Lazio win important relegation clash
First half goals by Mari and Galli ease pressure on Biancocelesti
Also on this day:
January 3, 1982, Lazio Verona 2-0. After a dire first half Vagheggi wins freekick for first goal, hits a crossbar and scores Lazio’s second.
January 3, 1993, Ancona Lazio 0-3. Lazio adapt well to difficult conditions, take the lead, weather the Ancona storm and then close game with two more late goals.
The season so far
The previous season had been pretty decent and Lazio had finished 8th. The highlight was beating Juventus 3-0 away while both derbies were draws. The manager was Juan Carlos Lorenzo and top scorers were Mario Maraschi and Juan Carlos Morrone with 5 league goals.
This season the manager was Umberto Mannocci. The main new signings were: keeper Roberto Gori (Biellese), defenders Piero Dotti (Messina) and Gianpiero Vitali (Triestina), midfielders Eugenio Fascetti (Messina), Can Bartu (Fiorentina), Kurt Christensen (Atalanta) plus forwards Gianfranco Petris (Fiorentina), Giampaolo Piaceri (Genoa) and Antonio Renna (Bologna).
Leaving were defender Gianfranco Garbuglia (Messina), midfielders Egidio Fumagalli (Frosinone), Massimo Giacomini (Genoa), Graziano Landoni (Atalanta), Bruno Mazzia (Juventus-end of loan) plus forwards Mario Maraschi (Bologna), Juan Carlos Morrone (Fiorentina) and Orlando Rozzoni (Catania - on loan). Several good players were saying goodbye.
So far Lazio had played 14 games, winning 2, drawing 6 (including derby and Juventus away, both 0-0) and losing 6. The Biancocelesti were in joint 16th place on 10 points, only one above the last relegation slot (Messina on 9).
The Biancocelesti were already out of the Coppa Italia. They beat Trani 3-0 away but then drew 0-0 at home to Napoli and lost the toss of the coin (this was before penalties).
Mantova had finished 13th the previous under manager Luigi Bonizzoni. The Biancorossi had lost 0-2 away to Lazio and drawn 0-0 at home. Top scorer was Italo Mazzero with 7 league goals.
This season the manager was first Argentine Oscar Montez (1-5), then Giovanni Bonanno (6-7) and now Giacomo Mari. The main new signings were: defenders Piero Scesa (Torino), Giulio Corsini (Roma), midfielders Franco Zaglio (Inter), Claudio Correnti (Reggiana), Luigi Bartolomei (Cremonese - back from loan) plus forwards Gianfranco Trombini (Torino), Beniamino Di Giacomo (Inter), Nicola Ciccolo (Inter) and Marcelo Pagani (Messina).
Leaving were defenders Karl-Heinz Schnellinger (Roma), Giuseppe Corradi (Ivrea), midfielders Gustavo Giagnoni (Reggiana, after 200 league games but he would be back a year later), Gigi Simoni (Torino) plus forwards Bruno Nicolè (Roma) and Ettore Recagni (Reggiana). So quite a few changes for the Lombards.
So far things were going badly. Mantova were 19th in the table with 8 points. They had won 2 (the last 2), drawn 4 and lost 8.
In Coppa Italia the Virgiliani had gone straight out in early September, losing 0-2 at Brescia.
Against a team below them and at home, this was a must win game for Lazio. The visitors however had won their last two games and were on a bit of a high so Lazio had to be careful.
The match: Sunday, January 3, 1965, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
A grey day in Rome but it had been a wet period and the pitch was heavy. A crowd of about 25,000 turned up at the Olimpico.
Lazio were without Danish midfielder Kurt Christensen while Mantova were missing full-back Piero Scesa.
The game came alive immediately. Lazio had shots by Diego Zanetti and Paolo Carosi and Mantova responded with a Gianfranco Trombini effort.
There was controversy in the 11th minute, first Carlo Galli was fouled by Roberto De Paoli, then Dino Zoff saved a Can Bartu shot with his foot and Sergio Pini blocked a Nello Governato strike with his arm. The Lazio players protested but the referee had seen nothing.
Mantova then had a penalty appeal of their own in the 17th minute when a strong challenge by Piero Dotti sent Trombini to the ground. Again, the referee waved to play on.
In the 22nd minute Lazio took the lead. Bartu started the move, Governato then put in the assist for Alberto Mari who volleyed in with his left foot. Lazio 1 Mantova 0.
The Lombards then reacted by pushing forward but the two strikers, Beniamino Di Giacomo and future Lazio Nicola Ciccolo, never really threatened.
Just before half, Lazio doubled their lead. In the 44th minute Galli was pulled down while jumping on a corner and this time the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Galli took it himself with a powerful strike under the crossbar. Lazio 2 Mantova 0.
A good first 45 minutes by Lazio who couldn't remember the last time they had been two goals up at the break, it had been so long.
