A strong second half gives Lazio three points
A goal from Poborsky allowed Lazio to cash in three points and keep hopes of Champions League qualification alive.
Also on this day: February 24, 1957, Lazio Bologna 3-2. A great game for Lazio thanks to a fantastic match from Selmosson and Muccinelli. Player of the day: Umberto Pinardi
The season so far
In August Lazio had a Champions League playoff with FC Copenhagen. The first leg should have been a warning since Lazio, although dominant for most of the match, had thrown away a victory due to a penalty and an Angelo Peruzzi mistake. However, the return leg had settled everything and Lazio went through, even though they were not playing well.
It was really no surprise. During the summer Lazio had sold Sebastian Veron, Marcelo Salas and Pavel Nedved seemingly to cash in desperately needed money. However, they also bought Gaizka Mendieta, considered one of the best players in the world at the time, and Jaap Stam, considered one of the best defenders. Sergio Cragnotti later said that the plan was to substitute Alessandro Nesta with Stam but he could not get the right asking price and had to wait for the next season.
The start was slow. Too slow. The team was unmotivated and badly prepared. Manager Dino Zoff had decided to go for a 3-5-2 squad, but the team was not right. Draw at home against Piacenza, draw against Perugia, draw against Torino. Forced to play against Galatasaray away in the first Champions League match on the infamous September 11, they lost 1-0.
The situation precipitated in the second Champions League match against Nantes. The 3-1 defeat at home was the final nail in the coffin for Zoff. He was replaced by Alberto Zaccheroni, former Udinese and Milan manager.
Zaccheroni’s start in Campionato was a disaster, not so much as far as the result was concerned (one can lose against AC Milan) rather in the increasing amount of injuries: Giuseppe Favalli, Hernan Crespo, Nesta, Dino Baggio. After five games Lazio were still to win a match and had scored only one goal in Serie A and one in Champions League.
However, things improved, Lazio started to play better and in Serie A by December they were on a roll: three consecutive wins and a convincing victory against Juventus. Lazio however had been unable to solve their problems in the Champions League and were already out of the tournament.
The good form in Campionato did not last long. In the ten games that preceded the match against Atalanta, Lazio had collected just 7 points. Not enough for a European Cup qualification, let alone a Champions League one.
The match: Sunday, February 24, 2002, Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia. Bergamo
Lazio desperately needed to win to keep any hopes of a European Cup qualification alive, it was Atalanta however who gained control of the game in the first half but the Bergamaschi were hardly ever dangerous in the entire game. The home team had reason for complaint in the 23nd minute when, following a cross from the left, there could have been a penalty for a Nesta handball. Judged by today’s rules, there would be no discussion. In 2002 there was reason for debate, since the handball was certainly not voluntary. In the 28th minute Luigi Sala had a chance, but his shot from a favourable position was weak and Peruzzi saved comfortably.
Lazio started to wake up towards the end of the first half. In the 42nd minute, Gaizka Mendieta to Claudio Lopez, who promptly shot from outside the penalty box but he hit the crossbar.
Much better Lazio in the second half. In the 57th minute Dejan Stankovic on the counterattack, low cross in the penalty box from the left, Simone Inzaghi, unmarked, miskicked the ball. In the 79th Stankovic to Inzaghi who passed the ball to Claudio Lopez. Alone, unmarked, open goal, instead of logically shooting with his right foot, he used his left and kicked the ball wide.
The well-deserved goal arrived three minutes later. Free kick from Stefano Fiore, ball to Stankovic who crossed. The ball was headed backwards by Falsini and was about to go out but Karel Poborsky got to the ball just in time and lobbed it over the goalkeeper from a very tight angle. Lazio scored with the worst player on the pitch!!!
A deserved win for Lazio. There were a lot of teams ahead of them, but Champions League hope was still alive.
Who played for Atalanta
Pinato, Foglio, Carrera, Sala, Falsini, Bellini (83' Pinardi), Zauri, Berretta (85' Saudati), Doni, Inacio Pià, Colombo (70' Comandini).
Substitutes: Taibi, Rustico, Natali, Dabo.
Manager: Vavassori.
Who played for Lazio
Peruzzi, Colonnese, Nesta, Couto, Pancaro, Poborsky, Giannichedda, Mendieta (60’ Fiore), Stankovic (80’ D. Baggio), S. Inzaghi, Claudio Lopez (90’ Gottardi)
Substitutes: Marchegiani, Mihajlovic, Liverani, Evacuo
Manager: Zaccheroni
Referee: Borriello
Goal: 78’ Poborsky
What happened next
Not a good year for Lazio. Zaccheroni was never able to set the sail straight during the season. Struggling to find a minimum of playing organisation, the team just did not have that continuity necessary to reach the top positions. Mendieta was completely at a loss and did not play a decent match the whole season.
The low point was reached on March 10 when Lazio lost the derby 5-1. The squad chosen by Zaccheroni was incomprehensible and his future at Lazio doomed. Continuous rumours that Roberto Mancini would be coming back to manage Lazio did not help the situation. The players were distracted. Poborsky was just plain terrible, the ghost of last year’s player, Nesta collapsed and Crespo kept missing chances.
