Lazio finish off job in Tampere
With a 1-1 draw Lazio qualify for the Intertoto semi-final.
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had flirted with relegation but had managed to escape and ended up 13th. They had then even qualified for the Intertoto Cup due to Livorno and Messina dropping out for various reasons.
This year saw the arrival of new manager Delio Rossi who took derby and relegation battle hero Giuseppe Papadopulo's place.
The main players coming in were: defenders Manuel Belleri (Udinese), Guglielmo Stendardo (Perugia) and Emilson Cribari (Udinese on loan), midfielders Valon Behrami (Genoa), Gaby Mudingayi (Torino) and Fabio Firmani (Catania) plus forward Igli Tare (Bologna).
Over twenty players were leaving Lazio but those worthy of note were Scudetto heroes Fernando Couto (Parma) and Paolo Negro (Siena) plus the Filippini twins (both to Palermo) and Giuliano Giannichedda (Juventus).
Tampere United finished 3rd in 2004 (the Finnish league goes from Spring to Autumn). In this Intertoto tournament, so far, they had knocked out Skäla IF (Faroe Islands) 3-0 on aggregate and Charleroi (Belgium), 1-0 on aggregate.
Today was the second leg of the quarterfinals of the Intertoto Cup. The competition gave the opportunity to teams that had not qualified to enter the UEFA Cup. It was played between July and August. From 2006, 11 qualification places were granted.
A week earlier Lazio had beaten the Finns 3-0 in Rome so this game in southern Finland should be more of a training exercise, bar nasty surprises. The Finns were half way through their league, so fitter, but the difference in skill and technique between the two sides had been more than clear at the Olimpico.
The match: Satuday, July 23, 2005, Ratinan Stadion, Tampere
Lazio travelled just over 3,000 kilometres to get to Tampere. The town is the third biggest in Finland but the largest nordic inland town. They were welcomed to the "Manchester of the North" by a drizzly day and a crowd of about 8,000.
Lazio put out the same team that had dominated the Finns a week earlier.
The start was slow, as if both sides considered this to be more of a training game. The rhythm was far from intense yet the play was still error strewn.
The first shot at goal came in the 16th minute when Christian Manfredini tried his luck from the distance but was off target.
In the 24th minute Tampere replied with a long range shot by Jarkko Wiss which Matteo Sereni parried with his fists and then Luciano Zauri cleared for a corner before the hosts could pounce.
Lazio went close in the 27th minute. On a César corner, Fabio Firmani rose and headed towards the far post but Mikko Kaven did well and saved.
Lazio were in control but occasionally risked on long range shots by the Finns, such as in the 42nd minute when Matteo Sereni had to pull off an excellent save to deny Ville Lehtinen. Half time Tampere 0 Lazio 0.
No reasons for concern so far for Lazio who had limited the Finnish to a couple of shots from well outside the area.
In the second half it was the home side who attacked more but at a slow pace which did not cause Lazio any particular problems.
In the 61st minute came the first substitution when Antti Hynynen came on for Jussi Kujala.
In the 65th minute Tommaso Rocchi had a cross goal shot saved by Kaven and two minutes later Lazio had their biggest chance so far. With the Finnish goalkeeper off his line, César drilled a shot towards goal but it was deflected near the goal line by Janne Rasanen.
In the 65th minute Lazio made their first change, bringing on Roberto Muzzi for Rocchi
The rain stopped and Lazio seemed to be energised. In the 71st minute a Fabio Liverani free kick was superbly kept out by Kaven who deflected it onto the crossbar.
In two minutes, the 74th and 75th, both sides made replacements. Mika Lahtinen (not to be confused with Lehtinen...) for Henri Scheweleff and Goran Pandev for Paolo Di Canio.
Ten minutes from time, Lehtinen forced Sereni into a good save before the real show started. With about five minutes to go a naked man ran onto the pitch and performed a couple of somersaults before being escorted off by the police.
The two teams then decided the solitary pitch invader should not steal the show and scored two late goals. In the meantime, in the 87th minute Lorenzo De Silvestri had replaced Manfredini.
The first goal came in the 88th minute. On a corner, Wiss surprised the Lazio defence and headed in to give the Finns the lead. Tampere 1 Lazio 0.
Lazio knew they were still practically through but did not want to have travelled 3,000 kilometres to get beaten. In the 90th minute Muzzi equalised with a low strike after a neat through ball into the area by César. Tampere 1 Lazio 1.
The tie had never been at risk for Lazio who had not overly exerted themselves. They could be pleased with not having lost and could now possibly enjoy a celebratory sauna and a Mustamakkara (local blood sausage) or maybe not, it was a long way home again.
Lazio would now play the winners of Olympique Marseille versus Young Boys.
Who played for Tampere
Kaven, Rasanen, Kuoppala, Heinanen, Saarinen, Ojanpera, Wiss, Sainio, Kujala (61' Hynynen), Lehtinen, Scheweleff (74' Lahtinen)
Substitutes: Hilander, Marchis, Aho, Junnila
Manager: Hjelm
Who played for Lazio
Sereni, Belleri, Cribari, Lequi, Zauri, Manfredini (87' De Silvestri), Firmani, Liverani, Cesar, Di Canio (75' Pandev), Rocchi (65' Muzzi)
Substitutes: Peruzzi, Sannibale, Ciani, Melara
Manager: Rossi
Referee: Styles (Eng)
Goals: 88' Wiss, 90' Muzzi
What happened next
Next up was a different level of competition. For a place in the final, Lazio had to play Olympique Marseille.
