Lazio through despite Magyar comeback
Lazio go 3-0 up and then resist visitors fight back
Also on this day: June 27, 2020, Lazio Fiorentina 2-1. A goal by Luis Alberto eight minutes from time gives Lazio win and hope. Player of the day: Jony
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had finished 7th, first under Czech Walter Alt (1-27) and then Hungarian József Viola. Top scorer was Silvio Piola with 21 goals (19 in Serie A).
This year the Magyar coach Viola was kept on. The main new signings were midfielder Luigi Milano (Alessandria) and forwards Umberto Busani (Alessandria), Giovanni Costa (Vicenza) and Giovanni Riccardi (Alessandria).
Leaving were midfielders Attilio Ferraris IV (Bari), Francesco Gabriotti (retiring), Odoacre Pardini (retiring) and forwards Antonio Bisigato (Ambrosiana Inter), Anfilogino "Filó" Guarisi (Corinthians) and Virgilio Felice Levratto (Savona).
The season had been extremely positive and Lazio had finished 2nd behind Bologna. The Biancocelesti had won 17 (including Milan 3-0, Juventus 1-0, Inter 1-0 at home, Napoli 5-3 away), drawn 5 and lost 8. Top scorer of Serie A was Piola with 21 league goals.
Now it was time for the Central European Cup. A prestigious tournament which this year saw teams from seven nations take part: Italy, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Switzerland, Yugoslavia and Romania. This season 16 teams were participating including Italian champions Bologna and winners of the Coppa Italia, Genoa.
Lazio had already played one game. On June 13 they had drawn the away leg against Hungária MTK 1-1 (Piola, Cseh).
Today was the return match for a place in the quarter finals.
Hungária MTK were Hungarian Champions. They had won the league ahead of Ferncvárosi. This was the club from Budapest's 15th Nemzeti Bajnokság I title. The top scorer was László Cseh with 36 league goals.
A difficult game today for Lazio against quality opposition.
The match: Sunday, June 27, 1937, Stadio PNF, Rome
A 5.30 pm kick-off saw a big crowd gather in north Rome, about 35,000.
Lazio looked determined to wrap the game up early and attacked furiously. The Romans took the lead immediately. Silvio Piola received the ball just outside the area, slightly to the left of the semi-circle and he blasted a shot which went into the top hand corner on the far post. A magnificent goal which sent the crowd wild. Lazio 1 Hungaria 0.
The Magyars reacted and started to control the midfield. Luckily for Lazio the end product was not as efficient as the build-up, although Giacomo Blason did have to make a couple good saves.
Lazio were still dangerous on the break and in the 39th minute scored again. A prolonged move on the right was suddenly transferred to the middle where Piola was lurking unmarked, the Piedmontese striker took the ball forward and wrongfooted the keeper putting the ball in the opposite corner. The Hungarians appealed for an offside position but the referee, after consulting the linesman, gave the goal. Lazio 2 Hungaria 0 at half time.
In the second half, after four minutes, Lazio appeared to have closed the game. Giovanni Costa raced down the left wing, cut inside and sent an unstoppable low shot into the corner of the net. Lazio 3 Hungaria 0.
The game seemed over but the visitors reshuffled the attack moving Cseh to centre-forward, Heinrich Muller to the right and Istvan Kardos to the left and started to attack again.
In the 58th minute László Cseh picked up a through ball from Muller, swerved past a few defenders and hit a medium height shot past Blason. Lazio 3 Hungaria 1.
The game now became end to end with both teams having opportunities. It was the Hungarians however who scored again. In the 70th minute on a high ball into the area Blason jumped up but was beaten to it by Cseh and it went over the keeper and into the goal, despite a desperate attempt by Alfredo Monza to clear it before it went over the line. Lazio 3 Hungaria 2. What seemed like a formality for Lazio was now completely open.
In the last 20 minutes anything could have happened. Piola hit a post, Kardos shaved it, Umberto Busani missed a good opportunity and Blason then pulled off a miraculous save. The final whistle came, much to Lazio's relief. Lazio 3 Hungaria 2.
Lazio had been superior in the first half and the Magyars in the second. The visitors had an excellent midfield and a top striker in László Cseh and could well have drawn the game. Lazio started well but tired also probably due to the frequent recent train trips to and from the Balkans (13 June Budapest, June 21 Belgrade for a friendly) but held on for an important win against quality opposition.
