, Zauri, Behrami, Liverani (85' Mudingayi), Dabo, Mauri (73' Manfredini), Rocchi, Di Canio (46' Tare)
Manager: Rossi
Referee: Rizzoli
Goals: 14' Mauri, 22' Rocchi, 24' Vergassola, 40' Chiesa, 50' Dabo
What happened next
Lazio had a good end of season, at least on the pitch. In the last 5 games the Biancocelesti won 4 and drew 1 (1-1 away draw at Juventus). In the end they won 16, drew 14 and lost 8. They would have come 6th and qualified for the UEFA Cup had it not been for off field issues. Top scorer was Tommaso Rocchi with 17 goals (16 in A).
Lazio were accused of being involved in the "Calciopoli" scandal and docked 30 points (initially the sentence was relegation), so ended up 16th. The scandal was basically alleged lobbying by certain clubs on the choice of referees.
A pity as Lazio had performed well and had a surprisingly good season in Serie A. They would also start the next season with a docking of 11 points, then reduced to 8 and finally to 3 and would qualify for the Champions League.
Siena finished 15th (17th without Calciopoli). In the last 5 games Robur drew 3 (including Inter 1-1 away) and lost 2. Top scorers were Bogdani and Chiesa with 11 goals each, all in the league.
Juventus won the league but were stripped of the Scudetto and relegated for their involvement in Calciopoli. The title was given to second placed Inter. Juventus went down to unfamiliar B territory with Lecce and Treviso (the Trevigiani have never been back while Juventus obviously have).
Lazio 2005-06
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 38 | 16 | 14 | 8 | 57 |
Coppa Italia | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Intertoto Cup | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
Total | 46 | 18 | 18 | 10 | 65 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Intertoto Cup |
Zauri | 45 | 37 | 4 | 4 |
Pandev | 41 | 35 | 3 | 3 |
Rocchi | 41 | 37 | 1 | 3 |
Oddo | 38 | 35 | 3 | - |
Cribari | 35 | 28 | 4 | 3 |
Dabo | 35 | 31 | 4 | - |
Liverani | 35 | 29 | 2 | 4 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Intertoto Cup |
Rocchi | 17 | 16 | - | 1 |
Pandev | 12 | 11 | 1 | - |
Oddo | 7 | 7 | - | - |
Di Canio | 7 | 5 | - | 2 |
Manfredini | 3 | 2 | 1 | - |
Tare | 3 | 3 | - | - |
Lets talk about Siena Football Club
Although the town is more famous for the Palio and the fierce rivalry between the various “contrade", they also have a football club.
The Associazione Calcio Robur Siena was founded in 1904. They took on the club colours of black and white. The club's symbol is the Wolf that feeds Senio and Ascanio, the twin sons of Remo, who founded the town.
Until 1921 Siena only played in local friendly games. They then joined the Tuscan Promozione league and immediately gained promotion to Seconda Divisione (2nd tier). They then spent the 1920's and early 30's mainly in the 3rd tier.
It was not until the mid-1930's that they had some stable years in Serie B, with their best placements being 4th (1939, even beating Fiorentina) and 5th (1940).
After the war, in 1948, they returned to Serie C and in 1952 to Serie D. It was not until 1956, when they became Serie D national champions that they went back up to C. In this period the owner was Danilo Nannini (for music fans, the father of famous singer Gianna Nannini and for Formula 1 fans, the father of 1980's driver Alessandro). Danilo was a former player but wealthy from the family pastry business.
The 1960's were spent in C with two 4th places (1961, 1969) but in 1970 they were relegated again. Nannini had left by now.
They went close to promotion several times and finally made it in 1976 but in 1978 were declassed to C2 due to a new league format.
In 1980 Siena became a joint stock company and Nannini returned as president. In 1981 it was back up to C1 but the 1980s would see the Bianconeri go up and down between C1 and C2. Meanwhile in the mid- 80's the club was bought by a Roman lawyer, Max Paganini.
In the 1990's they found some stability and saw them constantly in C1. Their best performances were two 8th places (1996, 1998).
In 1997 the club was taken over by Claudio Corradini but in 1999 changed hands again and passed to a group of several entrepreneurs.
