Looking good
Lazio put on a good performance despite the heat in the first Roman pre-season friendly.
Also on this day: August 12, 1990, Real Madrid Lazio 1-1 (4-6 on pens). Lazio win prestigious trophy by beating Real Madrid on penalties. Player of the day: Davide Lampugnani
The season so far
The previous season had been a disappointing one. Lazio had managed to reach the Champions League group stage but were inevitably knocked out despite putting on brave performances. The team was not structured to play such high level football and as a consequence suffered the stress and fatigue that such a competition brings with it. President Claudio Lotito had not invested much for the campaign so the Biancocelesti struggled all year ending up 12th.
It looked like the President had learnt his lesson and in this year’s transfer window a lot of interesting players had arrived: goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo, exciting forward Mauro Zarate, promising right back Stephan Lichtsteiner and experienced midfielder Francelino Matuzalem. Saying goodbye to Rome were Riccardo Bonetto, Gaby Mudingayi and Luciano Zauri.
So far in the pre-season friendlies Lazio had shown a decent level of form despite losing to Liverpool and Porto. Today, Lazio faced PAOK Thessaloniki for the presentation of the team to the fans.
PAOK was founded in 1926, hence older that Roma, and up to then had won the Super League twice (1976 and 1985 – they would also win in 2019) and the national cup for times (1972, 1974, 2001, 2003 – they would go on to win it another four times from 2017 to 2019 plus 2021). Playing for PAOK was Lazio legend Sergio Conceicao.
The match: Tuesday, August 12, 2008, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Lazio had to play without Lorenzo De Silvestri and Tommaso Rocchi who were at the Olympic games (Rocchi was unfortunately injured and was coming back), but this first glimpse of the team was, however, going to be interesting for the 20,000 fans.
The game opened with a cracker after just three minutes. With the help of Cristian Ledesma, Matuzalem stole a ball off Ricardo Veron then whacked it from 25 metres into the top hand corner.
After the goal Lazio continued to push. Stephen Makinwa shaved the crossbar and then almost scored with a header following a great Matuzalem-Goran Pandev one-two which allowed Stefano Mauri to cross. The Macedonian also had a chance after he slalomed through the PAOK defence but missed. The Greeks also had their opportunities to equalise and after Lichsteiner stopped a Vierinha shot, Vladimir Ivic had a goal disallowed for offside, a tap in after Carrizo had saved a Conceicao shot.
The second half opened like the first but this time it was Mourad Meghni to score in the 47th minute. After dribbling a Greek defender, he aimed for the far post and made it 2-0 for Lazio. The game petered out after this but the fans had the chance to see their new star player, Zarate, who played the second half.
Delio Rossi was happy with the performance that gave great hope for the upcoming season.
Who played for Lazio
Carrizo (66’ Muslera), Lichtsteiner (59’ Diakite), Siviglia (77’ Faraoni), Rozenhal (46’ Cribari), Radu (75’ Manfredini), Meghni (88’ Cinelli), Ledesma, Matuzalem (46’ Dabo), Pandev (57’ Foggia), Mauri (92’ Mendicino), Makinwa (46’ Zarate)
Manager: D. Rossi
Who played for PAOK Thessaloniki
Chalkias, Sznaucner (46' Arabatzis), Contreras (46' Marcos), Malezas, Darlas (60' Kostantinidis), Veron, Balafas, Sergio Conceicao (60' Lakis), Ivic, Vierinha (46' Georgiu), Muslimovic (46' Bakayoko).
Substitutions: Arampatzis, Athanasiadis, Anastasakos, Iliadis.
Manager: Santos.
Referee: Giancola
Goals: 3’ Matuzalem, 47’ Meghni
What happened next
In campionato it was not a good year. Lazio went top after six games but then fell back. However, after the first part of the season they were only four points from the mythical fourth place which allowed a Champions League qualification, but then they collapsed winning only 5 games in the second half of the year. They nevertheless did manage to beat Roma 4-2.
In Coppa Italia it was a different ball game. Lazio opened the campaign at the end of August in the third round by beating, not without initial difficulty, Benevento who were playing in Serie C. A Pandev double plus goals from Meghni, Christian Manfredini and an own goal secured access to the next round.
In October Lazio had to face Atalanta and won comfortably 2-0 (Ledesma and Pandev), setting up a fifth round against Milan in San Siro. A difficult game where Lazio played very well and had a number of chances before Andriy Shevchenko scored his umpteenth goal against his favourite victim. All seemed lost but Lazio managed to equalise in the dying minutes thanks to a Mauro Zarate penalty. In the second minute of extra time Pandev was lethal and Lazio went on to the quarterfinals against Torino, this time at home.
