A win for Gabbo

Dag Jenkins

Nov 25, 20233 min read

Season 2007-08

Game 13, Serie A

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Lazio Parma 1-0

A last gasp deflected goal by Firmani allows Lazio to honour the memory of Gabriele Sandri

The game prior to today's (away to Inter) had been cancelled and postponed to December following a tragedy involving a Lazio fan. Gabriele Sandri, on his way to Milan to watch Lazio, had been killed while sleeping in the backseat of a car in a motorway service station. A policeman had shot him from the other side of the motorway mistakenly thinking a robbery was taking place. The other Serie A games were also called off and there were fan protests all over the country.

Today's game promised to be a sombre affair between two teams in difficulty and in a sad environment after Gabriele Sandri's recent tragic death.

The match: Sunday, November 25, 2007, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

A fresh, sunny November day brought about 35,000 fans to the Olimpico. Despite the bright weather however, the mood in the ground was sombre and dark. Today's game was overshadowed by the tragic events of two weeks earlier when Lazio fan and well known Roman dj Gabriele Sandri, known as "Gabbo", had been killed by a policeman. The Lazio player Lorenzo De Silvestri, who was also a personal friend of Gabriele and former Lazio Fernando Couto and Bernardo Corradi, carried flowers and placed them under a giant picture banner of Sandri in Curva Nord. Another banner read "Tears, Sadness, Silence".

The game therefore was played in a surreal atmosphere but as they say the show must go on. The Lazio fans came into the ground twenty minutes after kick-off in protest but even when they did were understandably subdued.

Lazio had several absences, Gaby Mudingayi, Massimo Mutarelli, Valon Behrami, Emilson Cribari, Luciano Zauri, Simone Del Nero plus Stefano Mauri, just back from injury on the bench.

The game started with Parma on the defensive and they would remain so for the whole match. The rhythm was slow, not helped by the atmosphere and the difficult moment both teams were going through.

It was Lazio who tried harder to be positive. Tommaso Rocchi had a volley walled by a defender and Sebastiano Siviglia went close with a header from a corner. Lazio then hit the woodwork twice from the long range, the first with Lionel Scaloni's low right-footed strike which hit the right post and then Fabio Firmani's cracking effort from outside the area which hit the crossbar. Halftime Lazio 0 Parma 0 but Lazio unlucky.

The second half was similar but without any clear-cut chances. Lazio attacked but could not break down the Ducali's resistance. Both sides made a series of substitutions, Lazio bringing on Stefano Mauri and Stephan Makinwa for Mourad Meghni and Goran Pandev but the deadlock remained.

The game was heading for a lacklustre goalless draw when in the 90th minute Lazio found a winning goal to dedicate to poor Gabriele. It was Makinwa who stubbornly defended the ball on the right-hand side of the area, beat a player and squared the ball back into the heart of the area where Rocchi dummied and it was then mis-hit by Fabio Firmani, took a deflection off defender Damiano Zenoni's arm, changed direction and tucked itself into the Parma goal, giving Bucci no chance. Firmani, followed by the whole team, then continued his run to the Curva Nord where he hugged the image of Gabriele. Lazio 1 Parma 0 and final score.

If fate had wanted Lazio to win for Gabriele it did a good job. It was particularly apt that the goal was scored by one of the only two Romans on the field, Firmani, the other was De Silvestri.

An emotional win for Lazio on a sad day of football. Tragic events aside the Biancocelesti had deserved the three points as Parma, possibly affected by the circumstances, had never been dangerous apart from an ambitious but half-hearted back heel by Corradi.

Life went on but Gabriele Sandri would never be forgotten.