Argentinian duo take Lazio into the Champions League
Two goals by Crespo and one by Lopez and Fiore overturn away defeat and bring on more Champions League nights for Lazio
Also on this day: August 21, 2021, Empoli Lazio 1-3. Empoli play better and hit woodwork twice but Lazio come from behind and win. Player of the day: Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro
The season so far
The previous season had seen title winning Sven-Goran Eriksson leaving the club and the return of Dino Zoff. Lazio had fought for the title but eventually just lost out to city rivals Roma. A 3rd place finish did however give them a Champions League participation.
Lazio's main investments this year were defender Jaap Stam (Manchester United, who arrived later in August) and midfielder Gaizka Mendieta (Valencia). Mendieta in particular was considered a major swoop after his performances in the Champions League for Valencia. In had also come midfielders Giuliano Giannichedda and Stefano Fiore (both from Udinese), Fabio Liverani (Perugia in September), Brazilian César (São Caetano), Ivan de la Peña (back from loan periods after a disappointing time at Lazio 2 years earlier) and Serb forward Darko Kovacevic (Juventus).
Lazio had however also lost scudetto legends Pavel Nedved (Juventus), the 'Matador' Marcelo Salas (Juventus) and Juan Sebastian Veron (Manchester United) plus Fabrizio Ravanelli (Derby County) and Roberto Baronio (on loan-Fiorentina).
So to get into the Champions League Group phase Lazio had to play Danish Champions FC København over two legs. The first had been played on August 8 and Lazio lost 1-2 due to two defensive errors in the last twenty minutes. Lazio had seemed far superior to the "Løverne" (The Lions) so there was confidence for this evening's decisive return match.
The Danes had won the previous season's Superligaen, for their second title. The club was only formed in 1992 following a merger between Boldklubben 1903 and Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (from 1876 - oldest club in Continental Europe). By 2023 they would have reached 15 titles. Back in 2001 the title-winning manager had been Roy Hodgson but had since left for Udinese and was replaced by Swede Kent Karlsson. The "Byens hold" (The team of the City) most dangerous player was probably South-African forward Sibusiso Zuma, also known as "Zuma the Puma".
The Club had gone through some drama in March when Norwegian midfielder Ståle Solbakken suffered a heart attack during training. Upon the ambulance's arrival he was declared clinically dead but was then revived seven minutes later on the way to the hospital. He was forced into early retirement but made a full recovery and later became the Club's most successful manager. He is currently Norway's national coach.
The match: Tuesday August 21, 2001, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
A 40,000 crowd on a hot August evening hoped to see Lazio continue to be in the European big time.
Lazio played with new signings Gaizka Mendieta and Stefano Fiore. For the Danes the match winner of the away game, Heine Fernandez, was on the bench.
The first half was disappointing. Lazio were slow and confused and seemed to be missing Juan Sebastian Veron terribly. Fiore was nowhere to be seen, Mendieta and Karel Poborsky kept on getting in each other's way and Diego Simeone was playing too deep. Lazio had some chances however, in the 13th minute a Hernan Crespo shot was saved well by Magnus Kihlsted while in the 23rd the keeper blocked a Claudio Lopez effort with his feet. The Danes played with a solid 4-4-2 and never ran excessive risks. Just as worrying for Lazio was an injury to Paolo Negro who was forced off after 35 minutes and replaced by Beppe Favalli. So, halftime Lazio 0 FC København 0. Lazio would have to liven up if they wanted to play with the big guns (and pick up the 40 billion Lire)
There were no changes during the break but soon after the restart Lazio scored. The home side finally, with Lopez, put a low through ball behind the slow Danish central defenders and Crespo was suddenly one-on-one with the keeper, he went past him with some difficulty and a dose of luck and then slotted the ball into the empty goal. Lazio 1 FC København 0.
