June 26, 1960: Sedan Lazio 2-4

Visentin show

Visentin scores a hat-trick as Lazio also win the second leg of the Italo-French Friendship Cup with Sedan

Also on this day: June 26, 1932, Roma Lazio 0-3. Lazio beat Roma for the first time in the Coppa Fornari final. Player of the day: Mario Malatesta

The season so far

The previous season Lazio finished 11th but had won the first trophy of their long history. In the final of the Coppa Italia the Biancocelesti beat Fiorentina 1-0 thanks to a Maurilio Prini goal.

In the summer transfer window of 1959 Lazio could not really do very much due to the financial difficulty the club was in. The most important signing was Orlando Rozzoni from Spal, who would become a legendary player for the Biancocelesti. Leaving Lazio were Renzo Burini (Cesena) and Carlo Tagnin (Bari).

The beginning of the season was promising and Lazio in the first four games won 2 and drew two. But then a heavy defeat in the derby, 3-0, and a loss at home against Juventus in reality showed that the Biancocelesti were probably going to have a poor year. They also lost 5-0 at home to Fiorentina. At the end of the first half of the season Lazio had 16 points, four above the relegation zone.

The beginning of the second half of the campionato was even worse with six consecutive losses. Then a win at home against Napoli, a draw away to Atalanta and a win against Palermo at the Olimpico allowed Lazio to distance themselves from the bottom. With three games to go Lazio were 14th, one point ahead of Alessandria and 2 above Palermo. The Biancocelesti managed to win against Genoa away and Padova at home and avoid relegation in the penultimate match.

A very disappointing season. Lazio struggled to score goals, only 32, and some players, such as Humberto Tozzi, underperformed.

However, in Coppa Italia Lazio managed to reach the semi-final after beating Bologna away in extra time. They then however lost against Juventus in Turin and would go on to play the third-place final in September (which they won against Torino).

At the end of the season the Biancocelesti had to play the Cup of French-Italian Friendship. This tournament took place between a number of Italian and French teams and in the first three years each of the participants played each other over two legs. The final result was established by the number of points each nation collected. Five teams participated in the first edition, 16 in the second (including Lazio) and 10 in the third.

In the 1960 tournament, Lazio was paired with Sedan. In the first leg the Biancocelesti had won 3-2.

The match: Sunday June 26, 1960, Stade Émile-Albeau, Sedan

Amazingly 5,000 people turned up for the game, impressive since Sedan only had a population of 17,000. And the home side started well. Very well actually, and after four minutes they scored with Maxime Fulgenzy but it was disallowed and then Franco Pezzullo was forced to anticipate Antoni Groschulski. Lazio were crushed inside their half but in the 14th minute Clemente Mattei found a gap in the French defence for Oliviero Visentin, who made no mistake in front of the keeper. Sedan recommenced their attacks but could only muster a long series of corners.

In the second half one could understand immediately that the big first half effort would cost Sedan dearly. And it did. Visentin was unstoppable and three times went near to doubling the score. In the 60th minute Egidio Fumagalli dribbled past a few players and allowed Mattei to score the simplest of goals. Two minutes later Pierluigi Pagni passed to Visentin who finally scored his brace. In the 65th minute the referee awarded a penalty to Sedan for a Giacomo Del Gratta handball. Thadée Polak took it but Pezzullo was marvelous in touching the ball onto the post. In the 71th minute Lazio made it four with a Visentin counter attack.

Lazio then eased off and the French scored twice with Lion, the first directly on a corner kick and the second with a header. The last shot was from Claudio Bizzari who hit the woodwork.

Lazio contributed 4 points to the Italian tally helping them to win the competition.

Who played for Sedan

Bernard (46' Wira), Lemasson (46' Irrigoyen), Maryan, Oliver, Polak, Perrin, Groschulski, Mouchel, Lebert, Fulgenzy, Lion

Manager: Dugauguez

Who played for Lazio

Pezzullo (71’ Bellagamba), Del Gratta, Eufemi, Carosi (46’ Lo Buono), Molino, Janich, Bizzarri, Pagni, Visentin, Fumagalli, Mattei

Manager: Bernardini

Referee: Genel

Goals: 14’ Visentin, 60’ Mattei, 62’ Visentin, 71’ Visentin, 74 Lion, 83 Lion

What happened next

The player with most appearances in 1959-60 was Franco Janich with 39 games and the top scorer was Orlando Rozzoni with 16 goals.

Lazio 1959-60

Competition	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Goals scored
Serie A	34	9	12	13	32
Coppa Italia	3	3	-	-	5
Italo-Friendship Cup	2	2	-	-	7
Total	39	14	12	13	44

Top five apperances

Player	Total	Serie A	Coppa Italia	Italo-Friendship Cup
Janich	39	33	4	2
Franzini	34	33	1	-
Carradori	30	27	12	1
Prini	28	27	1	-
Lo Buono	28	23	3	2
Molino	28	26	1	1

Top five goal scorers

Player	Total	Serie A	Coppa Italia	Italo-Friendship Cup
Rozzoni	16	13	3	-
Visentin	3	3	-	3
Bizzarri	5	4	-	1
Carradori	4	2	1	1
Mattei	4	1	2	2

Let’s talk about Oliviero Visentin

Oliviero Visentin was born on May 4 1936 in Fossalunga near Treviso. After starting his career with San Lorenzo di Mossa, he signed for Ortona and after a couple of years moved to Fermana where he scored 23 goals in 22 games. He then was called to represent his region in the Region’s Tournament and here he was noted by a Lazio scout, Dino Canestri. He pointed the player out to manager Fulvio Bernardini and in 1959 Visentin signed for the right side of the Tiber.

In his first season he made 21 appearances and scored six goals. In the second game against Sedan in the Italo Friendship Cup, he scored a hat-trick. He was confirmed also for the following season even though it did look at one point that he was going to be sold to Ozo Mantova, since he even played a few summer friendlies with them.

In his second season with Lazio he made just two appearances and was thus sold to Salernitana in Serie C where he stayed for three years. He returned to Lazio in 1964 but he was never used by manager Umberto Mannocci. He played his last years of active football with minor teams.

After he retired, he lived in Pellazzano with his wife, professor of history and philosophy, and two children. He died there on October 27, 2020.

Lazio Career

Season	Total appearances (goals)	Serie A	Coppa Italia	Italo-Friendship Cup
1959-60	21 (6)	16 (3)	3	2 (3)
1960-61	2	2	-	-
Total	23 (6)	18 (3)	3	2 (3)

Sources

Lazio Wiki (1)

Lazio Wiki (2)