One goal is enough
An Arce goal in the first half is enough to beat Sampdoria
Also on this day: March 12, 1944, Lazio Alba 3-0. Lazio come to terms with the wet pitch and score three in the second half. Player of the day: Umberto Lombardini
The season so far
In the summer 1949 Lazio were looking for a centre forward. They almost bought Jean Baratte, but the deal fell through at the last minute. A lot of players were tried out, but in the end, Manager Mario Sperone had to make do with the previous season’s forwards plus the return of Flavio Cecconi. Only in November did Lazio finally find their centre forward: Dionisio Arce.
Lots of players were bought in the summer transfer window: Lucidio Sentimenti IV, his brother, Vittorio Sentimenti III, Zeffiro Furiassi, Edmondo Veronici and Aldo De Fazio. Some players had to go to make room for the new ones and among them was goalkeeper Uber Gradella, who had never completely recovered from a knee injury, and Salvador Gualtieri. They both quit football altogether.
The new Lazio took a few games to develop into a team but when they did they became a force to reckon with. The Biancocelesti crushed Roma in the first derby of the season 3-1, won 5-2 away from home against Sampdoria and demolished Novara at home 4-0. They also beat Milan and Juventus.
The match: Sunday, March 12, 1950, Stadio Nazionale, Rome
Those that were expecting fireworks from this game went home disappointed. It was a rather boring match. Both teams were in a relatively good place in Campionato and the unseasonably high temperature translated into a slow game.
Lucidio Sentimenti IV was injured so it was up to young Aldo De Fazio to defend Lazio’s goal. And he did a brilliant job. In the 22nd minute a powerful Renato Gei shot was parried by the young keeper who repeated himself shortly after on Italo Rebuzzi header. In the 37th minute De Fazio anticipated Juan Carlos Lorenzo and a minute later Lazio scored. Arce was quick to get to an Enrique Flamini cross and despite tripping on the ball, he was able to go past Pietro Bonetti and score. In the second half Flamini hit the woodwork in the 55th minute and one minute from the end of the match Mario Magrini’s shot was saved by Bonetti.
Not a great game, but the most important thing is that Lazio won!!!
Who played for Lazio
De Fazio, Antonazzi, Remondini, Furiassi, Alzani, Sentimenti III, Arce, Magrini, Hofling, Flamini, Puccinelli
Manager: Sperone
Who played for Sampdoria
Bonetti, Gratton, Bertani, Arrighini, Coscia, Mannocci, Lucentini, Gei, Rebuzzi, Lorenzo, Sabbatella.
Manager: Baloncieri
Referee: Liverani
Goal: 38’ Arce
What happened next
Lazio arrived fourth behind the great northern teams Juventus, Milan and Inter. They managed to win at least one game against the greats and played very well throughout the season. They had a very strong defence and were the team that conceded least goals in the whole season, together with Juventus, only 43 goals.
Sentimenti IV played more than anybody else (37 games) and Hofling was the top scorer with 13 goals.
At the end of the season Lazio played the Latin Cup, an international competition between the French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian teams, because the top three Italian teams had declined participation. The Biancocelesti were unable to do much due to the might of Benfica (lost 3-0) and Atletico Madrid (lost 2-1), but in this case participation was a big honour for Lazio.
Lazio 1949-50
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 67 |
Latin Cup | 2 | - | - | 2 | 1 |
Total | 40 | 18 | 10 | 12 | 68 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Latin Cup |
Sentimenti IV | 37 | 37 | |
Sentimenti III | 37 | 36 | 1 |
Furiassi | 36 | 36 | |
Puccinelli | 35 | 34 | 1 |
Antonazzi | 35 | 33 | 2 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Serie A |
Hofling | 13 |
Puccinelli | 10 |
Flamini | 10 |
Remondini | 7 |
Penzo | 7 |
Let's talk about Francesco Antonazzi
Francesco Antonazzi is a Lazio legend. He played 11 seasons for the Biancocelesti and was part of Lazio’s iron defence together with Zeffiro Furiassi, Stefano Malacarne, Romolo Alzani, Vittorio Sentimenti III and goalkeeper Lucidio Sentimenti IV.
Born in Morlupo near Roma on May 6 1924, he played most of his youth career with Lazio. He went on loan to AS Trastevere in 1944, but was called back to Lazio the following season and debuted in the first team in the Centre South Championship. Starting from the 1946-47 season he was one of the irreplaceable pillars of the Lazio team and part of the squad that in the 1950s arrived fourth for three consecutive years. He played 263 games for Lazio, 251 in Serie A, two in the Centre South Championship, 6 in the post tournament of that year, 2 in the Latin Cup and 2 in the Mitropa Cup. He finished his career with Chinotto Neri in the fourth tier.
He played a couple of times for the Italy B team and was part of the squad that defeated England 5-0 in 1949.
Once he stopped active football he became a manager and was head coach in the Lazio youth sector and also assistant coach to Juan Carlos Lorenzo in 1963-64. He coached in Serie D in the 1970s and was also in charge of the Tor di Quinto sport facilities where Lazio used to train.
Antonazzi was not very tall, only 1.68, but he was a tough defender and it was never easy for the opposing forwards when they had to play against him. He was not only good at breaking down opposition moves, but also had good technique and often started the game from the back. He was a true Laziale, he felt honoured to wear the Lazio jersey.
He died in Rome on February 25, 1995.
Lazio Career
Season | Total games | Serie A | Centre South Champ. | Post Centre-South Champ. | Latin Cup | Mitropa Cup |
1945-46 | 2 | - | 2 | 6 | - | - |
1946-47 | 27 | 27 | - | - | - | - |
1947-48 | 21 | 21 | - | - | - | - |
1948-49 | 28 | 28 | - | - | - | - |
1949-50 | 36 | 34 | - | - | 2 | - |
1950-51 | 33 | 31 | - | - | - | 2 |
1951-52 | 29 | 29 | - | - | - | - |
1952-53 | 20 | 20 | - | - | - | - |
1953-54 | 33 | 33 | - | - | - | - |
1954-55 | 24 | 24 | - | - | - | - |
1955-56 | 4 | 4 | - | - | - | - |
Total | 257 | 251 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
Sources
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