Welcome back Bruno-Gol!!!
Returning for his first game with Lazio since 1980, Giordano leads the charge as the Biancocelesti beat Perugia from 0-2 down.
Also on this day: August 18, 2015, Lazio Bayer Leverkusen 1-0, Champions League Play Off. Lazio manages to win thanks to Keita, but will it be enough? What happened in Serie A 2015-16
The season so far
The previous season had been rather disastrous. There was a new Presidency with Gian Casoni and promotion ambitions but the team did not live up to expectations. It was so bad that the Biancocelesti needed a Vincenzo D’Amico hat trick to beat Varese, after being 0-2 down, in the final game at the Olimpico to avoid Serie C.
This year the situation was completely different. Italy had won the World Cup and the Federation took two years off all the suspensions of players involved in the match fixing scandal of 1980. As a consequence, Lazio stars Bruno Giordano and Lionello Manfredonia were available again. The two, feeling guilty over what had happened, even if they probably did not deserve such long sentences (three years and six months), had sworn that if they did come back to play, their first objective would be to get Lazio back in Serie A. So, at least for moment, they were staying.
There was a massive coming and going in the summer transfer window. The club said goodbye to scudetto heroes Felice Pulici (retired) and Renzo Garlaschelli (Pavia), Giorgio Mastropasqua (Catania), Dario Pighin (Taranto), Alberto Bigon (Vicenza), Dario Sanguin (Perugia), Nando Viola (Genoa), Walter Speggiorin (Massese), Dario Marigo (Perugia). New arrivals were Fernando Orsi (Parma), Renato Miele (Catania), Gabriele Podavini (Brescia), Roberto Tavola (Juventus), Enrico Vella (Catania), Claudio Ambu (Perugia) plus the return from last year’s loans of Carlo Perrone and Stefano Chiodi.
The manager was Roberto Clagluna. He had substituted Ilario Castagner half way through the previous season and had been confirmed.
Lazio had played a few friendlies, but the season officially started today with the Coppa Italia. The Biancocelesti were in group three together with Napoli, Avellino, Perugia, Atalanta and Salernitana. The top two would continue to the round of 16.
The match: Wednesday, August 18, 1982, Stadio Flaminio, Rome
A lot of excitement and expectation for this game. Unfortunately Lionello Manfredonia was suspended but the Stadio Flaminio had all eyes on Bruno Giordano, his first official game since that terrible day in Pescara on March 23 1980, when Lazio lost and Giordano, Manfredonia, Pino Wilson and Massimo Cacciatori were arrested for match fixing. There were 40,000 spectators, which was something unheard of for an August game in the capital.
Perugia though did not come to Rome merely to be a sparring partner. They had an excellent team, with veteran Domenico Caso as playmaker. Lazio had problems in midfield and there were large spaces for the Grifoni. Perugia went ahead in the 28th minute. Free kick, Caso to Danio Montani, big whack, Maurizio Moscatelli managed to parry but it was a simple tap-in for Moreno Morbiducci.
The goal woke Lazio up, at least a little. Gabriele Podavini to Vincenzo D’Amico who dribbled past a couple of players and shot, but Dario Marigo, former Lazio goalkeeper, was miraculous.
Things did not change in the second half and got even worse. In the 54th minute a quick Perugia counter attack and Morbiducci got his double.
Giordano, visibly emotional, at this point took matters into his own hands and stepped up the quality level. Lazio reduced the deficit in the 63th minute. Stefano Ferretti, who had substituted Roberto Tavola in the interval, tried a shot but miskicked it. Giordano took advantage and with a powerful strike beat Marigo. The Perugia goalkeeper parried another Giordano shot before Michele De Nadai with a great whack from outside the box equalised for Lazio in the 77th minute.
The Biancocelesti smelt blood and went for the kill. In the 84th minute, with Perugia parking the bus in front of goal, Giordano passed to D’Amico who tried a shot. The ball was cleared, Enrico Vella tried again, cleared again, then it was Podavini’s turn but once more the Perugia defence walled effectively. Ball went back to Poda, another massive shot and this time Lazio scored.
A fantastic win, but some of the midfield problems would have to be solved soon.
Who played for Lazio
Moscatelli, Podavini, Chiarenza, Vella, Pochesci, Perrone, Vagheggi, Tavola (46’ Ferretti), Giordano, De Nadai, D’Amico (89’ Badiani).
Substitutes: Orsi, Saltarelli, Surro
Manager: Clagluna
Who played for Perugia
Marigo, Montani, D.Tacconi, Frosio, Ottoni, Caneo, Piga, Caso, G.Pagliari (60' Vittiglio), De Gradi (68' Bernardini), Morbiducci
Substitutes: Di Leo, Zagano, Bernardini
Manager: Agroppi
Referee: Vitali
Goals: 28’ Morbiducci, 54’ Morbiducci, 63’ Giordano, 77’ De Nadai, 84’ Podavini
What happened next
Lazio did not make it to the next round of the Coppa Italia. They lost against Avellino and Napoli and were unable to beat Atalanta at home so they arrived third by just one point.