Any hope of Lazio taking control was soon disappointed as they pulled back conceding territorial possession and as series of corners to the Scandinavian visitors. In the 61st minute more injury problems for Lazio as Sinisa Mihajlovic limped off and was replaced by Francesco Colonnese. Eight minutes earlier the Biancocelesti had already taken a subdued Poborsky off, for a more energetic Lucas Castromán.
Luckily only two minutes after the Serb's injury Lazio scored again. In the 63th minute Simeone took a freekick quickly to Favalli on the left wing and his low cross was brought down by Crespo just inside the area and beautifully struck into the top hand corner. Lazio 2 FC København 0.
Two minutes later it seemed all over as Lazio made it three. With some help from the referee, who cleverly dummied the ball in midfield perhaps confusing the Danes, Mendieta then went forward and squared to Lopez for an easy finish. 3-0 and all over? Far from it.
The Danes made three substitutions and ten minutes from time pulled one back. Their best player Zuma, after a one-two at the edge of the box, let off a cracking low finish just inside the post, giving Angelo Peruzzi no chance. A great goal which meant with one more the Copenhageners would qualify on away goals.
Lazio felt the tension and went through an edgy last ten minutes. The Lions had no major chances but forced a few corners which were potentially dangerous, especially seeing their average size.
Fortunately in the 89th minute Lazio were spared further suffering and scored a fourth. The Danes were totally concentrated on going forward and left acres of space at the back. Mendieta, from inside his own half, saw Fiore on the other side going forward, and put the ball across into space. The Italian midfielder was suddenly completely alone just inside the Danes half, he took the ball forward and beat the keeper coming off his line with a top hand corner shot. Lazio 4-FC København 1 and final score.
A flattering, unconvincing but vital win for Lazio who qualified for the Champions League. Not without difficulty but over the two legs the Romans had proved to be far superior to the Danish Champions. They would however have to improve to be competitive against better opposition (CL is certainly the right place to find it).
On another positive note, along with the CL access, there was the prolificacy of Crespo and in the second half especially there had been signs of life from Mendieta and Fiore.
On the negative side were the injuries to two defenders, Negro and Mihajlovic.
Who played for Lazio
Peruzzi, Negro (35' Favalli), Pancaro, Nesta, Mihajlovic (61' Colonnese), Poborsky (53' Castroman), Mendieta, Simeone, Fiore, Crespo, C. Lopez
Substitutes: Marchegiani, Baggio, Stankovic, S. Inzaghi
Manager: Zoff
Who played for F.C København
Kihlstedt, Rytter, Madsen (72' Fredgaard), Laursen, Jensen, Lønstrup, Poulsen, Røll, Thorninger (66' Bisgaard), Zuma, Jonsson (67' Fernandez)
Substitutes: Petersen, Svensson, Nielsen, Christiansen
Manager: Karlsson
Referee: Krug (Germany)
Goals: 47' Crespo, 63' Crespo, 65' C. Lopez, 80' Zuma, 89' Fiore
What happened next
It was not to be a vintage season for Lazio. After only three league games, all draws, Dino Zoff was replaced by Alberto Zaccheroni.
Lazio had a mediocre season and finished 6th (losing both derbies, one 1-5). They managed however to qualify for the UEFA Cup by surprisingly beating Inter 4-2 in the last game of the season (Inter thus throwing away the Scudetto). Top scorer was Crespo with 20 goals (13 in the league).
The Champions League campaign was a flop. In a group with Galatasaray, Nantes and PSV Eindhoven, the Biancocelesti managed 2 wins and 4 defeats and were eliminated.
FC København were relegated to the UEFA Cup and they eliminated Serbs Obilic (4-2 on aggregate), Ajax Amsterdam (1-0 on aggregate) but were then knocked out by Borussia Dortmund (0-2 on aggregate) in the third round.
