Sleeping beauty awakens and scores three
A subdued Lazio for almost an hour manage to win in the final minutes
Also on this day:
The season so far
Despite a UEFA Cup qualification at the end of the previous season, Lazio were unable to play due to the infamous refereeing scandal known as Calciopoli. They had also been docked 3 points for this season.
In the summer, Lazio said goodbye to Fabio Liverani, Ousmane Dabo and Paolo Di Canio who had not renewed their contracts. The new arrivals were Cristian Ledesma (Lecce), Pasquale Foggia (Milan on loan), Massimo Mutarelli (free transfer), Stephen Makinwa (Palermo), Modibo Diakité (Pescara) and Tommaso Berni (Ternana, loan).
The first games of the season had been in Coppa Italia. In the first round Lazio had beaten Rende 4-0, in the second they had drawn at Monza 1-1 but won on penalties, in the third they had lost to Messina 4-3 in extra time.
In the first two games of Serie A the Biancocelesti had been unlucky. They had lost to Milan away in the first game but had played well, and they had also lost to Palermo at home in the second. This match had seen the Palermo goalkeeper saving everything, even the impossible. But they recovered, closing the first half of the season joint 4th but 12 points behind Palermo in 3rd. The highlight had been the 3-0 thrashing of Roma in the derby.
In the winter transfer window, the club sold captain Massimo Oddo to Milan and loaned Pasquale Foggia to Reggina. In came Chilean midfielder Luis Jimenez on loan from Ternana.
The Biancocelesti were still fourth with a single point over Milan and seven behind Palermo. They had won their last two games (Torino 2-0 at home and Cagliari, 2-0 away). A win today would be important.
The match: Wednesday, February 28, 2007, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Catania started the game well as Lazio were having a snooze. For 55 minutes the visitors dominated. They scored relatively early. Corner kick, Giuseppe Mascara crossed a high ball in the box, Giuseppe Colucci jumped higher than anyone and headed the ball in.
The Sicilians could have made it two 120 seconds later when Massimo Mutarelli passed the ball back to Emilson Cribari who slipped, Mascara found himself completely alone with only Marco Ballotta to beat. But he tried to dribble past Sebastiano Siviglia, losing the moment. So, he passed to Mark Edusei who tried a shot but the Lazio keeper parried.
Delio Rossi needed to wake the team up so in the 39th minute he took off Manuel Belleri and threw in Gaby Mudingayi, moving Valon Behrami to right back. The Biancocelesti were now more compact and one could immediately see the difference. Lazio had a chance to score when Goran Pandev gave a good ball to Tommaso Rocchi on the right in the box, but his shot went wide.
Rossi in the second half took off Stefano Mauri and in came Luis Jimenez. Early on Cristian Ledesma to Rocchi who was just late with the volley and the ball went wide. In the 60th minute Ledesma to Luciano Zauri on the left, low cross in the middle for Pandev who immediately took a shot at goal, Armando Pantanelli managed in some way to slow the ball down but it went rolling towards the goal, Lorenzo Stovini tried to clear on the line but instead he hit the Macedonian and it was 1-1.
Mudingayi had a chance but his shot was saved by the keeper who afterwards was forced to come out of his goal to stop Jiménez. In the 88th minute Lazio went ahead. Free kick on the right, Ledesma crossed into the box, Igli Tare prolonged the ball and Siviglia slotted it in.
In injury time, Rocchi to Tare but Pantanelli parried, ball back to the captain who had time to control and score but he kicked the ball over the crossbar from no more than two metres and without a keeper. Then Rocchi did manage to make it three. Tare to Mutarelli on the left, ball slightly too long, Lucenti decided to pass back to the keeper but that was exactly what Rocchi was waiting for. He got to the ball before the keeper, went round him and comfortably slotted it in.
Third win in a row, things are looking brighter.
Who played for Lazio
Ballotta, Belleri (39’ Mudingayi), Siviglia, Cribari, Zauri, Behrami, Ledesma, Mutarelli, Mauri (54’ Jimenez), Rocchi, Pandev (75’ Tare)
Manager: Rossi
Who played for Catania
Pantanelli, Lucenti, Sottil, Stovini, Vargas, Baiocco, Edusei (91' Morimoto), Caserta, G. Colucci, Corona (82' Rossini), Mascara (78' Izco)
Substitutes: Spadavecchia, Sardo, Cesar, Millesi
Manager: P. Marino
Referee: Rocchi
Goals: 17’ Colucci, 60’ Pandev, 88’ Siviglia, 95’ Rocchi
What happened next
Lazio went on to win another five consecutive games until they drew at Ascoli.
Between mid-February and mid-April Lazio therefore won eight consecutive games taking them from fifth place to third with an 8-point lead over fourth. This meant that not only did Lazio have a good chance of playing in Europe the following season, but it could even be in the Champions League. The Biancocelesti managed to qualify for the preliminary round of the top tier European football with two matches to go despite losing 4-3 against Inter. Lazio finished third ahead of Milan and behind Inter and Roma. They certainly took advantage of Milan’s 8-point deficit due to Calciopoli and Juventus having previously been relegated to Serie B, but for such a young, inexperienced team such as Lazio in 2006-07 this was an incredible feat.