In a two faced game, Lazio fell behind in the first half, but came back in the second and scored three goals (again Pandev plus Mauri and Rocchi).
In the semi-final Lazio had to play against Juventus, this time over two games. In the first at the Olimpico, Juventus were the obvious favourites and went one up in the first half. But Lazio put up a fight and created a number of unexpected headaches for the Bianconeri. Pandev equalised and Rocchi gave Lazio the advantage. In Turin Lazio went ahead 2-0 thanks to Zarate and Aleksandar Kolarov and reached the final.
Lazio and Sampdoria were the surprise finalists, and despite the fact that the Biancocelesti had the home advantage, there was no clear favourite. Zarate gave Lazio the lead early on but Giampaolo Pazzini equalised on the half hour. There were chances for both teams, but the game finished 1-1. The result did not change in extra time, so the 2008-09 Coppa Italia was to be decided on a penalty shootout.
Fernando Muslera saved the first penalty and it looked as if Lazio had won it. But Rocchi hit the woodwork with the second and the teams were still level after the first five. When Muslera saved Hugo Campagnaro’s spot kick, Ousmane Dabo gave Lazio their fifth Coppa Italia and a European Cup qualification for the 2009-10 season.
Ledesma and Zarate were the players with most appearances (41), the Argentinian scored the most goals (16).
Lazio 2008-09
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 38 | 15 | 5 | 18 | 48 |
Coppa Italia | 7 | 6 | 1 | - | 17 |
Total | 45 | 21 | 6 | 18 | 63 |
Top five appearances (complete player statistics)
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
41 | 34 | 7 | |
41 | 36 | 5 | |
40 | 33 | 7 | |
39 | 33 | 6 | |
37 | 31 | 6 |
Top goal scorers (complete player statistics)
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
Mauro Zarate | 16 | 13 | 3 |
Goran Pandev | 15 | 9 | 6 |
11 | 9 | 2 |
Let's talk about Mourad Meghni
Mourad Meghni was born in Paris on April 16, 1984. He was a very highly considered player as a youth, nicknamed “le petit Zizou” because he looked and played like Zinedine Zidane. He had class, he looked as if he danced with the ball rather than playing with it and at times he could invent things out of nothing. But he was incredibly frail and the injuries in the end hindered his career.
He started playing football at the National Football Institute at Clairefontaine and at 16 signed with Cannes. He stayed there only a year as the club went bust. Manchester United were interested in him but he signed for Bologna in 2004. This created a big scandal in France because he was one of stars of the team that had effortlessly won the Under 17 World Cup and it was inconceivable for the French that he could play abroad.
At Bologna he won an Under 17 Scudetto and debuted in Serie A against Milan on January 12, 2003. Two months later he scored his first professional goal. In the first two years he did not play much but was used slightly more in the 2004-2005 season when unfortunately Bologna were relegated. Meghni, who refused to play in Serie B, was sent on loan to Sochaux in Ligue 1 but it was a disappointing year. Back at Bologna for the 2006-07 season he made 35 appearances and scored two goals in Serie B, but the Rossoblu stayed in the second tier.
In 2007 he signed for Lazio. Sports Director Igli Tare was always on the lookout for players that had unfulfilled potential and Mourad was certainly one of them. In four years he played 60 games with two goals. Manager Delio Rossi alternated him with Stefano Mauri and he got some decent playing time. There were occasional flashes of class such as the impossible pass made for Tommaso Rocchi in the Champions League tie against Werder Bremen (see below video), but then the injuries won. In his third year he managed only 11 appearances, in his last none. The contract was terminated by mutual agreement.
In his last six years of active football he played just 19 games in the Qatar Stars League and in the Algerian Ligue 1.
Despite having played for France as a kid, he decided to take Algerian nationality and play with the Desert Wolves. He played nine games in preparation of the 2010 World Cup including four qualification games and four matches in the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations where Algeria lost in the semi-finals. But his problems with his knee did not allow him to be fit enough.
Mourad Meghni by many is considered to be one of the biggest unfulfilled potentials in the history of world football. A pity.
Lazio Career
Season | Apperances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Europa League |
2007-08 | 24 | 19 | 1 | 4 | - |
2008-09 | 25 (1) | 22 | 3 (1) | - | - |
2009-10 | 11 (1) | 7 | - | - | 4 (1) |
Total | 60 (2) | 48 | 4 (1) | 4 | 4 (1) |
Sources
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