Next up Grasshoppers from Switzerland in the quarter finals.
Who played for Lazio
Manager: Viola
Who played for Hungária
Szabo, Kiss, Biro, Sebes, Turay, Dudas, Sas, Cseh, Kardos, Muller, Titkos
Referee: Wuttrich (Switzerland)
Goals: 1' Piola, 39' Piola, 49' Costa, 58' Cseh, 70' Cseh
What happened next
Lazio played Swiss club Grasshoppers from Zurich next in the quarter finals. The game in Rome saw Lazio dominate and win 6-1 with a Piola hat-trick while the return game was narrowly won 3-2 by the Hoppers.
Lazio were through to the semi-finals but had no opposition. Their potential rivals, Genoa and Admira Wacker had both been banned from the tournament. The first leg in Vienna had seen anti-Italian political demonstrations and the Italian Home Minister refused to let the return leg go ahead. At this point the organisers of the tournament kicked both teams out and promoted Lazio directly to the final.
The other finalist was Hungarian Ferencváros. They too were from Budapest and had won 13 league titles. The Magyars had eliminated Slavia Prague 5-3 on aggregate, First Vienna FC in a playoff 2-1 (after 2-2 on aggregate) and FK Austria 7-5 on aggregate. Their manager was Emil Rauuchmaul.
In the first leg in Budapest, on September 12, the home side won 4-2 in front of 30,000 spectators with a György Sárosi hat-trick while Lazio responded with Busani and Piola.
In Rome, on October 24, the Hungarians won again 5-4. Lazio were winning 4-2 but the Magyars proved too good and came back to win. Top scorer of the tournament was Sárosi with 12 goals while Piola got 10.
Lazio 1936-37
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 30 | 17 | 5 | 8 | 56 |
Coppa Italia | 1 | - | - | 1 | - |
Central European Cup | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
Total | 35 | 19 | 6 | 10 | 68 |
Top appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Central European Cup |
Baldo | 35 | 30 | 1 | 4 |
Busani | 34 | 29 | 1 | 4 |
Monza | 34 | 30 | - | 4 |
Zacconi | 34 | 30 | - | 4 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Central European Cup |
Piola | 28 | 21 | - | 7 |
Busani | 17 | 15 | - | 2 |
Costa | 5 | 4 | - | 1 |
Riccardi | 5 | 5 | - | - |
Camolese | 4 | 4 | - | - |
Let's talk about the Mitropa Cup
The cup started in 1927 and was known as the Central European Cup. It was the brainchild of Austrian Hugo Meisl, general secretary of the ÖFB (Austrian Football Federation). It is also known as the Mitropa Cup (from German Mitteleuropa - Central Europe).
The forerunner of this competition was the Challenge Cup which took place for clubs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire which de facto were those from Budapest, Prague and Vienna. It first took place in 1897-98 and continued every year until 1905 and then just sporadically until 1911. The Viennese clubs won every Cup with the exception of the 1908-09 one, which was won by Ferencvaros.
After the first world war and the collapse of the Empire, the idea that a similar competition should continue never left the former nations of the Austro-Hungary Empire. With the introduction of professional leagues, and since these teams were the strongest in Europe at the time, on July 17, 1927 the Mitropa Cup was launched. In the first two editions two teams from Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia participated.
In 1929 Italian teams replaced the Yugoslav ones.
In 1934 the teams from each nation became four, while in 1936 four Swiss clubs were added.
In 1937 the teams were reduced to three to make space for Romanian clubs and a return of Yugoslavian participation.
In 1938 the Austrian clubs dropped out due to the annexation by Germany. The new format was therefore four clubs each from Italy, Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
In 1939 only eight clubs took part and in 1940 the tournament was abandoned before the final due to the worsening of the war situation.
Before the war the tournament had been extremely prestigious. These were its glory days and it could almost be compared to the later European Cup. In fact, the Mitropa Cup and the Latin Cup of the 1950's were basically the precursors of the European Cup. The Hungarians, Czechs, Italians and Austrians had the best clubs and Italy also won the World Cups of 1934 and 1938. The only other really competitive clubs were the British but they still refused to play what they considered inferior opposition.
