Hard fought win pushes Lazio up to second place
An early Chinaglia penalty and a late goal by Massa give Lazio two points after a tough game.
Also on this day: January 23, 1974, Lazio Juventus 0-0, Coppa Italia. No winners in the Cup but the eyes were already on the big-league clash in a month's time. Assistant of the day: Luciano Spinosi
The season so far
The 1970/71 season had been disastrous for Lazio. There had been ongoing divergences between president Lenzini and manager Juan Carlos Lorenzo over various issues, including market strategies. The Argentine was sacked a few times only to be brought back following protests by a particularly loyal group of fans. The problems on the field and off had resulted in relegation to Serie B with only 4 wins in 30 matches. The initial shock would however later result to be a blessing in disguise.
This year the manager problem had been resolved with the appointment of Tommaso Maestrelli, who had impressed in charge of Foggia.
The new manager had also brought some novelties to the squad. In the summer, Lazio had signed three new players: goalkeeper Claudio Bandoni (Fiorentina) plus defenders Luigi Martini (Livorno) and Giancarlo Oddi (Massese). In the autumn session another three had arrived; midfielder Giambattista Moschino (Verona) plus forwards Alessandro Abbondanza (Napoli) and Carlo Facchin (Almas).
Five players left Lazio in the summer; goalkeeper Michelangelo Sulfaro (Fiorentina-loan), midfielders Nello Governato (Savona), Rino Marchesi (Prato), Ferruccio Mazzola (Fiorentina-loan) and forward Juan Carlos Morrone (Foggia). In November, two more midfielders had gone: Arrigo Dolso (Varese-loan) and Pierpaolo Manservisi (Napoli-loan).
Lazio had a decent start to the season and were up among the frontrunners for the promotion places. They had won 9, drawn 4 and lost 4, so had 22 points. Giorgio Chinaglia had already scored 11 goals. Just a week before, however, Lazio had lost 1-0 away at Foggia.
Today's opposition Genoa were newly promoted to Serie B having won their group of Serie C the previous year. Their manager Arturo Silvestri known as "Sandokan" had been confirmed.
The Rossoblu had made some changes for this higher level of competition. Two midfielders had been signed: Luigi Simoni (Brescia) and Giorgio Gabarini (Sampdoria) plus a defender, Mario Monera (Cagliari). In November, Genoa had also added another forward to their books, Vincenzo Traspedini (Varese).
The main players leaving Genoa were defender Renato Falcomer (Giulianova) and forward Amedeo Balestrieri (Savona).
Genoa had some interesting players from a future Roman perspective. Gigi Simoni would one day be Lazio's manager while Walter Speggiorin would play for Lazio in the early 80's. Maurizio "Ramon" Turone went on to join Roma and his disallowed goal against Juventus in 1980/81 is to this day still a talking point amongst Romanisti and has even become the theme of a film.
This season, Genoa won on their debut (Cesena 1-0) but then had a terrible run of 10 games earning only 4 points. The last 6 games, however, had brought hope and the Genoese had won 3 and drawn 3. A week earlier they had drawn 0-0 away at Livorno. They had won 4, drawn 7 and lost 6 giving them 15 points, just above the relegation zone.
Lazio were favourites for this afternoon's game but Genoa were showing signs of improvement.
The match: Sunday, January 23, 1972, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
It was a grey day in Rome and the pitch was slightly heavy due to the recent rains. A crowd of 25,000 turned up at the Olimpico.
When Lazio's team was announced there were two surprises; firstly, Rosario Di Vincenzo was back in goal after several months and secondly, Martini had recovered after suffering all week from tooth problems.
After a cautious start by both teams the score line changed in the 8th minute. Giorgio Chinaglia was brought down in the area, after a one-two with Giuseppe Massa, and the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Chinaglia took charge of the spot kick and sent Antonio Leonardi the wrong way to give Lazio an early lead.