Lazio ended up with 18 wins, 11 draws and 9 losses. Rocchi was the leading scorer with 16 goals and also one of the three who played most together with Pandev and Luciano Zauri (36 appearances).
Let's talk about Sebastiano Siviglia
Sebastiano Siviglia played for Lazio from 2004 to 2010.
Sebastiano Siviglia was born in Palizzi (Reggio Calabria), on March 29, 1973.
He started his career at Audax Ravagnese near his hometown. In 1990 he joined Parma for three seasons but never played for the first team. In his time in Parma the Ducali won the European Cup Winners Cup (2002-03).
In 1993 he went to Nocerina in CND (5th tier). In his first year the team from Nocera Inferiore, near Salerno, were promoted to C2 and the following season to C1. In his third and final year the Mastiffs were eliminated in the playoffs for Serie B. Siviglia made 87 appearances and scored 2 goals in Campania.
In 1996 he moved up to Verona to play for Hellas for two years. The first year the Scaligeri were relegated to Serie B and Siviglia played 30 games with 1 goal plus 2 games in Coppa Italia. In his second year he made 28 league appearances and 4 in Coppa Italia with 1 goal and Verona came sixth.
In 1998 he stayed in Serie B but joined Atalanta. The first season he played 32 league games (1 goal) and six in Coppa Italia. The second year the Orobici won promotion back to Serie A and Siviglia played 30 times with 1 goal and 7 games in Coppa Italia. In his final year in Bergamo he played 26 games in Serie A and 7 in Coppa Italia.
In 2001 he had his first experience in Rome but with Roma. He only got 5 league games plus 1 in Coppa Italia and 1 in Champions League. He won an Italian Supercoppa with the Giallorossi. In June he left Roma and went back to Parma in Serie A.
In Emilia he finally made his debut for the Gialloblu but still only played 2 league games, 1 in Coppa Italia and 1 in the UEFA Cup.
In December 2003 he returned to Atalanta in Serie A on loan and played 17 times and scored 3 goals.
In 2003 he went on loan to Lecce in Serie A and made 31 league appearances.
In 2004 he was loaned to Lazio so returned to the Italian capital. At 31 he started his Biancoceleste experience. He played 29 league games and scored 2 goals (Cagliari and Fiorentina), first under Domenico Caso and then Giuseppe Papadopulo.
The following year he initially returned to Parma but then signed a 3-year contract for Lazio and played 31 league games under Delio Rossi with one goal (Cagliari).
In 2006-07 he made 32 league appearances with 3 goals (Atalanta, Palermo and Catania) and 2 in Coppa Italia. Lazio had an excellent season qualifying for the champions league with a 3rd place finish.
In 2007-08 Siviglia played 19 league games (2 goals- Juventus and Fiorentina), 6 in Coppa Italia and 2 in Champions League.
In 2008-2009 he played 27 Serie A games with 2 goals (Fiorentina and Torino), 5 in Coppa Italia (including the final). He became vice-captain behind Tommaso Rocchi and Cristian Ledesma. In May, Siviglia and Lazio won the Coppa Italia beating Sampdoria on penalties (1-1 and then 7-6).
In his final year at Lazio in the 2009-10 season he made 20 league appearances (with 1 goal-Fiorentina) and 3 in Coppa Italia, firstly under Davide Ballardini and then Edy Reja. In August he would also play the whole match in Lazio's 2-1 win in the Italian Super Cup against Inter in Beijing, China.
At the end of the season his contract ran out and at 36 Siviglia decided to retire.
He has since gone into a coaching career. He started at regional level in 2011 at Monterotondo, just outside Rome. In 2012 he was back at Nocerina with the Under 19s. He then worked in the Lazio youth sector for four years. In 2019 he was back in Terni with the Under 19s (he also had a 2 day spell as first team manager). Between 2018 and 2020 he was Lecce's Under 19s coach. In 2021 he was appointed at Carpi as head coach in Serie C but due to financial problems the club was not allowed to play in the tournament. In 2022 Siviglia became head coach at Potenza in Serie C but was dismissed on October 24.
Siviglia was a solid central defender. He could also play right back but at Lazio played mainly in the middle (his partners included Giuseppe Biava, Andre Dias, Guglielmo Stendardo, Modibo Diakité, Nelson Cribari). He was good at man to man marking and was quick over short distances. At 1.82 he was good in the air and most of his goals came from headers. He played 183 games for Lazio and scored 10 goals. He won a Coppa Italia and an Italian Supercoppa at Lazio. Players who serve multiple teams over their career usually have one where they stayed longer, won more, belonged more, were loved more and that team for Siviglia was definitely Lazio.
Appearances and goals for Lazio
Season | Total Appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Europa League | Super Coppa |
2004-05 | 33 (2) | 29 (2) | 1 | - | 3 | - |
2005-06 | 33 (1) | 31 (1) | 2 | - | - | - |
2006-07 | 34 (3) | 32 (3) | 2 | - | - | - |
2007-08 | 27 (1) | 19 (1) | 6 | 2 | - | - |
2008-09 | 32 (2) | 27 (2) | 5 | - | - | - |
2009-10 | 33 (2) | 20 (1) | - | - | 3 | 1 |
Total | 183 (10) | 158 (10) | 16 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
Sources
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