The Superligaen too ended in disappointment as they ended up second on goal difference to city rivals Brøndby. The Lions did win the Danish Supercup (Silkeborg 1-0) but lost the Danish Cup Final (Odense 1-2). Meanwhile, Zuma "The Puma" came 29th in the FIFA World Player Award.
Lazio 2001-02
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 50 |
Coppa Italia | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
Champions League | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 9 |
Total | 46 | 19 | 11 | 16 | 65 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League |
Fiore | 40 | 30 | 20 | 8 |
Lopez | 38 | 29 | 1 | 8 |
37 | 27 | 2 | 8 | |
Stankovic | 36 | 27 | 4 | 5 |
Couto | 35 | 29 | 2 | 4 |
Giannichedda | 35 | 28 | 3 | 4 |
Top Five Goal Scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League |
20 | 13 | 4 | 3 | |
Lopez | 12 | 10 | - | 2 |
Stankovic | 8 | 7 | - | 1 |
S. Inzaghi | 6 | 5 | 1 | - |
Fiore | 5 | 3 | - | 2 |
Let's talk about Gaizka Mendieta
Gaizka Mendieta Zabala was born in Bilbao, on March 27, 1974.
He started his football career far from the Basque Country, in Castellón (Valencia autonomous region). In the 1991-92 season he made his debut in the Segunda División playing 16 league games plus 2 in the Copa del Rey. The team from Castellón de la Plana finished 15th.
In 1992 he made his big move to nearby Valencia in the top flight. In his first year, under Guus Hiddink, he only made 2 appearances in the Liga and the Valencianos finished 4th.
The following year, however, he played 20 league games and scored his first 2 goals. "Els Che" finished 7th.
In 1993 came a new manager, Francisco Real but he was then followed by Uruguayan Héctor Núñez, José Manuel Rielo and finally the return of Hiddink. In all this turmoil Mendieta played 20 league games and scored his first 2 goals. Valencia finished 7th
In the 1994-95 season Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira took over but was then replaced by José Manuel Rielo. Mendieta played less, 13 league games with 1 goal and 3 games in the Copa del Rey. The Blanquinegres finished 10th.
The 1995-96 season was a good one both for Mendieta and Valencia. The "Taronja" finished 2nd behind Atlético Madrid and Mendieta played 34 league games and 8 in the Copa del Rey, under manager Luis Aragonés.
In 1996-97 Mendieta again played regularly, 30 league games with 1 goal and 6 in the UEFA Cup. Valencia finished 10th but reached the quarterfinals in Europe (Schalke 1-3 on aggregate).
In 1997-98 he again played 30 league games but with 10 goals plus 5 games in the Copa del Rey. The manager was Italian Claudio Ranieri and Valencia finished 9th.
The following season was a positive one. Valencia finished 4th in the league (Champions League qualification) and won the Copa del Rey for the 6th time (Atlético Madrid 3-0 with 2 goals by Claudio López and 1 by Mendieta). He played 37 league games with 7 goals, 7 games in Copa del Rey and 10 in Europe (6 Intertoto + 4 UC). It was in this season he made his debut for the Spanish national team.
In 1999 Héctor Cúper took charge and Valencia had a memorable season. They won the Spanish Supercup (Barcelona 1-0), finished 3rd in La Liga but above all reached the Champions League Final. They got through 2 group stages; they topped the first ahead of Bayern Munich, Rangers and PSV Eindhoven and then in the next group qualified as second behind Manchester United but ahead of Fiorentina and Bordeaux. In the quarterfinals they beat Lazio 5-3 on aggregate and in the semi-final Barcelona again 5-3 on aggregate. They played Real Madrid in the final in Paris but were well beaten 0-3. Mendieta had a great season, 33 games in the league with 13 goals, 2 games in the Copa del Rey, the Spanish Supercup plus 16 in the Champions League with 5 goals. Mendieta was voted best midfielder of the Champions League.
