Lazio join Scudetto race
The Biancocelesti thrash 2nd placed Inter 3-0 with goals by Fuser, Boksic and Casiraghi.
Also on this day:
The season so far
President Sergio Cragnotti was certainly not happy with what happened the previous season. Zdenek Zeman had been sacked half way through and Dino Zoff had picked up the pieces and led Lazio to a UEFA Cup qualification.
Cragnotti had chosen Sven Goran Eriksson as manager. Sven had been working for Sampdoria for the last five years and had established a strong relationship with Roberto Mancini. Mancini had not renewed his contract with Sampdoria so Cragnotti convinced him to come to Lazio. It was a major change in philosophy: if Lazio had ambitions, they needed to think ambitiously.
A few other players that were to become the backbone of the best Lazio ever, arrived in the 1997 summer transfer window: Giuseppe Pancaro, Marco Ballotta and Matias Almeyda. Vladimir Jugovic and the return of Alen Boksic were the other major signings.
In December Lazio lost Beppe Signori. The Lazio hero of the past years was not pleased with the new course. After initially being in the squad, Eriksson started putting him on the bench, preferring Mancini, Pierluigi Casiraghi and Boksic. The last straw took place in Vienna in the UEFA Cup tie with Rapid. Signori had been warming up for a while ready to take Mancini’s place on the field. The plan changed when Mancini got sent off. The problem was that nobody warned Signori to stop warming up. Beppe-goal was offended and asked to leave the club. Lazio sold him to Sampdoria in December. A real pity.
The change in Lazio between Zeman's mentality and Eriksson's was a bit slow at the beginning. Lazio were not playing all that well, even though they beat Roma 3-1 and had drawn in Milan against both Inter and Milan. But since the controversial loss against Juventus in early December, the Biancocelesti had won 8 and drawn just two games. They were third, seven points away from first placed Juventus but just three points from today’s opposition, Inter.
The match: Sunday, February 22, 1998, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Just over 65,000 spectators on a sunny, February afternoon for this high table clash.
Lazio had played a Coppa Italia game on Thursday, but beating Juventus away should compensate for the energy consumed. Lazio were however without defender José Antonio Chamot and midfielder Matías Almeyda.
Inter were missing midfielder Diego Simeone and forward Alvaro Recoba.
The first shot of the game was a central effort by Diego Fuser, comfortably saved by Gianluca Pagliuca. Then, from a low Beppe Favalli cross from the left, Roberto Mancini dummied but Alen Boksic couldn't make decent contact with the ball.
The game was balanced but with some rough tackles. Alessandro Nesta went in hard on Ronaldo as did Paulo Sousa on Pavel Nedved.
In the 25th minute Lazio took the lead. On a long high cross from left Boksic nodded back into the middle at the edge of the box where Fuser took it forward with a knee, beat Salvatore Fresi and then chipped Pagliuca with a hugely effective left foot. Lazio 1 Inter 0.
Only three minutes later Lazio scored again. In the 28th minute Fuser floated a free kick into the area where Boksic used his physical prowess to outjump Bergomi and flick in a header. Lazio 2 Inter 0.
Inter's reaction was all in two shots from outside the area by Javier Zanetti and Ronaldo which did not worry Luca Marchegiani who was alert.
Half time Lazio 2 Inter 0.
Lazio not dominating by any means but looked sharper and had taken their chances well.
There were no immediate changes for the second half but then in the 54th minute Kanu came on for a quiet Djorkaeff.
Lazio had space on the break but Boksic shot wide when he could possibly have set up a better positioned Nedved.
Inter responded with a Francesco Moriero strike parried by Marchegiani and then Kanu miscued the rebound. In the 59th minute the Nerazzurri changed a midfielder Benoit Cauet for another midfielder Zé Elias.
Inter's pressure rose and they had appealed for a penalty when Jugovic appeared to pull Ronaldo's shirt slightly in the area. For Mr. Collina there was not enough in it and the Brazilian had gone down too easily.
