Kozak and Sculli take Lazio to next Europa League phase
Lazio beat Sporting Lisbon and thank FC Zurich for beating Vaslui
Also on this day:
The season so far
The 2010-11 season had been disappointing as Lazio failed to qualify for the Champions League playoff on goal difference, so, much to the surprise of fans and media, Claudio Lotito decided that it was time to cough up some money. There were many new arrivals: goalkeeper Federico Marchetti, right back Abdoulay Konko, midfielder Lorik Cana, defender Marius Stankevicius but, more importantly, left back Senad Lulic and the attacking duo Dijbril Cisse and Miroslav Klose. Saying arrivederci to Lazio were Sergio Floccari, on loan to Parma, Pasquale Foggia, loan to Sampdoria, and Mauro Zarate, on loan to Inter, whereas Mourad Meghni ended his contract by mutual consent. Farewell to Fernando Muslera (Galatasaray), Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus) and Mark Bresciano (Al-Nasr).
In Serie A Lazio had done well and were third in the company of Milan, just two points off leaders Juventus and Udinese. They had won the derby and away to Fiorentina.
In the Europa League in the first game of the season Lazio demolished Rabotnicki in the Europa League playoff, but then initially struggled in the group stage with a draw at home against FC Vaslui and losing in Lisbon against Sporting. They then had drawn away to FC Zurich, beaten the Swiss at home but had drawn away to FC Vaslui. Sporting were leading the table on 12 points, Vaslui and Lazio on six, Zurich on two. The Biancocelesti needed to win today and hope that the Romanians did not in order to continue to the knockout phase.
The match: Wednesday, December 14, 2011, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Manager Edy Reja probably did not expect to go through to the next phase and decided to give Miro Klose a rest and put Libor Kozak in the centre of the attack. The tall Czech immediately had a chance in the 4th minute on a Cristian Ledesma cross but his header went high. Dijbril Cissé was fairly active on the right wing and sent in a number of crosses, alas to no effect. In the 23rd minute Sporting tried an attack. Bruno Pereirinha gave an excellent assist to Diego Rubio but his shot missed the target.
The Biancocelesti put their foot on the accelerator. Giuseppe Sculli sent in a good ball from the left for Hernanes but the Sporting Lisbon keeper managed to parry. Kozak missed another chance shortly after on another Sculli initiative but he did not miss in the 42nd minute. Wonderful cross from Senad Lulic and the Czech giant scored Lazio’s first of the evening.
News from Zurich was that Vaslui were drawing 0-0, so Lazio for the moment were through.
In the second half Albano Bizzarri was forced to save a dangerous Valeri Bojinov shot but then the Biancocelesti made it two. Mobido Diakité went on a slalom run in the Portuguese defence and passed to Sculli. 2-0 for Lazio.
The rest of the game was a waiting game listening to what was happening in Zurich. Vaslui lost and Lazio surprisingly went through to the knock stage.
Who played for Lazio
Bizzarri, Cavanda, Diakité, Biava, Lulic, Cana (53’ Gonzalez), Ledesma, Cissé, Hernanes (72’ Zampa), Sculli, Kozak (84’ Klose)
Manager: Reja
Who played for Sporting Lisbon
Marcelo, Pereirinha, Tiago Ilori, Onyewu (76' Joao Mario), Evaldo, Andrè Martins, Andrè Santos, Schaars (69' Danile Carrico), Carrillo, Diego Rubio (64' Insua), Bojinov
Substitutes: Tiago, Bertinho, Ricardo Esgaio
Manager: Domingos Paciencia
Referee: Dean (UK)
Goals: 42’ Kozak, 55’ Sculli
What happened next
Lazio qualified but had to meet the mighty Atletico Madrid in the Round of 32 and were eliminated.
At the end of the first half of the season Lazio were fifth in Serie A. Champions League qualification, always the goal, was five points away and held as usual by Udinese. The Biancocelesti were around fourth place for most of the winter (they were even second at one point) and slipped behind on the 19th game. They were in third place from February until three games to the end of the Campionato. On April 29, after losing at Udine, fatal yet again for Lazio’s objectives, they were caught up in third place by Napoli, Udinese and Inter. A draw at home against Siena the next game meant that it would have to be Europa League. It was really within their reach but too many faux pas to have that consistency necessary to reach third place. So, in the end it was fourth place that, due to Napoli winning the Coppa Italia, meant that Lazio would have to face a play off in the summer to reach the 2012-13 Europa League group stage.
In Coppa Italia after struggling to get past Verona in the fourth round they were eliminated by Milan in the quarterfinals.
Klose gave a good contribution to the cause with 15 goals (top scorer for the season, 12 goals in Serie A and 3 in Europa League), but Cisse struggled and was sold to QPR after only six months. To note that in the winter transfer window Lazio signed Antonio Candreva on loan for six months with an option to buy half at the end of the season.
Ledesma was the player with most appearances in the season with 47 games overall: 37 in Serie A, 2 in Coppa Italia and 8 in Europa League.
Let’s talk about: Enrico Zampa
Enrico Zampa was born on March 18, 1992, in Frascati near Rome. He started playing football in the Lazio youth teams and debuted with the A team in the Europa League match against Sporting Lisbon on December 14, 2011. That season he played another couple of times in the former UEFA Cup and debuted in Serie A in the last game of the season when the Biancocelesti beat Inter 3-1.
In the summer of 2012, he signed for Salernitana on a joint ownership with Lazio. He made 23 appearances in the fourth tier and the Granata got promoted. After another six months in Salerno, he moved to Feralpisalò for the rest of the season but did not play much. He then went to Trapani in Serie B where he made 18 appearances. In 2015 he signed for Ternana for a season again in Serie B. It would be his last at that level since from then on, he played for teams in the third tier or below.
He never stayed in a club for more than two years: Ancona, Monopoli (two seasons), Rieti, Potenza, Turris, Brindisi and back at Turris. In 2023-24 he played for Siracusa and in the summer of 2024 moved to Matera.
Zampa is a central midfielder good at breaking up opposition play. The highlight of his career is obviously his time in the capital, but has built a good career in the lower tiers.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances | Serie A | Europa League |
2011-12 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
Sources
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