Prestigious win
With a César goal Lazio win at Anfield
The season so far
The previous season had not been a positive one. Lazio had started under Dino Zoff but after three games changed manager and President Sergio Cragnotti chose Alberto Zaccheroni. The new coach, however, never managed to set the sail straight. Struggling to find a minimum of game organisation, the team just did not have the continuity necessary to reach the top positions. In the end they did manage a UEFA Cup qualification thanks to a win in the last game against Inter which shattered the Neroazzurri’s hopes of winning the scudetto.
This season saw the return of Roberto Mancini, this time as manager. There were high hopes among the Lazio fans but President Sergio Cragnotti was having considerable financial difficulties and someone had to be sold. For the moment the club had signed Massimo Oddo and Christian Manfredini from Chievo, Enrico Chiesa on a free transfer, and Juan Pablo Sorin, on loan from Cruzeiro. Leaving Lazio were Ivan de La Peña to Espanyol and Gaizka Mendieta on loan to Barcelona plus Karel Poborsky who had decided not to renew his contract.
The Biancocelesti were in pre-season training and today was the first game of their Uk tour with a highly prestigious match against Liverpool.
The match: Tuesday July 30, 2002, Anfield Road, Liverpool
Despite the fact that Lazio risked not having the money to register for this year’s Serie A, the players did not seem to be affected and put on a marvellous display. It should have been a friendly but the Brits treated the game as if it were an important competitive one and the Biancocelesti quickly adapted.
The Reds started well and had a couple of chances with Bruno Cheyrou in the 6th minute, and Michael Owen in the 20th, but Lazio were certainly not timid and Hernan Crespo too had a chance early on. In the 18th minute Dejan Stankovic gave a long ball to Stefano Fiore who tried an acrobatic volley which went just wide. In the 39th minute the Serb had a shot parried by Jerzy Dudek.
The goal was in the air and it came in the 43rd minute. Jaap Stam on the left to Claudio Lopez, cross for Cesar who anticipated the defence and scored.
In the second half Liverpool put their foot on the accelerator and had numerous chances to equalise. Luca Marchegiani saved on Bernard Diomède in the 52nd minute and Nick Barmby seven minutes later. The biggest chance was in the 70th minute when Paolo Negro made a bad back pass, Milan Baros took advantage, dribbled past Marchegiani, but Fernando Couto then managed to remedy the situation. Towards the end of the game Alessandro Nesta made his seasonal debut.
Prestigious win for Lazio and good start to Mancini’s reign.
Who played for Liverpool
Dudek, Babbel (46' Xavier), Hyypia (77' Wright), Traore (46' Henchoz), Riise (46' Vignal), Smicer (46' Barmby), Hamann (46' Murphy), Cheyrou (73' Mellor), Diomede, Owen (60' Baros), Diouf (67' Berger)
Substitutes: Arphexad, Biscan
Manager: Houllier
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani (81’ Concetti), Pancaro (70’ Colonnese), Stam (46’ Negro), Couto (72’ Nesta), Favalli (42’ Oddo), Fiore (59’ Gottardi), Stankovic (59’ Giannichedda), Liverani (59’ Baronio), Cesar (80’ D.Baggio), Crespo (59’ S.Inzaghi), C.Lopez
Manager: Mancini
Referee: Halsey
Goal: 43’ Cesar
What happened next
Unfortunately, towards the end of the summer transfer window Lazio sold Alessandro Nesta and Hernan Crespo.
Cragnotti hoped that Milan, Inter and Juventus would battle it out to the end to get the greatest defender of all time and that consequently the price would be really high. Instead, they made a secret pact between them to get the player for a much lower price than his real value. All three clubs waited until the very last moment of the transfer window to force Lazio to accept a lower price. Milan won and Cragnotti was forced to agree to a mere €31 million. At this point a second player had to go and that was Hernan Crespo who was sold to Inter in exchange of €36 million and Bernardo Corradi.