In the 67th minute Boksic went off to raucous applause and on came Pierluigi Casiraghi.
It was Inter's best moment. First they were unlucky when Moriero hit the bar with a superb volley from a Kanu assist and then Kanu himself was denied by Marchegiani who came off his line and diving low deflected the Nigerian's shot into corner.
Lazio lightened the pressure with Vladimir Jugovic but his shot, despite a clever build up was over the bar. Lazio also brought on Guerino Gottardi in the 75th minute for the more attacking orientated Mancini.
In the 84th minute, on a long hoof up field by Marchegiani, Fresi seemed to unfairly obstacle Casiraghi but play went on. Casiraghi known as "Tyson" was not pleased, he pounced on Fresi just outside the area, the defender tried to dribble his way out but was dispossessed and Casiraghi raced into the area and scooped the ball over Pagliuca into the empty net. Lazio 3 Inter 0.
A lesson for Fresi, do not provoke or irritate Casiraghi.
The game was practically over but both sides had tao more chances each. Ronaldo pulled a right foot wide and then curled a free kick just over the bar. For Lazio, Casiraghi had an ambitious lob from 40 metres go wide and then a low left foot which shaved the post.
There was still time for Milanetto to be sent off in the 92nd minute for two yellows in quick succession, the second for ironically applauding the referee. Final score Lazio 3 Inter 0.
A convincing win for Lazio who had been clinical while Inter had suffered from Ronaldo's off day.
Lazio were now level with Inter in 2nd place, on 44 points. The leaders Juventus had lost 0-3 in Florence. The league table was becoming interesting.
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Negro, Nesta, G. Lopez, Favalli, Fuser (86' Rambaudi), Venturin, Jugovic, Nedved, Boksic (67' Casiraghi), Mancini (75' Gottardi)
Manager: Eriksson
Who played for Inter
Pagliuca, Fresi, Colonnese, Bergomi, Moriero, Zanetti, Paulo Sousa, Cauet (59' Zé Elias), Milanese, Ronaldo, Djorkaeff (54' Kanu)
Substitutes: Mazzantini, Sartor, Galante, West, Rivas
Manager: Simoni
Referee: Collina
Goals: 25' Fuser, 28' Boksic, 84' Casiraghi
Red card: 92' Milanese
What happened next
Lazio were able to go 16 games in Serie A without losing, from Juventus Lazio 2-1 to Lazio Juventus 0-1. In between Lazio were simply brilliant, beating Milan, Inter and Roma. Unstoppable, one could really see the change in mentality. On the eve of the game against Juventus, Lazio were only two points behind the Bianconeri and were dreaming of winning the scudetto. However, the Mother of all games proved to be fatal. Lazio gave all they had but Angelo Peruzzi saved everything and referee Pierluigi Collina did the rest. He sent off Nedved perhaps too harshly and did not award a clear penalty to Lazio.
The loss deflated the Lazio world. Lazio drew the next match and lost the next five. What happened? Lazio had played under continuous pressure and had reached the finals of both the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Cup. Too many games and too few players. The team just collapsed both physically and mentally.
In Coppa Italia, after eliminating Roma in the quarterfinals, they beat Juventus in the semis and faced Milan in the final. Having lost the first leg 1-0 in the last minute, Lazio had to win the return match by two goals and hope that Milan would not score. But when the Rossoneri scored with Demetrio Albertini at the beginning of the second half, Lazio needed to score 3 goals to win. They did so with the most amazing ten minutes in their history and brought home the Coppa Italia. Lazio had not won anything since the 1974 scudetto.
In the UEFA Cup, Lazio had the better of Auxerre in the quarterfinals and Christian Vieri’s Atletico Madrid in the semis. The final against Inter was exactly a week after the win in Coppa Italia. Lazio fell behind in the early stages of the game but this time they did not have the energy to come back. They lost their first European final 3-0.
