Boksic and Gazza send "Madam" to bed
The Croatian-English duo give Lazio a rare and prestigious win against the "Old Lady" of Italy
Also on this day:
Source Lazio Wiki
The season so far
For the first time in 16 years Lazio were finally to play in a European tournament, since they had qualified for the UEFA Cup in the previous season. In order to celebrate the occasion, President Sergio Cragnotti was particularly busy during the summer transfer window: in came Luca Marchegiani (Torino), Roberto Di Matteo (Aarau) and Paolo Negro (Brescia) and Luciano De Paola (Brescia, but he was immediately sold to Atalanta) and Fabrizio Di Mauro on loan from Fiorentina. But more specifically, Cragnotti was able to reach an agreement for the signing of the best player in Europe: Alen Boksic. Unfortunately, the agreement was for the 1994-95 season and Marseille President Bernard Tapie did not want to let the Croat go any earlier. As a consequence, Lazio bought Pierluigi Casiraghi from Juventus. In the end, Cragnotti was a lot more convincing and Boksic arrived in the winter transfer window.
The arrival of the new players meant that some of the old ones had to go. Therefore, Lazio said goodbye to Karl-Heinz Riedle (Borussia Dortmund), Angelo Gregucci (Torino), Giovanni Stroppa (Foggia), Maurizio Neri (Brescia) and Valerio Fiori (Cagliari). In the winter transfer window Thomas Doll and Dario Marcolin were loaned out to Eintracht Frankfurt and Cagliari respectively.
The European adventure did not last long as Lazio were eliminated by Boavista 2-1 on aggregate. The Coppa Italia campaign went even worse and the Biancocelesti were immediately eliminated by Serie C side Avellino.
Lazio were currently 6th in the table, on 16 points. The previous two games had been a 4-0 thumping of Genoa at home and an 1-1 away draw at Bergamo.
Juventus were 4th, on 19 points. The manager was Giovanni Trapattoni. A week earlier Juventus had beaten Napoli 1-0 at home, after a three-match run without wins. In the UEFA Cup they were through to the quarter final to be played in March against fellow Italians, Cagliari.
Juventus' main stars were in attack: Roberto Baggio, Alessandro Del Piero, Gianluca Vialli and Fabrizio Ravanelli.
Milan were top of the table but only on 21 points so Juventus were still in the running for the Scudetto while Lazio were only one point from the last UEFA Cup slot.
The match: Sunday, December 12, 1993, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
A 66,000 crowd was present at the Olimpico for this big game.
Lazio finally had Paul Gascoigne in the starting line up. Gazza had an injury prone start and only played four league games so far, the last coming almost two months earlier in a home game against Piacenza.
Juventus were without defender Júlio César, midfielder Giancarlo Marocchi and had Alessandro Del Piero on the bench.
The first half was a balanced affair although Juventus attacked more.
The first initiative was by the Bianconeri with Moller who picked up the ball in midfield, burst forward on a solo run gliding past the Lazio defenders but was finally ended by Luca Marchegiani who dived low at the German's feet and blocked the ball.
Lazio answered with Gazza. From a floated Beppe Signori free kick into the area there followed a scramble until the Geordie got the ball, skilfully dribbled past a defender and let loose a mid height left foot which Angelo Peruzzi dived to his right and caught.
Lazio insisted and Alen Boksic received the ball from an Aron Winter throw-in and powered past Kohler on the right side of the area before unleashing a dangerous low effort again caught by Peruzzi.
Juventus and Moller then almost stole the show. Antonio Conte went down the right and crossed into the heart of the area where the German coordinated himself perfectly, connected and sent a superb bicycle kick just over the bar.
Then came arguably the visitors biggest chance. From a freekick from the right Marchegiani punched the ball up into the air to the edge of the box where Roberto Baggio volleyed it low towards goal. It looked like a winner but on the line Mauro Bonomi stretched and managed to get a boot to it and then Beppe Favalli headed clear before Fabrizio Ravanelli could pounce. Halftime Lazio 0 Juventus 0.
An even first 45 minutes with Juventus probably winning on points for the danger of their chances.
There were no changes at halftime but the scoreline changed almost immediately. In the 49th minute Gazza tried to jiggle his way into the area but was tackled, the ball went back to Roberto Di Matteo who with a first touch sent it straight into the box to Signori, the striker shot but at the same time was tackled by Torricelli and the ball then ricocheted off Kohler and trickled past a wrong footed Peruzzi. A fortuitous goal but Lazio 1 Juventus 0.
Paul Gascoigne was suddenly more lively. He went on one of his characteristic runs, gliding past opponents but once in the area his shot was weakened slightly by a lunging challenge and Peruzzi comfortably dived to his right and saved.