After the war, there were was an attempt to revamp the competition and it was named Zentropa Cup.
The Zentropa Cup wanted to compete with the other two cups that were being played at club level. The teams that participated were Rapid Wien, champions of Austria, Wacker, second, Dinamo Zagreb, fourth in the Yugoslavian league, and Lazio who had arrived fourth in Serie A.
After the war the cup was restarted in 1955. It was called the Mitropa Cup and it was by invitation only. The nations involved were Austria, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary and Italy. From 1958 Romanian and Bulgarian clubs also played.
In 1966 it took on the European Cups' format and involved teams from mid-table who had not qualified for the three cups: European, Cup Winners and UEFA.
It therefore lost its importance and in 1979 changed format again. It became a tournament between clubs which had won their nation's second tier divisions.
Some big clubs won it, including A.C Milan. In 1989 a one-off Mitropa Supercup was organised between the winners of 1988 (Pisa) and the 1989 (Banik Ostrava).
The last edition was played in 1992.
Lazio in the Mitropa Cup
Lazio participated four times in the Mitropa Cup plus once in the non-official Zentropa Cup.
In 1937 they reached the final where they were beaten by Ferencvaros 9-6 on aggregate. In the 1951 Zentropa Cup they were beaten by both Rapid Wien and Dinamo Zagreb. Lazio reached the quarter finals in 1967, eliminated by Spartak Trnava, but in 1969 they were eliminated by Honvéd in the round of 16.
Year | Winner | Runner-up |
1927 | Sparta Prague | Rapid Wien |
1928 | Ferencváros | Rapid Wien |
1929 | Újpest FC | Slavia Prague |
1930 | Rapid Wien | Sparta Prague |
1931 | First Vienna | Wiener AC |
1932 | Bologna | - |
1933 | Austria Wien | |
1934 | Bologna | Admira Wien |
1935 | Sparta Prague | Ferencváros |
1936 | Austria Wien | Sparta Prague |
1937 | Ferencváros | Lazio |
1938 | Slavia Prague | Ferencváros |
1939 | Újpest FC | Ferencváros |
1940 | Rapid București - Ferencváros (final not played) | |
1951 (as Zentropa Cup) | Rapid Wien | Admira Wien |
1955 | Vörös Lobogó | ÚDA Prague |
1956 | Vasas | Rapid Wien |
1957 | Vasas | Vojvodina |
1958 (Danube Cup) | Red Star Belgrade | Rudá Hvezda Brno |
1959 | Honvéd | MTK |
1960 | Hungary | - |
1961 | Bologna | Slovan Nitra |
1962 | Vasas | Bologna |
1963 | MTK Budapest | Vasas |
1964 | Sparta Prague | Slovan Bratislava |
1965 | Vasas | Fiorentina |
1966 | Fiorentina | Jednota Trenčín |
1966-67 | Spartak Trnava | Újpesti Dózsa |
1967-68 | Red Star Belgrade | Spartak Trnava |
1968-69 | Inter Bratislava | Sklo Union Teplice |
1969-70 | Vasas | Inter Bratislava |
1970-71 | Čelik Zenica | Austria Salzburg |
1971-72 | Čelik Zenica | Fiorentina |
1972-73 | Tatabányai Bányász | Čelik Zenica |
1973-74 | Tatabányai Bányász | ZVL Zilina |
1974-75 | Wacker Innsbruck | Honvéd |
1975-76 | Wacker Innsbruck | Velež Mostar |
1976–77 | Vojvodina | Vasas |
1977–78 | Partizan | Honvéd |
1979–80 | Udinese | Čelik Zenica |
1980–81 | Tatran Prešov | Csepel SC |
1981–82 | Milan | TJ Vítkovice |
1982–83 | Vasas | ZVL Zilina |
1983–84 | SC Eisenstadt | Prishtina |
1984–85 | Iskra Bugojno | Atalanta |
1985–86 | Pisa | Debrecen |
1986–87 | Ascoli | Bohemians Prague |
1987–88 | Pisa | Váci Izzó |
1988–89 | Baník Ostrava | Bologna |
1990 | Bari | Genoa |
1991 | Torino | Pisa |
1992 | Borac Banja Luka | BVSC |
Sources
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