A marvellous season for Lazio, the best since 1974. Mancini was the player with the most games played (51), Boksic and Nedved the top goal scorers with 15.
Let's talk about Gigi Simoni
Gigi Simoni was Lazio manager for the 1985-86 season. In his career he won a UEFA Cup with Inter and conquered eight promotions. He had a long career as a midfielder.
Luigi Simoni, better known as Gigi, was born in Crevalcore, near Bologna, on January 22, 1939. He started his football career with Mantova and was part of the team that won promotion to Serie A in 1961. The following year he was sent on loan to Napoli in Serie B where he won the Coppa Italia (only the second time a team from the second tier had won the national cup) but did not play much so for the next season he was back in Mantua where he debuted in Serie A on October 7, 1962, against Vicenza. In the final two years there, the team managed to avoid relegation.
In 1964 he signed for Torino where he stayed for three years and formed a great duo with Luigi Meroni. He was sold to Juventus in 1967 but found little space so for the 1968-69 season he signed for Brescia in Serie B. In Lombardy, in his first year he helped the team win promotion to Serie A but they were relegated the year after. He left them in 1971 and joined Genoa in Serie B gaining another promotion to Serie A in 1972-73. He quit football at 35 after 368 professional games and 62 goals.
Manager
His very long managerial career started where he had left off, at Genoa coming in for Guido Vincenzi in the 1974-75 season. In his four years at Genoa, he earned another promotion to Serie A in 1975-76 but Genoa were relegated two years later.
In 1978 he became manager of Brescia in Serie B and the year after Le Rondinelle were promoted to Serie A. Simoni however moved on and went back to Genoa. The Rossoblu were immediately promoted to Serie A and stayed up for two years. In the third, 1983-84, they were relegated. They had the same points as Lazio but the Biancocelesti had won 3 points out of 4 against Genoa so it was Lazio who stayed up.
In 1984-85 Simoni went to coach Pisa and the Nerazzurri triumphantly won the Serie B championship. He did not stay but instead went to coach Lazio.
Lazio
The 1984-85 season had seen Lazio relegated to Serie B. This meant that there had to be a revolution in the team to sign players who could adapt to the new circumstances. President Giorgio Chinaglia, keen to amend the previous disastrous season, where he had made many mistakes, chose Simoni as manager. Simoni had been capable of getting Genoa (twice) and Brescia promoted to Serie A, plus Pisa the year before, so he was considered the best possible manager for Lazio.
For the first and only time in his career Simoni agreed to a two-year contract. He was famous for his one season only agreements, but he made an exception for Lazio. Chinaglia talked to him about the long term, a return to Serie A, a return to Europe. Simoni fell for it. No money, nobody was being paid. Simoni even had to help organise logistic details.
There were huge financial problems and Chinaglia had to step down as president. The new president, Franco Chimenti, could not sustain the financial commitment alone so he started looking for partners. Giorgio and Gian Marco Calleri arrived and helped out so at least a part of wage debt could be paid off.
Meanwhile, the team was not doing well. Financial insecurity and injuries were not helping. Out of the Coppa Italia early, in Serie B, despite being one the favourites on paper, the situation was not looking good. At home, Lazio did not do too badly but away from home the results were terrible. At the end of the first half of the season Lazio were 10th, three points away from the promotion zone. The last boat for Serie A was against Vicenza at home on March 2. They went two goals up, then 3-2 but lost due to a mistake by goalkeeper Astutillo Malgioglio.
Back at the club things were not going any better. Chimenti made the mistake of confirming Simoni for another year without telling his new partners. The Calleri brothers backed out of Lazio and asked for their money back. Chimenti tried to look for new investors but found none. Lazio were bust.