In campionato the Biancocelesti started slowly but then a couple of moves allowed the team to blossom. Orsi substituted Maurizio Moscatelli, who was not performing well following his return to football after breaking his Achilles tendon, Manfredonia was moved to midfield, Marco Saltarelli was introduced as new left-back and Renato Miele was placed at the centre of the defence. At this point in the winter transfer session in October Lazio said goodbye to Vincenzo Chiarenza (Udinese), Claudio Vagheggi (Napoli) and Stefano Ferretti (Spal).
Things began to change and Lazio went on a roll of seven consecutive victories from the end of October to mid December and reached the top of Serie B.
In December, in the last match of 1982, Lazio drew 2-2 in a spectacular game against other promotion favourites Milan, and Serie A looked just around the corner.
But in 1983 things went south. In the 19 games from the start of the year Lazio won only three. The Biancocelesti went into a long psychological and technical crisis. They had difficulties in scoring because they were simply not creating chances. Clagluna could not figure out a solution. In April Lazio dismally drew 0-0 three times, lost at home against Pistoiese and away to Varese.
The match against Reggiana on May 8 was fundamental. Serie A was slipping away. Lazio scored three times with Giordano but were unable to secure victory. Clagluna had to go in order to create a spark that could help Lazio get over the line. Old Lazio glory Giancarlo Morrone, who was managing the Primavera team, was called in to help create that spark. The next match things precipitated even further and Lazio lost 5-1 to Milan.
On Sunday May 22, Lazio fans woke up with heavy hearts. But when they went to buy their newspapers they saw that Giorgio Chinaglia wanted to buy Lazio. The enthusiasm that this news generated brought 55,000 people to Lazio Atalanta, a decisive game, and lifted the team to victory.
After a goalless draw at Arezzo the following Sunday came the mother of all games for Lazio at home against Catania. A win meant that only a point would then be needed to get promoted. And win it was thanks to a shot from Podavini deflected by Mastropasqua that made it 2-1. The last game against Cavese finished 2-2 and Lazio were finally in Serie A after three years.
A final note on that season. In order to celebrate, Lazio organised a friendly against Ajax on June 17. Apart from Giordano scoring three incredible goals, the match was important because for the very first time Italians were introduced to a young Dutch centre forward. His name was Marco Van Basten.
Lazio 1982-83
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie B | 38 | 14 | 18 | 6 | 44 |
Coppa Italia | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
Total | 43 | 16 | 19 | 8 | 52 |
Top five appearances (complete player statistics)
Player | Total | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
43 | 38 | 5 | |
42 | 38 | 4 | |
39 | 34 | 5 | |
38 | 34 | 4 | |
38 | 36 | 2 |
Top five goal scorers (complete player statistics)
Player | Total | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
Bruno Giordano | 21 | 18 | 3 |
Enrico Vella | 5 | 5 | - |
Vincenzo D'Amico | 5 | 4 | 1 |
Lionello Manfredonia | 4 | 4 | - |
Claudio Ambu | 4 | 3 | 1 |
Let's talk about Michele De Nadai
Michele De Nadai was born in Milan on September 8, 1954. He started his career playing in the youth teams of Milan and in 1973 was sent to Lecco in Serie C to gain experience. He stayed there two years before going back to Milan. He was part of the squad for the entire 1975-76 season but had very little playing time. He did however make his Serie A debut against Cesena on May 2, 1976 and scored the winning goal. He played another four times in Coppa Italia.
In 1976-77 he was sold to Monza in Serie B. The team did very well, just missing out on promotion. A year later he signed for Roma. He stayed with the Giallorossi for four years with 99 appearances and 3 goals. He won the Coppa Italia twice (1979-80 and 1980-81) but in his last year he played a lot less (12) so come 1981-82 it was time for a change.
Lazio had terrible financial problems so Roma President Dino Viola, probably because he was interested in signing Giordano and Manfredonia, came to help. De Nadai signed for the Biancocelesti and Carlo Perrone went the other way.
1981-82 was not a good season for Lazio, but De Nadai was one of the positives, appearing in 37 games with five goals. With the return of Giordano and Manfredonia, Lazio were very optimistic for 1982-83 and in the first half the Biancocelesti did very well. But in the second half of the season they went into psychological and playing difficulty. This cost manager Clagluna his job and he was replaced by Giancarlo Morrone. In the last four games Lazio won two and drew two and secured promotion after three years. Unfortunately De Nadai missed most of the second part of the season due to a serious knee injury in the game at Monza in February.
In 1983 he signed for Pistoiese in Serie B. The last two years of his career he played at Salerno in Serie C1.
Once he stopped playing he tried a managerial career and was head coach for Latina in 1987-88 and Ostia Mare 1990-91. After this experience he retired from football.
Michele De Nadai gave a good contribution in his stay at Lazio and it was a pity he could not contribute more in his second year. He appeared in 57 games (48 in Serie B and 9 in Coppa Italia) with seven goals (5 in Serie B and 2 in Coppa Italia).
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
1981-82 | 37 (5) | 33 (4) | 4 (1) |
1982-83 | 20 (2) | 15 (1) | 5 (1) |
Total | 57 (7) | 48 (5) | 9 (2) |
Sources
Comments