In the 54th minute Juventus equalised. Juventus had a free kick at the edge of the box for a foul by Bacci on Baggio. The "Divin Codino" himself took it and it hit the crossbar, came back into play where it was headed by Kohler but only as far as Fortunato who blasted the bouncing ball in from close range. Lazio 1 Juventus 1.
Lazio reacted well and Boksic especially became the protagonist. First he was unlucky when he hammered a shot onto the crossbar, the ball bounced back and Gascoigne's bicycle kick was deflected into corner.
In the 59th minute the big Croat was on target. Diego Fuser ran down the right flank and put in a precise cross which Boksic, running towards the front post and anticipating Torricelli, headed past Peruzzi under the crossbar. Lazio 2 Juventus 1.
Juventus at this point predictably pushed forward but rarely threatened while leaving themselves vulnerable to Lazio's counter attacks. Unfortunately for the Biancocelesti in the 74th minute Signori had to go off due to a pulled muscle and was replaced by Gigi Casiraghi. In the 78th minute a shattered Boksic also gave in to cramps and on came a more defensive Claudio Sclosa. Juventus tried the Del Piero card and in the 78th minute "Pinturicchio" came on for "Silver Fox" Ravanelli".
In the 90th minute came the liberational third goal for Lazio. Favalli crossed into the area from the left and Juventus defence messed up the offside trap leaving Gazza unmarked in front of Peruzzi. His first volley was weak and central and parried with one hand by the keeper from nearby Blera but luckily it came straight back to the Englishman who then had a simple tap in. Lazio 3 Juventus 1.
A great and prestigious victory for Lazio. The Biancocelesti showed they had the quality to compete with the best. They had to find more consistency to do it week in week out.
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Bacci, Favalli, Di Matteo, Bonomi, Cravero, Fuser, Winter, Boksic (78' Sclosa), Gascoigne, Signori (74' Casiraghi).
Manager: Zoff
Who played for Juventus
Peruzzi, Porrini, A.Fortunato, Conte, Kohler, Torricelli, Di Livio, D.Baggio, Ravanelli (78' Del Piero), R. Baggio, Moeller
Substitutes: Marchioro, Francesconi, Notari, Galia
Manager: Trapattoni
Referee: Ceccarini
Goals: 49' Kohler (og), 54' A. Fortunato, 59' Boksic, 90' Gascoigne
What happened next
The Biancocelesti in the next game won at Lecce and were only three points off leaders Milan. The Christmas break broke the momentum and Lazio came back from the holidays with a draw against Sampdoria (and a Beppe Signori injury) and a 4-1 loss at Foggia. Without Signori, Lazio lost a lot of potential. They managed to beat Reggiana but then lost again at Parma.
Finally, with Signori back from injury one could see light at the end of the tunnel. Lazio won in Milan against Inter, the derby and by the end of the season they were third, behind Milan and Juventus. Marchegiani and Winter played the most games (40) and Signori was the top scorer with 23 goals.
As everybody imagined, Cragnotti did not confirm Zoff for 1994-95, but in order to keep a man so highly respected in the football world, he made him President of the club. Zdenek Zeman would be the next Lazio manager.
Let’s talk about Giovanni Trapattoni
Giovanni Trapattoni must be considered among the greatest Italian managers of all time and he is certainly the most successful. One of only six head coaches to win a league in four different counties (the others being Tomislav Ivic, Ernst Happel, Eric Gerets, Carlo Ancelotti and José Mourinho). These are the list of trophies won:
Scudetto: as a player Milan 1961-62 and 1967-68, as manager Juventus 1976-77, 1977-78, 1980-81, 1981-82, 1983-84, 1985-86, Inter 1988-89
Coppa Italia: as a player Milan 1966-67, as manager Juventus 1978-79, 1982-83
Italian Supercoppa: as manager Inter 1989
Bundesliga: Bayern Munich 1996-97
German League Cup: Bayern Munich 1997
German Cup: Bayern Munich 1997-98
Primeira Liga: Benfica 2004-05
Austrian League: Salzburg 2006-07
European Cup: as a player Milan 1962-63 and 1968-69, as manager Juventus 1984-85
Cup Winners Cup: as a player Milan 1967-68, as manager Juventus 1983-84
UEFA Cup: Juventus 1976-77 and 1992-93, Inter 1990-91
UEFA Super Cup: Juventus 1984
Intercontinental Cup: as a player Milan 1969, as manager Juventus 1984.