In 2000-01 Valencia finished 5th in La Liga but incredibly reached another Champions League Final. They topped the first group with Olympique Lyonnais, Olympiakos and Heerenveen. In the second group they came ahead of Manchester United on goal difference, leaving behind Sturm Graz and Panathinaikos. In the quarters they eliminated Arsenal on away goals (2-2 on aggregate) and in the semis got the better of Leeds United (3-0 on aggregate). They set up a final against Bayern Munich in Milan. This time "Els Che" came closer but were beaten on penalties 4-5 after a 1-1 draw (Mendieta scored a penalty in the 90 minutes and another in the shoot out). He played 31 league games with 10 goals and 16 in the Champions League with 4 goals. He was again voted best Champions League midfielder of the season.
In the summer of 2001 he joined Lazio. The Romans sacrificed club legend Pavel Nedved to buy the player who was considered the best midfielder in Europe. It proved to be a grave error, Mendieta never settled at Lazio and his performances ranged from poor to shocking. He played first under Zoff and then Zaccheroni and Lazio had a mediocre season finishing 6th and underperforming in the Champions League. Mendieta played 20 league games, 4 in Coppa Italia and 7 in the Champions League without a single goal.
In 2002 he returned to Spain to revive his career and joined Barcelona on loan. The Blaugrana however struggled and changed managers twice; Louis Van Gaal (1-19), Antonio de la Cruz (20) and Radomir Antić (21-38). "Barca" finished 6th and went out of the Champions League in the quarter finals (Juventus 2-3 on aggregate after extra-time). Mendieta played 33 league games with 4 goals, 1 game in the Copa del Rey and 15 in the Champions League with 2 goals.
In 2003 he moved to England and joined ambitious Middlesbrough in the top flight. He stayed four seasons but after the first he was hampered by injuries. He played a total of 81 games on Teesside with 5 goals. He won silverware with The Smoggies when Boro won the League Cup in 2004 beating Bolton 2-1 in Cardiff. Boro finished 11th, 14th, 12 and 13th in the Spaniard's spell in the north -east. In 2006 they reached the UEFA Cup Final but were defeated by Sevilla 0-4 in Eindhoven.
Mendieta then retired at 33.
At international level he won 40 caps for Spain with 9 goals. He played at Euro 2000 (reaching and scoring in the quarterfinal lost 1-2 to France) and the 2002 World Cup (again reaching the quarter final but going out to South Korea on penalties). He also played 13 games for the U21's winning a European silver medal in 1996 and a bronze in 1994.
Mendieta surprisingly stayed on in Middlesbrough after retirement and equally surprisingly became a well known and respected deejay.
When summarizing Mendieta's career there is an extremely positive Valencia period and then an extremely disappointing post Valencia phase. It must be said that many of the Valencia stars of the period never reached those heights again at other clubs: Gerard, Francisco Farinos, Kily Gonzalez, Adrian Ilie to name a few. Conversely others revived their careers at Valencia, Jocelyn Angloma and Amedeo Carboni for example, must be the south-east coast sea air… or the d….. , yes the dorada estrella beer is known to do wonders. He will be remembered as a great player in those years, one of the best in Europe.
He was a midfielder. He was 1.73 and 69 kilos but he was a strong player. He was a complete midfielder who could attack and defend, pulling the strings in all areas of the field. He scored goals too, 54 at Valencia, and was an excellent penalty taker.
Lazio unfortunately never saw these assets. He looked disorientated and never really fitted in. I remember commenting to my brother during one of Mendieta's more depressing displays, "he looks like someone who has never played football before"... hardly a compliment for Europe's supposedly best midfielder. In his defence Lazio in general had a negative season. Anyway at Lazio he is considered the biggest flop in their history, also taking into account the 89 billion Lire they paid for him and the sacrifice of Pavel Nedved. Still sends shivers down my spine.
Lazio Career
Season | Appearances | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League |
2001-02 | 31 | 20 | 4 | 7 |
Sources
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