Danish-Norwegian duo give Lazio comeback win
Hansen and Bredesen goals overturn Castelli's opener
Also on this day:
The season so far
Lazio had finished 11th the previous season. The manager was first Mario Sperone (1-24) and then Federico Allasio (25-34). Top scorers were Alberto Fontanesi and Pasquale Vivolo with 9 league goals each. Lazio’s best result had been defeating Juventus 2-1.
This season the manager was initially Allasio (1-7) and then George Raynor (with Roberto Copernico as technical director). Lazio had made quite a few changes to the squad.
Arriving were: keeper Giuseppe Zibetti (Brescia), defender Attilio Giovannini (Inter, after 191 league games), Carlo Parola (Juventus-after 334 league games), midfielder Renzo Sassi (Legnano) and forward John Hansen (Juventus, after 188 league games and 124 goals).
Leaving were keeper Lucidio Sentimenti IV (Vicenza, after 170 league games), midfielders Franco Carradori (loan to Palermo), Enrique Flamini (Terracina, after 272 league games), Serafino Montanari (Chinotto Neri) and forward Paolo Bettolini (Monza-on loan).
Lazio were so far having a worse season than the previous. After 11 games the Biancocelesti were currently bottom on 5 points. Lazio had won 2, drawn 1 (the derby 1-1) and lost 8.
Lazio desperately needed a win today.
Napoli had finished 5th the previous season under Eraldo Monzeglio. The Azzurri had beaten Lazio twice 4-0 in Rome and 2-1in Naples. Top scorer was Swede Hasse Jeppson with 20 league goals.
This season the manager was still Monzeglio. The squad was pretty much unchanged, the only novelty was defender Celso Posio (Brescia).
So far, Napoli were in mid-table, joint 8th with Genoa on 11 points. The Partenopei had won 3, drawn 5 (including Juventus 1-1 away) and lost 3. Their most recent game was a 1-1 home draw against 3rd placed Fiorentina.
These were games Lazio had to win to start climbing the table.
The match: Sunday, December 19, 1954, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Nice sunny weather and the presence of Hollywood star Ava Gardner attracted about 50,000 spectators to the Olimpico. The actress, who was in Rome for work, presented the two captains with flowers on the field just before kick-off.
Lazio were without defender Francesco Antonazzi plus forwards Renzo Burini and Pasquale Vivolo, while Napoli had Hungarian defender Jenő Viney and forward Hasse Jeppson unavailable. On the other hand, Lazio had Danish striker John Hansen back from injury.
The first half was a slow-paced affair. Lazio attacked but at a pedestrian speed, definitely not enough to get through the tight Napoli defence.
In reality, the game had looked promising in the first five minutes or so, but then faded. Napoli had a good Celso Posio-Bruno Pesaola-Amedeo Amedei move finished off by Posio but Giuseppe Zibetti saved well and then Primo Sentimenti V cleared. Lazio answered with two shots by Norwegian Per Bredesen and Swede Sigvard Löfgren both saved by Ottavio Bugatti.
Then, as mentioned, the game went flat. Lazio's attacks were slow and predictable and Napoli's well organised defence prevailed.
In the 20th minute Napoli moved defender Giulio Castelli up front due to a light injury and moved midfielder Giovanni Ciccarelli further back.
Fortunately, in the last ten minutes the game livened up. For Lazio, in the 36th and 37th minutes, Hansen and Bredesen missed favourable chances while Napoli threatened with Giancarlo Vitali and Amadei, but defender Attilio Giovannini and keeper Zibetti were alert. In the 40th minute Hansen fired wide and then Napoli had a weak shot by Bruno Pesaola easily saved by Zibetti. Lazio were far more dangerous in the 43rd minute but Renzo Sassi's effort shaved the post. Halftime Lazio 0 Napoli 0.
A decent start, a monotonous half hour and an exciting last ten minutes which bode well for the second half.
Unfortunately, the second period started at snail pace again but the game suddenly changed in the 54th minute. Ciccarelli found Pesaola who teed up Castelli with a good low through ball, the Piedmontese controlled it and despite his injury took it forward a few paces and beat Zibetti from close range. Lazio 0 Napoli 1.
The goal, however, transformed Lazio who were now staring Serie B in the face. The Biancocelesti became quicker and sharper. Hansen blasted a shot wide in the 62nd minute but four minutes later Lazio equalised. In the 66th minute Bredesen surged down the left wing and crossed into the middle where Hansen got between defenders Giorgio Granata and Armando Tre Re and headed onto the post, the ball then came off Bugatti's arm and went in. Lazio 1 Napoli 1.