Trapattoni was born on March 17, 1939, in Cusano Milanino, very close to Milan. He started playing football locally but during a game with the young Milan players he was noted by manager Mario Malatesta (who played for Lazio in the 1930s) and immediately signed. In the Milan youth teams he won the Viareggio Cup twice and debuted in Serie A on January 24 1960 in the away game won 3-0 against Spal. He would go on to win everything possible with AC Milan, one of their key players under Nereo Rocco. He was a defensive midfield player and pretty ruthless. He was the one who cancelled out Eusebio in the European Cup final at Wembley against Benfica in 1962. He was good at headers and excellent in breaking the opponent’s game to start counter-attacks. He made 351 appearances, and six goals, with Milan from 1957 to 1971. He then left for Varese where he made 13 appearances before quitting active football at only 33 years of age.
He played 17 games for Italy with one goal. Famous was his marking of Pele in an Italy 3-0 win against Brazil on May 12 1963, even though it is fair to say that O’Rey was not 100% and was only playing for contractual reasons.
Once he retired, he immediately went into coaching. After managing in the youth teams, he was called to action first as Rocco's help and then he took over in the final match of 1972-73 when Milan lost 5-3 at Verona handing the scudetto to Juventus. In the subsequent season he was given the team towards the end following Cesare Maldini's resignation. He took the Rossoneri to the final of the Cup Winners Cup which they lost to Magdeburg. In 1974-75 he became assistant to Gustavo Giagnoni but took over a year later. Milan arrived third but the club had no intention of keeping him as head coach, so he decided to leave. He was about to sign for Atalanta, but Giampiero Boniperti, Juventus President, called him to be manager at Juventus and he moved to Turin.
At Juve he won everything possible. In ten years, the club became one of the best in Europe. He was the coach of Michel Platini, Paolo Rossi, Dino Zoff, Roberto Bettega, Marco Tardelli, Gaetano Scirea among many. Six scudetti, two Coppa Italias, a European Cup, Cup Winners Cup, UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup and an Intercontinental Cup. An amazing run which ended in 1985-86. The club wanted to turn a new leaf and choose a younger manager. He was offered to take a position like Boniperti's but he wanted to continue to coach and left for Inter.
In Milan his first two years were not that good, but in 1988-89, thanks also to the signing of Lothar Matthaus, Andreas Brehme and Nicola Berti, added to the defensive backbone of Walter Zenga, Beppe Bergomi and Riccardo Ferri, Inter went on to dominate and win the scudetto. In his last season with Inter, 1990-91, he won the UEFA Cup.
He went back to Juve the following season and stayed for another three, winning another UEFA Cup. Among the players under him were Roberto Baggio and Gianluca Vialli and he launched the career of Alessandro Del Piero.
In 1994-95 he was called to manage Bayern Munich but the season was a shambles and he was not confirmed. He came back to Italy to be head coach for Cagliari but even here the team did not do well and in February he resigned.
For the 1996-97 Milan President Silvio Berlusconi tempted him but he decided to go back to Munich. Now he had Matthaus, former Inter Jurgen Klinsmann plus Ruggero Rizzitelli and Bayern won the league. Tempted again to return to Italy this time by Roma, he continued to manage Bayern for the next season but it was not a good one. His monologue against Thomas Strunz, Mario Basler and Mehmet Scholl, guilty of lacking professionalism, will go down in media history.
In 1998 he signed for Fiorentina and the Viola went so well that after the first half of the season they were first, but then they were overtaken by Milan and Lazio and finished third. A not so good 1999-00 season made him decide to leave Florence at the end of his second season.
In the summer of 2000 Italy had lost the final of the European Nations Cup. Berlusconi heavily criticized coach Dino Zoff who resigned. Trapattoni took his place. He stayed for four years. Italy were eliminated in the Round of 16 by South Korea in the World Cup due to Byron Moreno’s wonderful refereeing and in the Euro 2004 they dropped out in the group phase after the “friendly” draw between Sweden and Denmark. At the end of the Euros he resigned.
In 2004 he became head coach for Benfica taking them to the League title. The following year he decided to go back to Germany and manage Stuttgart but was sacked in February. His next adventure was with Salzburg with whom he won another title. In his second year in Austria Salzburg came second.
In March 2008 he was called to be head coach for Ireland. Assisted by Tardelli, Ireland did very well and just missed out on 2010 World Cup qualification. They had lost the first leg 1-0 at home to France but then had taken Les Blues to extra time. Then France scored with William Gallas after Thierry Henry had controlled the ball with his hand. This caused a lot of controversy all over the world.
He did make it to Euro 2012 but Ireland lost all their group phase games. In 2013, after losing two games in the World Cup qualifiers, he decided to call it a day.
Trapattoni is an Italian legend, both as player as well as manager. The most successful Italian coach of all time.
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