June 26, 1932: Roma Lazio 0-3 Coppa Fornari Final

The first time

Lazio beat Roma for the first time in the Coppa Fornari final

Also on this day: June 26, 1960, Sedan Lazio 2-4. Visentin scores a hat-trick as Lazio also win the second leg of the Italo-French Friendship Cup with Sedan. Player of the day: Oliviero Visentin

The season so far

The previous season Lazio had arrived 8th. Resources were limited so not much was expected. In the summer transfer window the club invested heavily in Brazilian players. In came Armando Del Debbio, José Castelli, Alejandro Demaria and Anfilogino Guarisi (Corinthians), André Tedesco (Santos), Enzo Serafini and Pietro Rizzetti (Palestra Italia). Even the manager, Amilcar Barbuy, was Brazilian. The team was nicknamed Brazillazio due to the fact there were simply so many green and gold players. Saying goodbye to Lazio were Alfredo Foni, Piero Pastore, Riccardo Okley and Gino Lamon.

A lot was expected for the 1931-32 season but on the whole it was disappointing. The Brazilians’ difficulty in coming to terms with life in Europe plus problems in having to follow stricter tactical indications, translated into a 13th place. Lazio lost both derbies, but won against Juventus away and beat Bologna at home, the top two teams of the table. Towards the end of the season, the Biancocelesti got dangerously close to the relegation zone but a draw against Giuseppe Meazza’s Ambrosiana Inter at home, another draw against Silvio Piola’s Pro Vercelli away and a 9-1 victory at home against Modena in the last match allowed Lazio to sail to safer waters.

Guarisi and Ezio Sclavi had been the players with most appearances (32) and the Brazilian the one with most goals (12)

Coppa Fornari

The season had ended but Lazio still had to play the final of the Coppa Fornari. The Cup was initially going to be awarded to the Rome team that first won three consecutive matches away from home. When this did not happen, the organisers decided on a tournament, also extending participation to Bari and Fiorentina. The semi-finals had taken place in September 1930 and Lazio had beaten Fiorentina 5-3 on aggregate and Roma had eliminated Bari.

The final took place on June 26, 1932 at Campo Testaccio.

The match: Sunday, June 26, 1932, Campo Testaccio, Rome

The first half saw a sterile attack by the Giallorossi. In the 2nd minute Raffaele Costantino was unable to make contact following a perfect Arturo Chini cross. In the 22nd Fulvio Bernardini hit the crossbar and two minutes later Alejandro Demaria’s shot was too high. Renato Bodini got injured in the 36th minute and had to leave the field. At this point, Lazio took over and Guido Masetti in the 40th minute managed to parry a Filò Guarisi attempt. In the last minute of the first half Ezio Sclavi saved a Chini shot.

Roma came into the second half with Bodini back on and determined to win but Sclavi and a bad day in the office for Rodolfo Volk made all efforts in vain. Sclavi saved a Cesare Fasanelli header in the 49th minute and a Fernando Eusebio shot in the 58th.

In the 63rd minute, wonderful one-two Demaria-Rato Castelli and ball to Joao Fantoni I unmarked in front of Masetti. No mistake and Lazio ahead.

After a missed chance by Volk, Fantoni first saw his shot saved by the Roma goalkeeper in the 71st minute and then, 30 seconds later, scored his double thanks to a Castelli assist. In the 76th minute Lazio made it three. Perfect cross from Demaria, wonderful header from Mario Malatesta and 3-0 for Lazio.

At this point Roma woke up and made some tactical changes. Sclavi saved on shots from Costantino and Bernardini but Lazio almost made it four in the dying seconds. Masetti managed to parry a Demaria shot into corner.

Lazio won the cup, deservedly.

Who played for Roma

Masetti, Mattei I, Bodini, Ferraris IV, Bernardini, D'Aquino, Costantino, Fasanelli, Volk, Eusebio, Chini

Manager: Baar

Who played for Lazio

Sclavi, Mattei II, Del Debbio, Pardini, Furlani, Fantoni II, Guarisi, Malatesta, Fantoni I, Castelli, Demaria

Manager: Sturmer

Referee: Pizziolo

Goals: 63’ Fantoni I, 71’ Fantoni I, 76’ Malatesta

Lazio 1931-32

Competition	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Goals scored
Serie A	34	10	7	17	45

Top five appearances

Player	Serie A
Guarisi	32
Sclavi	32
Del Debbio	31
Demaria	31
Fantoni I	31

Top goal scorers

Player	Serie A
Guarisi	12
Demaria	10
Fantoni I	10
Castelli	4

Let's talk about Mario Malatesta

Mario Malatesta is in second row, second from right. Source Wikipedia

Mario Malatesta was born in Rome on February 29, 1908. He began his football career in the youth teams of Alba Roma (who would later merge with Fortitudo and Roman to become AS Roma in 1927) and continued with Edera Trieste when his family moved up north. He made his professional debut with Spezia in 1928 where he was doing his military service.

In 1929 he was still carrying out his military duties when he was transferred to Rome so as a consequence he signed for Lazio. He stayed three years with the Biancocelesti. He was an excellent midfield player, nicknamed “Admiral” due to his strong charisma and fighting spirit. He appeared in 71 Serie A games for Lazio and scored 16 goals.

In 1932 he signed for Milan but rarely played. In 1933-34 he started playing for Sampierdarenese (from 1937 called Liguria and in 1946 merged with Doria and became Sampdoria) and stayed until 1940. With the club from Liguria he holds the record of appearances both in Serie A and in total (157 and 189 respectively).

He closed his career first at Ascoli and then Aosta. He then managed a number of clubs in the 1940s before being in charge of AC Milan’s youth where he “discovered”, among many, Giovanni Trapattoni and Giovanni Lodetti. The two would go on to win everything at Milan in the 1960s. After a year as head coach for Olympiakos, he returned to Milan as a talent scout.

He died in Rome on November 19, 1970.

Lazio Career

Season	Serie A Appearances	Serie A Goals
1929-30	23	9
1930-31	22	6
1931-32	27	1
Total	72	16

Sources

Il Littoriale

Lazio Wiki