At the beginning of the second half Mari missed an easy chance to possibly close out the game and then Lazio controlled the tempo for about fifteen minutes before starting to tire.
Mantova saw their opportunity and gained territory. Dotti put his body on the line to block a Ciccolo shot, Idilio Cei saved well on a powerful De Paoli effort and Torbörn Jonsson had an attempt go over the bar.
Mantova too then faded and Lazio were able to see the game out without running any further risks.
A good win for Lazio who had not won since November 22. The Biancocelesti were up to joint 15th with Genoa but more importantly now had a two-point cushion on third bottom Messina.
Mantova were now joint bottom with Cagliari.
Who played for Lazio
Manager: Mannocci
Who played for Mantova
Manager: Mari
Referee: Francescon
Goals: 22' Mari, 44' Galli (pen)
What happened next
Lazio finished 12th, only two points from relegation. The Biancocelesti then won 5, drew 7 and lost 7. The highlights were beating Roma 1-0 and Milan 2-0 away. Top scorers were Nello Governato and Antonio Renna with 5 goals (4 each in A).
Mantova ended up relegated. The Biancorossi finished 18th. In the next 19 games they won 5 (including Juventus 1-0 at home), drew 3 and lost 11 (including Lazio 1-3 at home). Top scorer was future Lazio, Nicola Ciccolo with 9 league goals.
Serie A was won by Inter for their 9th Scudetto. Mantova went down with Messina and Genoa. Mantova would come straight back up the following season.
Let’s talk about President Angelo Miceli
Angelo Miceli was born in Palermo, on July 25, 1910.
He moved to Rome for work reasons and became a well-known building constructor.
His first experiences in the football world were in the late 1950's when he became president of Romulea, a well-known amateur club based in San Giovanni.
In the same period, in 1960, he was on the Lazio board of councillors that elected Andrea Ercoli as temporary president, taking the place of Leonardo Silato who had some health problems.
Ercoli was a huge Lazio fan but was old school and his idea of running a club was considered outdated and he soon gave up his position to Costantino Tessarolo who had already been president between 1953 and 1956 and was now made "Commissario Straordinario" (Special Commissioner).
Tessarolo however was unable to find the economic backing needed to solve Lazio's financial crisis. A situation that had worsened since the death of former president Remo Zenobi (1929-32, 1932-33, 1938-39 and 1949-53) in 1953.
Massimo Giovannini therefore became Special Commissioner.
On July 21 1962, Miceli joined Massimo Giovannini in charge of running Lazio. Another change came on September 27 when a new president was surprisingly chosen, a bizarre character called Ernesto Brivio who it soon became clear had little and dubious financial strength. Miceli and Giovanni became vice-presidents.
In February 1963 Brivio mysteriously disappeared (Japan, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Lebanon where he was arrested by the Interpol) just as Lazio, led by Argentine manager Juan Carlos Lorenzo, were in the heat of the promotion battle to return to Serie A.
On February 21 1963 the duo Miceli-Giovannini were again put in charge. On June 16 Lazio won promotion back to Serie A.
On June 18 1963 former president Silato asked Miceli to help him out to resolve Lazio's dire economic situation. The idea was to raise money and make Lazio a joint-stock company. Miceli accepted but only seven million lire were gathered and Miceli himself, as Special Commissioner, was forced to pay off basic and urgent expenses to keep the club going.
On December 12 1963 he was nominated Lazio president. The club was obviously still short of funds so he and the manager Lorenzo came up with a plan, the so-called MI-LOR plan. The idea was that at least 3,000 fans would pay for four years season tickets in Monte Mario (the most expensive sector) in advance. This would raise 600 million lire to finance the transfer market and pay the players wages. On the pitch Lazio finished a decent 8th.
In the summer of 1964 Lorenzo cynically betrayed Lazio and joined bitter rivals Roma. Miceli at this point was disappointed and tired and first returned to being a commissioner and then resigned. He however stayed on the board.
He left the reigns of the club to Giorgio Vaccaro, one of the heroes who opposed the merger of several clubs to form A.S Roma in 1927. This period coincided with the appearance on the board of a property constructor called Umberto Lenzini who would later change Lazio's history. Lenzini became president on November 18, 1965 and Miceli was still on the board.
Miceli from this point on started to lessen his involvement with the club. One reason was his attempt to involve three players (Cei, Governato and Carosi) in politics and proposed them to run for the Monarchic Party in the local elections. The Lazio Council of Directors disagreed and the club doctor Renato Ziaco threatened to resign. It blew over but Miceli gradually had less and less to do with the Biancocelesti.
Miceli played an important role in Lazio's history. In a moment of serious financial difficulty, he played his part in keeping Lazio alive. An astute accountant and austere character he did not bring enthusiasm to the masses but was a wise and shrewd administrator in one of Lazio's many periods of crisis in their history.
Angelo Miceli died on September 11, 1974, in Grottaferrata near Rome.
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