Lazio on a high continued to go forward and had further chances with a Massa bicycle kick and a Chinaglia shot. Genoa showed some signs of life in the 23rd minute with an effort by Speggiorin, but it was Lazio who came closer to scoring with Massa arriving millimetres short of a perfect cross from the left. At halftime Lazio deservedly led 1-0.
The second half would be a different story. Genoa started to attack with more conviction and had several chances to equalise. After only two minutes, Di Vincenzo pulled off an excellent save from a Attilio Perotti shot. Shortly after, a Di Vincenzo acrobatic dive denied a Manera shot deflected by Oddi. Lazio's midfield disappeared and Genoa dominated. In the 57th minute, Vincenzo Traspedini went close and a few minutes later he was blocked just before scoring. Genoa looked as if they could equalise any moment, to add to Lazio's problems Chinaglia went off injured with ten minutes to go.
In the 81st minute, however, Lazio doubled their lead. A quick free kick by Giambattista Moschino was picked up by Massa who cut into the centre and beat the keeper coming off his line. A liberation after so much pressure, Lazio 2 Genoa 0.
There was still time for a Simoni header, an effort by Turone and a Franco Nanni shot before the final whistle.
Not a vintage performance by Lazio, but they defended well and soaked up long periods of Genoa dominance before striking the final blow.
Thanks to the third and fourth placed teams only drawing, Lazio went up to second position, only two points behind leaders Ternana. The promotion race was on.
Who played for Lazio
Di Vincenzo, Papadopulo, Oddi, Wilson, Polentes, Martini, Massa, Abbondanza, Chinaglia (80' Nanni), Moschino, Facchin
Substitutes: Trombin
Manager: Maestrelli
Who played for Genoa
Lonardi, Manera, Rossetti, Bittolo, Benini, Turone, Perotti, Maselli, Traspedini, Simoni, W.Speggiorin
Substitutes: Buffon, F.Ferrari
Manager: Silvestri
Referee: Panzino
Goals: 8' Chinaglia (pen), 81' Massa
What happened next
Lazio would be successful in their promotion chase. They came in second on 49 points, one behind champions Ternana. On the 18th June, with a 0-0 draw against Bari, Maestrelli's boys were back in Serie A.
A week later Lazio would draw 1-1 away at Bari but with the help of Chinaglia's 21 and Massa's 12 league goals the Biancocelesti would win 18 games, draw 13 and lose 3. They would also win the return match in Genoa, again 2-0. In the season overall Chinaglia got a total of 26 goals and Massa 13 (plus several assists for Long John).
In Coppa Italia Lazio had the satisfaction of knocking out Roma (1-0) but the main thing was to return to the top flight. Lazio were back.
Genoa improved in the second half of the season. They came a decent 10th in the end. After 14 wins, 13 draws and 11 defeats they clocked up 41 points.
A week later they would beat Perugia and then went unbeaten until April 9 (Novara 1-0). Their top scorer was Sidio Corradi with 9 league goals.
Going up to Serie A with Ternana and Lazio was Palermo. The unlucky three going down to Serie C were Modena, Sorrento and Livorno.
Lazio 1971-72
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals Scored |
Serie B | 38 | 18 | 13 | 7 | 48 |
Coppa Italia | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 13 |
Total | 48 | 23 | 15 | 10 | 61 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
Wilson | 48 | 38 | 10 |
Massa | 44 | 38 | 6 |
Bandoni | 43 | 36 | 7 |
Martini | 42 | 34 | 8 |
Chinaglia | 41 | 34 | 7 |
Top goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
Chinaglia | 26 | 21 | 5 |
Massa | 12 | 12 | - |
Abbondanza | 7 | 7 | - |
Nanni | 3 | - | 3 |
Let's talk about Giuseppe Massa
Giuseppe Massa was born in Naples, on April 26, 1948.