Not even two minutes later Lazio struck again. Hansen sent Bredesen charging down the right wing this time, the linesman put his flag up but the referee ignored it correctly judging the Norwegian onside, he then cut in and shot and Bugatti parried but with his second attempt, on the rebound, the midfielder made no mistake. Lazio 2 Napoli 1. A remarkable turnaround in the space of four minutes.
The remainder of the game was thrilling, no doubt to Ava Gardner's delight too.
Napoli attacked furiously. In the 70th minute Zibetti was superb on a Vitali strike. Giovannini in particular was brilliant in blocking several Neopolitan threats.
Lazio were always dangerous on the break with Alberto Fontanesi and Aldo Puccinelli.
Then in the last few minutes Lazio suddenly took control again trying to definitely close the contest. Fontanesi was denied by Bugatti and then defender Luciano Comaschi saved the day on another Fontanesi effort. Full time Lazio 2 Napoli 1.
Huge celebrations in the stands with the lazio fans lighting newspapers to make torches to great visual effect.
On the pitch it had been a strange game. Nondescript for long periods especially in the first half, but then with moments of end to end action. Ultimately an exciting and entertaining game. Hopefully Ava Gardner had enjoyed herself and been won over by soccer and Lazio in particular.
For Lazio it was a great and vital win as all their rivals had lost. They moved off the bottom slot and joined Pro Patria in joint 16th place on 7 points. They also showed they were not relegation material.
Napoli dropped to joint 11th, with Genoa and Triestina on 11 points.
Who played for Lazio
Zibetti, Di Veroli, Sentimenti V, Fuin, Giovannini, Sassi II, Bredesen, Löfgren, Fontanesi I, Hansen, Puccinelli
Manager: Raynor
Who played for Napoli
Bugatti, Comaschi, Tre Re, Castelli, Gramaglia, Granata, Vitali, Ciccarelli, Posio, Amadei, Pesaola
Manager: Monzeglio
Referee: Jonni
Goals: 54' Castelli, 66' Hansen, 68' Bredesen
What happened next
Lazio lost the next game 0-3 away to Milan and were joint bottom again. Then things started improving. In the next 21 games Lazio won 8 (including Inter 3-2 and Juventus 2-1, at home and a 3-1 derby triumph), drew 7 and lost 6. The Biancocelesti finished joint 12th. Top scorer was Dane John Hansen with 15 league goals.
Napoli picked up again and finished 6th. The Azzurri ended the season with 13 wins (including Lazio 3-2), 12 draws and 9 defeats. Top scorers were Hasse Jeppson and Giancarlo Vitali with 10 league goals each.
The Scudetto was won by Milan for the 5th time. Going down were supposed to be SPAL and Pro Patria but they were replaced by Udinese and Catania for various corruption misdemeanours.
Let's talk about George Raynor
George Raynor was the first British manager to reach the final of the World Cup. But in Britain nobody has ever heard of him. He was Lazio manager in the 1954-55 season.
George Sydney Raynor was born in Wombell in South Yorkshire on January 13, 1907. After having played for non-league teams, his first professional job was with Sheffield United in 1930, but in two years he only made one appearance. In the next seven years he played for Mansfield Town, Rotherham United, Bury and Aldershot, making little impact. When the second World War broke out, he signed up as a physical training instructor (PTI) so that he could avoid active service. The Football Association had requested that all professional footballers become PTIs if they did not want to be involved in the fighting. He was posted to Iraq.
Iraq’s Prime Minister, Nuri al-Said, wanted to create the first ever Iraqi national football team and Raynor was offered the job of head coach. As a consequence, seven years before joining FIFA, Iraq had a football team made up of officers and students. They played a number of friendlies against Polish and British military teams plus a number of games in Lebanon and Syria. In 1944 a match had to be abandoned when a riot broke out killing eight and injuring a further 200.
His job in Iraq was not approved by the Football Association which forced Raynor to go back to the UK. He coached the Aldershot reserve team but by 1946 he was unemployed. The FA Secretary, Stanley Rous, told Raynor that there was an opportunity to coach the Swedish Olympic team. He took it.
