Lazio dominate in Germany
With two goals by their forwards, Lazio win a prestigious friendly against Hamburger SV
Also on this day: August 8, 2009, Inter Lazio 1-2 Super Coppa. Lazio beat Inter and win their third Super Coppa thanks to Matuzalém, Rocchi and some super Muslera saves. Lazio Legend of the day: Tommaso Rocchi
The season so far
Last season had not been good and Manager Vladimir Petkovic had been sacked half way through and replaced by veteran Edy Reja. The latter did not want to continue so Lazio had chosen Stefano Pioli for this year. A controversial decision. Pioli did not have an extensive CV but was considered to be a rising star.
As far as transfers were concerned, Lazio did their homework this year. New arrivals included right back Dušan Basta (Udinese), centre backs Stefan de Vrij (Feyenoord) and Santiago Gentiletti (San Lorenzo), left back Edson Braafheid (free transfer), midfielder Marco Parolo (Parma) and centre forward Filip Djordjevic (free transfer). Danilo Cataldi had also returned from his loan at Crotone.
Leaving Lazio were André Dias who had retired, Giuseppe Biava who had decided not to renew his contract plus a number of minor players such as Gael Kakuta, Emiliano Alfaro, Brayan Perea and Helger Postiga.
The team was currently in their second pre-season training session at Harsewinkel in Germany after having done the usual 15 days at Auronzo di Cadore. Lazio had already played a number of friendlies including one in Lisbon a week earlier where they drew against Sporting.
Today was a second important test to see how the preparation was going so far.
The match: Friday, August 8, 2014, Stadion an der Lohmühle, Lübeck
Lazio started well and scored in the 5th minute. Stefano Mauri took a free kick on the left, crossed into the middle, the Hamburger SV defence fumbled and Djordjevic had an easy chance which he did not miss.
In the 12th minute corner for the Biancocelesti on the right. Cristian Ledesma’s cross was cleared but the ball arrived to Stefan Radu on the left just inside the box. Big whack that hit the woodwork. In the 18th minute Mauri to Keita Balde who tried a shot which was deflected off a German defender. The ball took on a strange trajectory and became a lob that the Hamburger SV goalkeeper managed to parry into corner.
In the second half Hamburger SV took control of the game and former Lazio Valon Behrami had a chance in the 69th minute but the ball went wide. In the 83rd minute Lazio doubled the score. Senad Lulic on the left crossed in the middle, Lorik Cana was anticipated but the ball fell to Mamadou Tounkara who had an easy tap in.
Excellent Lazio and a good match.
Who played for Hamburger SV
Adler, Diekmeier (46' Westermann), Djourou, Kacar, Jansen, Behrami (70' Skjelbred), Arslan (46' Badely), Stieber (62' Demirbay), Van der Vaart (62' Zoua), Ilicevic, Rudnevs
Substitutes: Drobny, Steinmann, Jung
Manager: Slomka
Who played for Lazio
Berisha, Konko (46’ Cavanda), Novaretti (77’ Ciani), Cana, Radu, Cataldi (66’ Gonzalez), Ledesma, Mauri (66’ Parolo), Felipe Anderson (66’ Candreva), Djordjevic (46’ Tounkara), Keita (66’ Lulic)
Manager: Pioli
Referee: Ittrich
Goals: 5’ Djordjevic, 83’ Tounkara
What happened next
Lazio struggled in the beginning. In the third fixture, away at Genoa, Gentiletti got seriously injured and the Biancocelesti had difficulty in replacing him. But then things started to work out and Lazio ended the first part of the season in fifth place, only two points from third. More importantly, one could see that Felipe Anderson was in the form of his life and had been devastating in some matches.
So, at the end of the first half of the season Lazio were fifth, two points behind Napoli and Sampdoria, third.
In the first game of the second round of fixtures the Biancocelesti demolished Milan 3-1 but then lost two consecutive matches, away at Cesena and at home to Genoa. From then on, they started a run of seven consecutive wins that took them to third place, just one point behind Roma. Their eight consecutive win against Empoli allowed them to overtake the Giallorossi but it was short-lived since they lost the next game away to Juventus.