On July 27, Lazio drew 1-1 at home against Marseille (42' Di Canio, 70' Abdoulaye Méité) but then lost 0-3 in France and said goodbye to Europe.
In the league, Lazio then had a decent season finishing 6th but were then demoted to 16th after being docked 30 points due to Calciopoli (betting scandal). Top scorer was Tommaso Rocchi with 17 goals (16 in Serie A).
Tampere again finished 3rd in their league but would win it the following two years, in 2006 and 2007, for their second and third Finnish titles.
Lazio 2005-06
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 38 | 16 | 14 | 8 | 57 |
Coppa Italia | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Intertoto Cup | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
Total | 46 | 18 | 18 | 10 | 65 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Intertoto Cup |
Zauri | 45 | 37 | 4 | 4 |
Pandev | 41 | 35 | 3 | 3 |
Rocchi | 41 | 37 | 1 | 3 |
Oddo | 38 | 35 | 3 | - |
Cribari | 35 | 28 | 4 | 3 |
Dabo | 35 | 31 | 4 | - |
Liverani | 35 | 29 | 2 | 4 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Intertoto Cup |
Rocchi | 17 | 16 | - | 1 |
Pandev | 12 | 11 | 1 | - |
Oddo | 7 | 7 | - | - |
Di Canio | 7 | 5 | - | 2 |
Manfredini | 3 | 2 | 1 | - |
Tare | 3 | 3 | - | - |
Lets talk about Matías Lequi
Matias Emanuel Lequi was born in Rosario, Argentina on May 13, 1981.
His youth career was spent with his hometown club Rosario Central and in 1999 he joined the first team squad. The club has an interesting history and was formed by English railway workers as the Central Argentine Railway Club in 1889.
He played two seasons for the "Canallas" (The Scoundrels), playing 22 league games with 1 goal.
In 2001 he joined River Plate and stayed two seasons. He won 2 Clausura league titles (2002, 2003), under Ramon Diaz and Manuel Pellegrini. Lequi played 39 league games for "Los Millonarios" and scored 1 goal.
In 2003 he went to Europe and signed for Atlético Madrid in Spain. He had a good season playing 34 league games with 2 goals. The Colchoneros however had a mediocre season finishing 7th under Gregorio Manzano. Lequi's team mates included former Lazio Scudetto hero, Diego Pablo Simeone (1999-2003).
In 2004 Lequi joined Lazio. The club had new ownership and huge debts so the team was renewed but with very little expenditure. Lequi came on a free transfer with some other lesser-known players including Oscar Lopez, Leonardo Talamonti, Esteban Gonzalez, Miguel Mea Vitali and Braian Robert. Fortunately, some solid players arrived too including Sebastiano Siviglia, Ousmane Dabo, Paolo Di Canio, Goran Pandev and Tommaso Rocchi.
Several stars had to leave, Giuseppe Favalli, Sinisa Mihajlovic, Jaap Stam, Lucas Castromán, Stefano Fiore and Claudio Lopez.
It was predictably a difficult season for Lazio. Former player Domenico Caso started as manager but was replaced in January by another former player, Giuseppe Papadopulo. Lazio were struggling in joint 15th position, only four from relegation. Then, on January 6, Lazio won an epic derby 3-1 and eventually finished 10th (but still only two points from relegation). Lequi only played 6 league games, 1 in Coppa Italia and 3 in the Intertoto Cup.
In 2005 he left and joined Celta Vigo in Spain. Here he stayed three seasons and played more regularly. He made 81 league appearances and scored 5 goals (including Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid). "Los Celtiñas" (The Celts) finished 6th, 18th (relegated) and 16th. His managers were first Fernando Vásquez, then Hristo Stoichkov and finally Juan Ramón López Caro.
In 2009 he went to Greece and signed for Īraklīs. He stayed a season and a half but made only 14 league appearances for the club from Thessalonikis.
In January 2011 he returned to Spain, to the Canary Islands and Las Palmas in the Segunda Division. The Amarillos finished 15th and Lequi played 17 league games.
Lequi then returned to Argentina, to his boyhood club Rosario Central. He played 33 league games and scored 2 goals.
He then stayed in Argentina and in the following four years played for All Boys, Sporting Luqueño, Aldosivi and Sarmiento before retiring in 2016. He played a total of another 87 league games with 11 goals.
Lequi was a central defender. He was a left footed and tall player at 1.91. He had good technique and was an elegant player but lacked speed. He won 8 caps for Argentina U20's with 1 goal.
At Lazio he only stayed one season. It was a problematic one with so many new players coming in and fighting against relegation. Unfortunately, his experience in Rome was not positive, he started some games at the beginning of the campaign but despite looking quite classy he was lumbersome and often hesitant and soon lost his place. He will be remembered, along with the various Vitali, Oscar Lopez, Robert, Gonzalez as the ones who did not make it in Rome.
He had more success in Argentina and Spain. The highlight of his career was probably scoring for Celta Vigo in a 3-0 win over Atlético Madrid.
Lazio career
Season | Total appearances | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Intertoto Cup |
2004-05 | 7 | 6 | 1 | - |
2005-06 | 3 | - | - | 3 |
Total | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 |
Sources
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