In campionato Lazio did rather well. At one point, they were top of the table after recovering from a 0-2 deficit and winning 3-2 at Piacenza. But in the next match against Inter they only managed to draw 3-3 after being 3-0 up after the first half. Not to worry, Mancini’s boys then managed to win in Turin against Juventus. At the end of the first part of the season Lazio were joint second with Inter and just three points behind Juve.
But in February the Biancocelesti faded, and went through a seven-match winless drought, taking away any chance of a scudetto. A Champions League qualification hence became the objective and that was reached with one game from the end with a 3-1 home win over Brescia.
In the Coppa Italia, the Biancocelesti reached the semi-final but were knocked out by Roma.
In the UEFA Cup first round Lazio had demolished Skoda Xanthi 4-0 at home and then drew the second leg 0-0. In the second round they had to face Red Star Belgrade who they beat 2-1 on aggregate. In the third Lazio won the first leg away against Sturm Graz 3-1 making the return game almost pointless. In the fourth round they faced Wisla Krakow. The first leg at home was a topsy turvy game with Lazio 1-0 up, then 2-1 up and then 3-2 down following two penalties. In the end Enrico Chiesa managed to salvage a draw. The return match should have taken place on February 27, but a frozen pitch meant that a postponement to March 5 was necessary. They then managed to win 2-1 in Krakow, beat Besiktas 3-1 on aggregate in the quarterfinals and then had to face Porto in the semis. Unfortunately, they collapsed in the first leg 4-1 and were unable to score the necessary three goals at home to get to the final (0-0).
There was a change in the Presidency in early 2003. Some of Cragnotti’s companies went bust and the banks did not lend a hand. Lazio were also dragged into the crisis and the Presidency passed over to Ugo Longo who was a member of the Board of Directors. With the help of Luca Baraldi, the new presidency avoided bankruptcy. Just.
Lazio 2002-03
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 34 | 15 | 15 | 4 | 57 |
Coppa Italia | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
UEFA Cup | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 18 |
Total | 52 | 24 | 20 | 8 | 82 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup |
Lopez | 47 | 34 | 4 | 9 |
Fiore | 46 | 33 | 5 | 8 |
Stankovic | 38 | 29 | 2 | 7 |
Cesar | 36 | 26 | 1 | 9 |
Corradi | 36 | 32 | 4 | - |
Peruzzi | 36 | 30 | - | 6 |
Top Five Goal Scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup |
Lopez | 17 | 15 | - | 2 |
Corradi | 10 | 10 | - | - |
Fiore | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 |
S. Inzaghi | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
Simeone | 7 | 7 | - | - |
Chiesa | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
Let’s talk about Emanuele Concetti
Emanuele Concetti was born in Rome on June 3, 1978. He started playing football for Roma but moved to the right side of the Tiber in 1995 to play for the Primavera. In 2000 he was loaned to Arezzo for a season in Serie C and made 30 appearances. Back at Lazio in 2001 he became third choice goalkeeper behind Angelo Peruzzi and Luca Marchegiani. In the 2002-03 season he debuted in Serie A against Empoli on November 3 replacing injured Peruzzi. He made 7 appearances that season, 2 in Serie A, 3 in Coppa Italia and 2 in the UEFA Cup.
In 2003 he signed for Perugia, for whom he never played, but was loaned to Catania for the 2003-04 season and Lodigiani in 2005. In January 2006 he moved to Sambenedettese and in the summer went to Chievo Verona where he never got playing time. In 2007 he was at Monza in Serie C1 and then left for Crotone where he stayed for four years. His contract was not renewed and he went to play for Pergocrema. After six months he was loaned to Nocerina. In 2012 he signed again for Crotone as a free agent and stayed another two years.
Once he stopped playing, he became goalkeeper coach for Crotone’s Primavera team and in 2020 joined Roma as goalkeeper coach for the Under 18s.
Concetti was a good keeper but Lazio had Peruzzi at the time so his career would never have taken off with the Biancocelesti.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup |
2002-03 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
Sources
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