A draw takes Lazio to second place
A good draw against a difficult team takes Lazio to second place in the 1968-69 Serie B tournament.
Also on this day: December 11, 1977, Lazio Napoli 1-1. A late goal by Juliano snatches a point but all in all it was a fair result. Player of the day: Luigi Boccolini
The season so far
Following a disastrous year in Serie B in the previous season, 1968-69 looked like promotion was on the cards. In the first eight games of Lazio had convincingly won many matches at the Olimpico and played pretty badly away from home. The team was always between second and third place and there was room for improvement especially because two of Lazio’s star players, Nello Governato and Giancarlo Morrone, were having difficulty in finding a decent form. The manager was unofficially Juan Carlos Lorenzo again but because he was a foreigner he could not be officially manager. Therefore Bob Lovati (who else) sat on the bench during the games.
The match: Wednesday, December 11, 1968, Brescia, Stadio Rigamonti
Brescia-Lazio should have taken place on December 1 but was suspended due to fog after just 17 minutes. The replay saw the home team take control early in the game and score almost immediately. Guido Onor put a hand to the ball in the box after just ten minutes and referee De Marchi indicated a penalty. Virginio De Paoli made no mistake and it was 1-0 for Brescia.
Brescia almost made it 2-0 a few minutes later with Ivano Bosdaves, but the Brescia player kicked the ball into the stratosphere. Lazio were finally dangerous in the 20th minute with Carlo Soldo but his shot was saved by Luigi Brotto. Claudio Turchetto’s volley three minutes later just missed the goal but from then on Lazio took control.
In the 29th minute Diego Zanetti had a chance and three minutes Lazio equalised. Brotto took too long to clear the ball and the ref gave Lazio a free kick inside Brescia’s penalty box. Ferruccio Mazzola passed the ball to Gian Piero Ghio who made it 1-1.
The second half opened with a couple of opportunities for Brescia, but it was Ghio again in the 65th minute to have a chance, but he missed. The game ended with Lazio trying to score and Brescia blocking everything that moved.
A good draw against a very physical team. Lazio was back in second place.
Who played for Brescia
Brotto, Fumagalli, Cuccureddu, Volpi, Vescovi, Busi, Simoni, Turchetto, De Paoli, Bicicli, Bosdaves.
Substitutes: E. Galli, Botti.
Manager: Silvestri.
Among the Brescia players there are a couple who stand out: Antonello Cuccureddu, right back, who will win six scudetti and a UEFA Cup with Juventus in the 70s, and Gigi Simoni, unlucky Lazio manager in the 1985-86 season in Serie B.
Who played for Lazio
Substitutes: Fioravanti, Di Giovanni
Coach: Lovati
Manager: Lorenzo
Referee: De Marchi
Goals: 10’ De Paoli (pen), 32’ Ghio
What happened next
After the Brescia game, Lazio managed to win only a couple of matches and after the first half of the season the position was joint second with Bari and behind Brescia. However everything fell into place in the second half of the season and in the next 19 games they only lost twice and won some decisive games away from home. Key players managed to find form and despite losing Giuseppe Massa through injury, goals came regularly from a variety of players.
Lazio managed to secure promotion with two games to go and reach the top spot in the last match.
The player with the most apperances in Serie B was Rino Marchesi, who played every single game, and Ghio was top scorer.
Lazio 1968-69
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie B | 38 | 17 | 16 | 5 | 55 |
Coppa Italia | 3 | - | 2 | 1 | 2 |
Total | 41 | 17 | 18 | 6 | 57 |
Top five appearances (complete player statistics)
Player | Total | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
40 | 37 | 3 | |
40 | 37 | 3 | |
39 | 36 | 3 | |
38 | 38 | - | |
37 | 35 | 2 |
Top five goal scorers (complete player statistics)
Player | Total | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
Gian Piero Ghio | 11 | 10 | 1 |
Ferruccio Mazzola II | 8 | 8 | - |
Giuliano Fortunato | 8 | 8 | - |
7 | 6 | 1 | |
6 | 6 | - |
Let's talk about Rino Marchesi
Rino Marchesi, perhaps better known as manager of Napoli, Inter and Juventus, was part of the generation of gentlemen players of the 1960s, an attitude he would also have as a manager.
Born on June 11 1937 at San Giuliano Milanese, he started playing football at Lodi and then he moved to Bergamo to play for Atalanta. After three years he was sold to Fiorentina where he stayed for six seasons. In Florence he won the Coppa Italia twice, a Cup Winners Cup and a Mitropa Cup. In 1966 he moved to Lazio.
In Lazio he played as a sweeper. Always rational and elegant, he stayed for five years, in seasons that cannot be considered easy, but those were formative years for some of the players that were to win the scudetto in 1974.
He played 68 games in Serie A for Lazio, 57 in Serie B, 10 in Coppa Italia, 3 in Mitropa Cup, 4 in the Anglo Italian Cup and 9 in the Cup of the Alps. He scored 4 goals (2 in Serie A and 2 in Serie B) all on penalties.
Marchesi also played two games for his country, two friendlies against Argentina and France in 1961 and 1962.
He was the first non-goalkeeper who came on as substitute in history of Lazio. It took place on September 29 1968 when he took the place of Nello Governato in the beginning of the second half.
After Lazio he played for Prato in Serie C in the last two years of his career.
In 1973 he became manager at Montevarchi, soon followed by a couple of years at Mantova and a year at Ternana. In 1978 he was in charge of Avellino in their first year in Serie A and he successfully guided them to safety, as he did a year later.
In 1980-81 he almost took Napoli to their first scudetto. They were fighting with Juventus and Roma until 5 matches from the end when they surprisingly lost at home to Perugia. They finished third and a year later fourth. For the 1983-84 season he managed Inter but he only lasted a year despite a good third place.
In 1984 he was called to rescue a Napoli in dangerous waters and he did so. He was confirmed and therefore became Diego Maradona’s first manager in Italy. The Argentinian only really started coming good in the second half of the season and Napoli did not do particularly well. Marchesi was not confirmed.
After joining Como in the 11th match of the 1985-86 season and taking them to safety, he was called to manage Juventus in 1986 taking the place of Giovanni Trapattoni who had won everything with the club. It was not an easy year and it was also Michel Platini’s last year as a footballer. He did not do too badly, taking the Bianconeri to second place behind Napoli. He was not so successful in the following year and was not confirmed.
He went back to Como only to be fired with ten games to go. In 1989-90 he was called to Udinese to save them but he fell just short. His last games as manager in Serie A were with Lecce in 1993-94 but he he was not able to avoid the Salentini's relegation.
He was unlucky as manger, always arriving either at the end of cycles or at the very beginning, therefore unable to have competitive teams.
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia | Mitropa Cup | Anglo-Italian Cup | Cup of the Alps |
1966-67 | 22 (2) | 19 (2) | - | 2 | 1 | - | - |
1967-68 | 21 (1) | - | 19 (1) | 2 | - | - | - |
1968-69 | 38 (1) | - | 38 (1) | - | - | - | - |
1969-70 | 43 | 30 | - | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
1970-71 | 27 | 19 | - | 3 | - | - | 5 |
Total | 151 (4) | 68 (2) | 57 (2) | 10 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
Sources
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