However, five matches from the end, Lazio at least tried to qualify for the following season’s Uefa Cup. They won the first three and there was a glimmer of hope for a miraculous Champions League qualification. The players however made sure that did not happen, perhaps frightened by a qualification possibly leading to a Zaccheroni confirmation as Lazio manager.
This takes us to Lazio-Inter, the final match of the season. Lazio needed to win to qualify for the Uefa Cup, Inter had a one-point lead over Juventus who played at Udine and two over Roma who faced Torino away from home.
The Lazio supporters’ only concern was that Roma should not win the scudetto and therefore Forza Inter!!!! Lazio played their best match of the season and won 4-2. The tens of thousand Inter fans at the Olimpico were in despair, Lazio managed to reach 6th place and qualify for next year’s Uefa Cup. Inter lost the scudetto to Juventus.
Zaccheroni (probably one of the worst managers in Lazio history) was shown the door, and Mancini was a very welcome return.
But money was too tight to mention and more iconic players would be leaving soon.
The Lazio player with most appearances in the season’s Serie A was Fiore with 30 games and leading scorer was Crespo with 13 goals.
Lazio 2001-02
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 50 |
Coppa Italia | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
Champions League | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 9 |
Total | 46 | 19 | 11 | 16 | 65 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League |
Fiore | 40 | 30 | 20 | 8 |
Lopez | 38 | 29 | 1 | 8 |
37 | 27 | 2 | 8 | |
Stankovic | 36 | 27 | 4 | 5 |
Couto | 35 | 29 | 2 | 4 |
Giannichedda | 35 | 28 | 3 | 4 |
Top Five Goal Scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League |
20 | 13 | 4 | 3 | |
Lopez | 12 | 10 | - | 2 |
Stankovic | 8 | z7 | - | 1 |
S. Inzaghi | 6 | 5 | 1 | - |
Fiore | 5 | 3 | - | 2 |
Let's talk about Karel Poborsky
Karel Poborsky was born in Trebon on March 30 1972. He started playing football in local teams and made his professional debut with České Budějovice where he played until 1994. In 1994-95 he signed with Viktoria Zizkov and Poborsky helped the team reach fifth place and the final of the National cup. In 1995 he moved to Slavia Prague and thanks to his 11 goals helped his club with the title.
Then came Euro 1996 in the UK. The Czech Republic were the surprise underdogs that reached the final and were beaten by Germany in extra time. Poborsky rose to fame after his goal against Portugal when he lobbed the ball over Vitor Baia in the quarterfinals at Villa Park. That goal became a trademark and still is to this day. "I am really glad of that," he said. "That was one of the greatest moments in my career and I still really enjoy thinking about it,” he said in an interview to FIFA.
His rise to fame took him to Manchester United in 1997 but he was unlucky. His arrival coincided with the explosion of David Beckham so he did not play as much as he could have. He however won the Premiership in 1996-97 and the Charity Shield of 1996 and 1997. He left for Benfica after a season and a half and stayed in Portugal until January 2001.
Lazio had been looking for a right-winger throughout the summer transfer window in the summer of 2000. Having signed Hernan Crespo in exchange for lots of money, Almeyda and Sergio Conceicao, the Biancocelesti no longer had a right winger and were adapting Stankovic in that position. Pavel Nedved had mentioned his team mate to Sergio Cragnotti but Lazio had set their sights on Boudewijn Zenden who was playing for Barcelona. The deal seemed to have been sealed in the last hours of the calciomercato, but it fell through at the last minute.
In January Poborsky was signed by Lazio. However, the Czech international signed for only a season and a half and said right from the beginning of the negotiations that at the end of his contract he was going back to the Czech Republic and would not renew.
His first half season with Lazio was spectacular. He was exactly the player Lazio needed. He started playing after Sven Goran Eriksson resigned and Lazio immediately won at Udine. The Biancocelesti started playing much better and arrived very close to the leaders Roma. However the bad start to the season did not allow the team to go beyond a third place.
The chaos of 2001-02 and probably the thought of leaving at the end of the season translated into an awful second year for Poborsky. He was just plain terrible and the only game where he showed his class was in the last match of the season against Inter when he scored two goals and made sure that Inter would not win the scudetto.
In 2002 he went back to Sparta Prague, won two national titles and the Czech Cup. In 2005, following problems with the manager, he was loaned to České Budějovice, his original club, in the Czech second division. He helped them win promotion. In the 2006-07 season he did not play much due to injury and at the end of the season he decided to quit football.
He became the Czech Republic manager on retirement and later President of České Budějovice.
He played 53 times for Lazio (46 in Serie A, 3 in Coppa Italia and 4 in Champions League) and scored 5 goals in Serie A.
Poborsky was one of the most famous players of the new Czech Republic National Team. He played 118 times for his country (second in all time appearances behind Petr Čech) and scored 8 goals. He participated in the 2006 World Cup, Euro 1996, 2000 and 2004
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League |
2000-01 | 19 (1) | 19 (1) | | |
2001-02 | 34 (4) | 27 (4) | 3 | 4 |
Total | 53 (5) | 43 (5) | 3 | 4 |
Sources
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