So, it was all down to the derby in the last but one match of the season to determine who would be second. Unfortunately, Lazio lost and in the last game a point was needed in Naples to secure third place. Napoli, on the other hand, needed to win to overtake Lazio. At the end of the first half Lazio were winning 2-0, but in the second, Napoli equalised and were then awarded a controversial penalty. Gonzalo Higuain missed it, and towards the end Lazio scored with Eddy Onazi and Miro Klose to clinch the match and third place.
There were huge celebrations. Lazio had played very well all year and had possibly deserved even more than third place, but controversial refereeing decisions, especially in Lazio-Inter 1-2, plus exhaustion towards the end did not allow it to happen.
Lazio had a good run in Coppa Italia too. After beating Varese in December 3-0 (Abdoulay Konko, Djordjevic and Felipe Anderson), they won 3-1 away against Torino (Keita, Klose and Cristian Ledesma) and beat Milan at San Siro in the quarter finals thanks to a Lucas Biglia penalty. In the semi-final against Napoli Lazio drew the first leg at home 1-1 (Klose the scorer) and won in Naples 1-0 with a goal by Senad Lulic.
The final was at the Olimpico against Juventus. Lazio scored immediately with Stefan Radu but Juventus soon equalised. In the first half of extra time Djordjevic hit the woodwork twice with one shot and Juventus scored immediately after. Lazio were very unlucky.
The players with most appearances were Miroslav Klose and Marco Parolo (40). The German was obviously top scorer with 16 goals.
Lazio 2014-15
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 38 | 21 | 6 | 11 | 71 |
Coppa Italia | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 17 |
Total | 45 | 26 | 7 | 12 | 88 |
Top 5 appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
Klose | 40 | 34 | 6 |
Parolo | 40 | 34 | 6 |
Candreva | 38 | 34 | 4 |
Felipe Anderson | 37 | 32 | 5 |
de Vrij | 35 | 30 | 5 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
Klose | 16 | 13 | 3 |
Parolo | 11 | 10 | 1 |
Candreva | 11 | 10 | 1 |
Felipe Anderson | 11 | 10 | 1 |
Mauri | 9 | 9 | - |
Djordjevic | 9 | 8 | 1 |
Let's talk about Mamadou Tounkara
When Lazio signed Keita Balde Diao and Mamadou Tounkara on a free transfer there was a lot of excitement. They both came from the Barcelona youth team and when they played their first game for the Primavera team everybody was certain they would become future stars. As a matter of fact, I was more impressed by Tounkara than by Keita. Neither of the two players would fulfil their enormous potential.
Tounkara was born in Blanes, near Girona in Spain, on January 19, 1996. Just like Keita he is of Senegalese nationality but holds a Spanish passport. He was immediately noted by Barcelona as a little kid but a few injuries and indiscipline meant that he was loaned to Farners in 2010-11. At the end of August 2012, he signed for Lazio as a free agent and initially played for the Primavera. With the under-19s he won a League title in 2012-13, two Coppa Italias in 2013-14 and 2014-15 and a Super Coppa in 2014. He debuted in Serie A in the last game of the 2013-14 season against Bologna substituting no other than Miro Klose.
Lazio had great belief in his abilities and in the summer of 2015, he was loaned to Crotone. In six months he hardly played, so in January 2016 he left for Salernitana again on loan. At this point Lazio decided to let him go but could not find a buyer. He stayed, made one appearance towards the end of the Pescara Lazio 2-6 game but again in the summer of 2017 the club had difficulty in finding him a team. In January 2018 he was loaned to Flamurtari SK in Albania for the start of three six-month loans. After Albania it was the turn of Swiss Fussballclub Schaffhausen followed by Slovacchian MFK Zemplín Michalovce. On August 11 2019 he signed for Viterbese in Serie C. He did very well in the following two years with 49 league appearances and 16 goals, earning him a call up for ambitious Serie B side Cittadella. He did reasonably well the first year even if he was always a regular but in January 2023 he was loaned to Avellino. He stayed six months before signing for Foggia and again in mid-season left for Avezzano. He is currently out of a contract.
Tounkara was a promise who for various reasons never managed to make it. A real pity. He is a powerful, fast forward and he would have been an excellent partner for Keita. That was the plan, but it failed.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
2013-14 | 1 | 1 | - |
2014-15 | 1 | - | 1 |
2016-17 | 1 | 1 | - |
Total | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Sources
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