At this point, the Calleri’s came back but they did not want to do it alone. Renato Bocchi, a Parma born entrepreneur who had always lived in Rome, came in and bought 51% of the club with the other 49% left to the Calleri brothers. Lazio had been saved.
In the ten games after the match against Vicenza, Lazio only won one and did not manage to score a single goal in the last four matches. They were 14th along with Pescara, Perugia and Palermo, one point ahead of Sambenedettese and two above Catanzaro.
The situation was desperate. The next game was against Catanzaro who needed to win to keep their own hopes alive. Lazio desperately needed to wake up and they did, winning away 3-2 and hence eliminating any possible danger.
But Simoni could not stay with the new owners so he went back to Pisa.
Continuation
Pisa had not managed to stay in Serie A and had been relegated, but with the return of Simoni they promptly returned to the first tier.
What happened next was a long period of difficulty. Simoni managed Genoa in 1987-88 but was sacked in January, Empoli the year after, but they were relegated in Serie C1 with Simoni sacked with five games to the end of the season, Cosenza in 1989, sacked after 19 games.
In 1991 he started from scratch with Carrarese in Serie C2 taking them to promotion. In 1992 he became manager of Cremonese and stayed for four years. In his first he reached promotion to Serie A and was able to keep them there for three years. At the end of the third they were relegated.
In 1996-97 he signed for Napoli. They did so well that at Christmas they were second behind Juventus, but then they started to falter and ended up 12th. Simoni had been sacked a month earlier because he had signed a contract with Inter.
The 1997-98 season was memorable. At one point three teams were fighting for the scudetto: Juventus, Inter and Lazio. The Nerazzurri had signed Ronaldo during the summer, the Biancocelesti had Roberto Mancini plus manager Sven Goran Eriksson. With seven games to the end of the season Juventus had 57 points, Inter were one behind and Lazio two. In the 28th game Lazio lost to Juve and started to crumble, but Inter stayed one point behind until the 31st game.
April 26, 1998, Juventus-Inter, winner takes all. Alessandro Del Piero scored for the Bianconeri in the first half but in the second a blatant penalty on Ronaldo was ignored by the referee who immediately after gave one to Juventus. All hell let loose on the pitch, out of the stadium and even ended up in parliament. Inter finished second but won the UEFA Cup, beating Lazio in the final.
Simoni was manager for the 1998-99 season too but he did not last long. President Massimo Moratti sacked him in December.
In 1999 he became head coach at Piacenza in Serie A but was sacked in January. A year later he was manager of Torino in Serie B but that lasted barely 8 games. In December 2001 he was named head coach of CSKA Sofia in Bulgaria. They came third in the league and lost the final of the national cup. At the end of the season Simoni resigned.
In 2002-03 he became manager of Ancona in Serie B and was once again promoted. The club however sacked him in the summer. He returned to Naples in November and led them to safety in Serie B. The club was then relegated anyway because it went bust.
His last years as manager were with Siena in 2004-05 (sacked in January), Lucchese the year after, from October to June plus a period as technical director.
In February 2009 he became technical director for Gubbio in the fourth tier. He gave a hand on the bench in the play off games but then returned to his previous role. With manager Vincenzo Torrente, he took the Umbrian side to Serie B in two years. He was recalled as manager in October 2012 but in March he was replaced by his assistant Marco Alessandrini and he went back to being technical director. Gubbio were relegated and Simoni called it a day.
He died in Pisa on May 22, 2020.
Gigi Simoni will always be remembered as a gentleman. He only lost his patience once, after the denied penalty on Ronaldo. Gabriel Podavini said of him “he helped me grow, first as a person then as a player. The coach taught me manners, loyalty, discipline and punctuality”.
At Lazio he was always remembered with affection. He would have been the right man because he had qualities similar to those of Tommaso Maestrelli but the situation at the club did not allow him to continue. In Lazio-Brescia, his last game on the bench, Curva Nord displayed a banner: “You did not give us Serie A, but you gave us your heart”.
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