The 1999-2000 season saw the Bianconeri winning the league and promotion to Serie B under manager Antonio Sala. Siena also won the Serie C Supercoppa beating Crotone 2-1 on aggregate.
It was in this period that Siena came under the increasing protection of a major bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, one of the oldest in the world. Their support and sponsorship would change the football club's history.
After two honourable 13th and 12th places the Tuscans won their first historic promotion to Serie A in 2003. The manager was, former Lazio player, Giuseppe Papadopulo and top scorer was Simone Tiribocchi with 16 league goals.
Robur stayed in Serie A for six seasons but in the 7th were relegated. The Bianconeri finished 13th, 14th, 15th, 15th, 13th, 14th and 19th. The managers in these years were Papadopulo (2001-2004), Vincenzo Guerini (a few matches in 2001-02), Luigi Simoni (2004), Luigi De Canio (2004-05), Mario Beretta (2006-07), Andrea Mandorlini (2007), Beretta again (2007-08), Marco Giampaolo (2008-09), Giampaolo, Marco Baroni and Alberto Malesani (2009-10, the relegation year). In these years some good players passed through Siena: Rodrigo Taddei, Enrico Chiesa, Nicola Ventola, Nicola Amoruso, Tore André Flo, Ciro Immobile just to name a few.
During this period the Montepaschi bank was also involved in basketball and Siena won five consecutive league titles between 2006 to 2011. Siena's glory years.
During the last difficult year in Serie A the football club was bought by Roman building entrepreneur Massimo Mezzaroma (Lazio owner, Claudio Lotito's brother-in-law). There were however the first signs of economic struggles caused by Montepaschi's financial crisis.
In 2010-11 Robur were back in Serie B but they bounced straight back up again under Antonio Conte (future top manager with Juventus, Italy, Chelsea, Inter and Tottenham amongst others).
In 2011-12, despite the economic situation, Siena finished a decent 14th in A, under Giuseppe Sannino. The Bianconeri also reached the semi-finals of Coppa Italia (lost 2-3 to Napoli on aggregate).
The following year however they were relegated under Serse Cosmi (1-17) and then Giuseppe Iachini. This would be their last year in the top flight.
After a 9th place in Serie B, in 2014 A.C. Siena were declared bankrupt.
A new club was formed, Robur Siena Società Sportiva Dilettantistica and allowed to take part in Serie D in recognition with the link to the previous club.
They immediately won promotion to Lega Pro (then Serie C from 2017-18). They finished top and won the Serie D Scudetto for the 2nd time.
In the following seasons Robur finished 6th, 12th, 2nd (lost playoff), 6th and 6th again in C.
In 2020 Robur Siena did not take part but changed to ACN Siena 1904 and participated in Serie D. They finished 5th but were promoted to Serie C due to other clubs' problems. They then finished 13th and 12th.
In 2023 they were excluded from the league for financial problems and became Siena Football Club. They currently play in Eccellenza Toscana (5th tier) and are Armenian owned.
So, a low-key history with a golden decade between 2003 and 2013. It is fair to say Siena is still more famous for its Palio's than its football.
The Siena fans have special friendships (the famous "gemellaggi") with Udinese and fellow Tuscans Pistoiese. They are also friendly with Bologna and Como. The historic rivalry is with Fiorentina, the derby with the Viola is called the "Derby Guelfi-Ghibellini" recalling the battle between the two towns at Montaperti in 1260. There is also strong rivalry with Livorno, Empoli, Roma and Perugia. In addition, historic rivalries outside football exist with Arezzo and Grosseto.
The top three players for appearances are: Antonio Monguzzi on 368 (1960-72), Simone Vergassola 350 (1996-2001) and Michele Mignani 289 (1996-97, 1998-2006), his number 4 shirt has been taken off the picking list.
In a Lazio context, in 18 Serie A games the Bianconeri won 6, the draws were 6 and Lazio won 6. There was also the Coppa Italia game in December 2012 which ended 1-1 with a Michael Ciani injury time equaliser and then Lazio won on penalties and eventually the Coppa Italia itself (May 26 2013…).
It is not likely the two teams will meet again, in the near future at least.
Sources
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