The Swedes had some formidable players: Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm (nicknamed Gre-No-Li), later all to play for Milan and win the scudetto (Gren once, Nordahl twice and Liedholm four times). In the first round they thrashed Austria 3-0, scored 12 against South Korea in the quarterfinals, beat Denmark 4-2 in the semi-final and Yugoslavia 3-1 in the final. The gold medal was an exceptional feat and Raynor was the last British manager to do so, at least for men’s football.
In 1950 he managed Sweden at the World Cup. Despite the fact that professionals could not play for the country, hence no Gre-No-Li and many others who had left for more lucrative European championships, they beat Italy in the opening game and proceeded to the final round. They lost to Brazil and Uruguay but beat Spain to claim third position. One must consider that all the players were amateurs so it was an incredible result.
In the 1952 Olympic Games Sweden beat Norway and Austria but lost the semi-final to the formidable Hungarians 6-0. In the bronze medal match however, they beat West Germany 2-0. Thus, another triumph.
While he was head coach for Sweden, Raynor was also manager for GAIS (Gothenburg’s Athletics and Sports Association) in the 1947-48 season and AIK Fotboll from 1948 to 1952 winning the Swedish Cup twice in successive years. From 1952 to 1954 he was manager for Atvidaberg in the Swedish second division.
In 1954 he left Sweden and came to Italy. He became technical director at Juventus with Aldo Olivieri as manager. He did not last long. On November 1 he was sacked.
Lazio 1954-55
The Biancocelesti had started the season under Federico Allasio but after six games they were bottom with only three points. Lazio President, Costantino Tessaroli, seeing that Raynor was jobless, asked him to become manager with Roberto Copernico as technical director.
At the end of the first half of the season Lazio were 16th, three points ahead of Pro Patria, last, and +1 on Spal. They had at least won a few games including beating Inter 3-2 at home. Once the team started correctly applying Raynor's teachings on the pitch, the Biancocelesti improved considerably, thanks also to John Hansen’s goals and Giuseppe Zibetti’s great saves. At the end of the season Lazio arrived 12th comfortably avoiding any relegation worries. They also beat Juventus (revenge is sweet) and won the derby.
He was highly considered at Lazio. A true professional, a little irascible at times and with a typical English sense of superiority, but he certainly knew what he was doing and the Biancocelesti managed to have a decent season despite the initial disaster.
Sweden 1958
Sweden had not qualified for the 1954 World Cup due to the fact that all the best players were not allowed to play for the National team. But the country was awarded the organisation of the 1958 World Cup.
In the meantime, Raynor had gone back to the UK but, instead of getting a job for a team that was “worthy” of his CV, he was forced to accept a job in the third tier. He managed Coventry City for 11 months before being called back to Sweden. There was a world cup to prepare on home soil.
Raynor told the Federation that it would have been impossible to play against world class opposition without the Swedes playing in Italy. The Federation eventually agreed and Raynor was able to call up Liedholm (AC Milan), Kurt Hamrin (Padova), Arne Selmosson (Lazio), Lennart Skoglund (Inter) and Bengt Gustavsson (Atalanta).
In the group phase, Sweden beat Mexico and Hungary and drew with Wales to top their group. In the quarterfinals they beat the USSR 2-0 and, in the semis, they won 3-1, coming from behind, against West Germany.
The final was against Brazil. One has to bear in mind that Brazil were probably one the strongest footballing teams of all time: Goalkeeper Gilmar, Djalma Santos, Nilton Santos, Mario Zagallo, Garrincha and the marvellous trio Didi, Vavà and Pelé. Sweden did not stand a chance but they surprisingly went ahead with a Liedholm goal after four minutes. Brazil at that point started playing and scored five goals. The match finished 5-2, a triumph for Brazil but also for Sweden and Raynor.
Later career
One would think that the first British manager to play the World Cup final would not have too much difficulty in finding a good job back home. But the only offer came from non-league Skegness Town. Tired of travelling he accepted and stayed two years. He managed Djurgardens IF in 1960 and Sweden again in 1961. His last managerial job was with Doncaster Rovers in the English fourth Division from 1967 to 1968.
In 1960 he published a book about his idea of football called 'Football Ambassador at Large'.
He died in Buxton on November 24, 1985.
Raynor is the typical example of the snobbish attitude in UK football at the time and to a certain extent still today. Despite Olympic Gold and a World Cup final, Raynor is never spoken about and many people in the UK do not even know who he is. He was knighted in Sweden, but ignored in Britain. His brief stay in Italy and with Lazio left positive memories and as we know, whoever joins the Biancoceleste club remains immortal however long they stay.
Sources
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