He started playing football with a small local Neopolitan team, Flegrea, but his first real professional experience was with Internapoli, the second team in Naples, in the 4th division in 1965/66. He became known as "Peppiniello". Here he met and played alongside Pino Wilson who would later be his captain at Lazio.
In 1966 he joined Lazio and after one year in the youth team he was moved up to the first team squad by Roberto Lovati. He made his debut on March 3, 1968, against Catania in Serie B. He made 13 league appearances in his first year and scored 3 goals.
The following year, again in Serie B, he played 30 league games with 6 goals helping Lazio back to Serie A.
In 1969/70 in the top flight, he played 27 times with 5 goals while in 1970/71 he played 29 games with another 5 goals but could not avoid Lazio's relegation.
His most prolific year was 1971/72 when he scored 12 league goals in 38 appearances and Lazio were promoted back to Serie A with Maestrelli.
He had a good spell at Lazio in his six years playing 137 league games with 37 goals. Maybe a little unfairly, Massa will be remembered just as much for his transfer to Inter in the summer of 1972 as for his Lazio goals. This was not merely because he was sold to Inter, but more importantly for who came to Lazio in the opposite direction. The deal was Massa to Inter in exchange for Massimo Silva and Mario Frustalupi, plus 300 million Lire (approx 150,000 Euros). The latter, Frustalupi "The Wolf Thrasher", would prove fundamental to Lazio's scudetto glory in 1973/74. So, as well as Massa had served Lazio, his departure turned out to be for the best. Frustalupi was exactly the playmaker Lazio were looking for and joined all the pieces of the puzzle into that perfect fit, the "Banda Maestrelli".
At Inter Massa played two seasons totalling 43 Serie A games with 4 goals.
In 1974/75 he returned to his hometown to play for Napoli. He stayed four seasons playing 102 league games and scoring 24 goals. He won the Coppa Italia with Napoli in 1975/76. In the same season he scored the winner against Lazio (1-0) and a goal in a 2-1 win over Roma. In 1976/77 he again scored a winner against Roma (1-0).
In 1978 he left Napoli but not the region of Campania. He went up the road and joined Avellino in Serie A. He stayed three seasons, playing 65 league games and scored 10 goals (including the equaliser in an epic 3-3 draw against Juve). Avellino did well in those years and were a regular feature in Serie A arriving 10th, 12th and 10th in Massa's stint in Irpinia.
In 1981 he moved down two divisions to play for Campania in C1. Here he played another three seasons for a total of 45 games and 3 goals. He then retired in 1983 at 35 years old.
Massa had an excellent club career playing 417 games and scoring 76 goals.
At International level he earned 4 caps for Italy's Under 23's.
Massa was a diminutive player at 1.68 but he was extremely mobile. He was what you call a traditional number 7 who could play as a right winger in midfield or as a forward. He was particularly quick with excellent dribbling skills. He was skilful with good technique and scored goals as well as setting them up.
At Lazio Massa played for six years, so is an important part of their history. He scored 34 goals and helped Chinaglia get countless more. He won two promotions with Lazio and was part of the build up to Maestrelli's scudetto of 1973/74. He served Lazio well and gained eternal gratitude for coming, playing and even leaving…
Giuseppe Massa died on October 17, 2017 in Naples at the age of 69. His daughter Azzurra is also now a top-level football player.
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia | Mitropa Cup | Fairs Cup | Anglo Italian Cup | Cup of the Alps |
1967-68 | 13 (3) | - | 13 (3) | - | - | - | ||
1968-69 | 33 (7) | - | 30 (6) | 3 (1) | - | - | ||
1969-70 | 32 (6) | 27 (5) | - | 3 | 2 | - | 4 | 4 (1) |
1970-71 | 34 (6) | 29 (5) | - | 3 (1) | - | 2 | 4 | |
1971-72 | 44 (13) | - | 38 (12) | 6 (1) | - | - | ||
Total | 168 (35) | 56 (10) | 81 (21) | 15 (3) | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 (1) |
Sources
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