March 15, 1992: Lazio-Verona 2-0
- Dag Jenkins
- Mar 15
- 13 min read
Sosa transforms Lazio
After a dull first half the Uruguayan comes on and leads Lazio to a 2-0 win
Also on this day:
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had finished 11th in Serie A under manager Dino Zoff. The Biancocelesti won 8, drew 17 and lost 7. Lazio’s best result was defeating Juventus 1-0 at home while both derbies were draws.
Zoff had been confirmed but this new season was largely influenced by a player who would not even be involved, English star Paul Gascoigne. Lazio had made a deal with Tottenham for Gazza but the Geordie midfielder had ruptured his own cruciate ligaments in his right knee with his infamous tackle in the FA Cup Final. His official arrival at Lazio would therefore be for the successive 1992-1993 season.
In the meantime, Lazio had mitigated the setback by signing rated German midfielder Thomas Doll from Hamburger SV. In had also come defender Gigi Corino (Triestina), midfielder Giovanni Stroppa (Milan) and striker Berardino Capocchiano (TSV Havelse).
Leaving Lazio were midfielders Sergio Domini (Brescia) and Pedro Troglio (Ascoli). The Argentinian had to make space for Doll, as there was still a three foreign player limit. Striker Alessandro Bertoni also left after two years (back home to Reggiana).
So far Lazio had played 24 league games and were joint 10th with Atalanta. They had won 7 (including Verona 2-0 away), drawn 10 (including both derbies, Milan and Juventus, all 1-1) and lost 7, so had 24 points. A similar pattern to the previous campaign. A week earlier Lazio had lost 0-1 away to Genoa.
In Coppa Italia Lazio had beaten Fidelis Andria 5-2 on aggregate in August and September but then lost to Torino 0-2 on aggregate in October and December.
Verona were newly promoted. The Gialloblu had finished 2nd in Serie B under legendary former Lazio manager Eugenio Fascetti. Top scorer was Davide Pellegrini with 12 goals (11 in B).
This season Fascetti was still in charge. The main new signings were: defenders Luca Pellegrini (Sampdoria), Celeste Pin (Fiorentina, after 200 league games), Alessandro Renica (Napoli and winner of 2 Scudetti), Michele Serena (Juventus on loan via Monza), midfielder Dragan Stojković (Olympique Marseille-on loan) and forward Florin Raducioiu (Bari).
Leaving were: defenders Luciano Favero (Miranese), Vittorio Pusceddu (Napoli), Víctor Sotomayor (Zurich), midfielder Alessandro Cucciari (Modena) and forward Tullio Gritti (Mantova).
The Scaligeri's season had started in August in Coppa Italia. The Gialloblu had knocked out Palermo 5-2 on aggregate. In September however, Verona were eliminated by Torino 1-4 on aggregate.
In Serie A they were struggling. After 24 games the Veronesi were 14th on 17 points (with Cagliari and Bari) and as it stood would be relegated. They had won 6 (including Inter 1-0 at home), drawn 5 and lost 13 (including Lazio 0-2 at home).
Lazio had a good opportunity today to put any remaining relegation worries behind them. It was also the first game with new owner Sergio Cragnotti officially in charge.
The match: Sunday, March 15, 1992, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
An overcast day in the capital and about 30,000 spectators in the stands.
Lazio had no absences but Rubén Sosa on the bench after a slight injury a week earlier. Verona were without midfielders Dragan Stojković and Robert Prytz.
Before the kick off the former manager Eugenio Fascetti, hero of the -9 season and 1988 promotion to Serie A, received a warm welcome under the Curva Nord.
The first half was a tedious affair. Verona played with eleven players defending, a rigid "catenaccio" without even any counterattacks. Lazio however were timid, lacking ideas and clumsy in midfield. The result was an awful first 45 minutes with Verona keeper Attilio Gregori only having to make one save diving low to anticipate Karl-Heinz Riedle while Valerio Fiori was undisturbed apart from a lame header by Celeste Pin. Lazio's only other chance was a spectacular and powerful Giovanni Stroppa volley but it was off target. Half time Lazio 0 Verona 0.
Lazio were whistled off and the only chants were in favour of former manager Fascetti.
For the second half the Scaligeri brought on midfielder Paolo Piubelli for Marino Magrin.
Thomas Doll went on a good run and entered the left side of the area but his low shot was blocked by Gregori.
The real game changer came in the 52nd minute when Uruguayan striker Rubén Sosa came back from injury and replaced a disappointing Maurizio Neri.
Lazio’s speed and conviction improved immediately and five minutes later the Biancocelesti took the lead. Sosa tried a shot from outside the box which took a deflection off Luca Pellegrini and beat Gregori whose view was also obstructed by several defenders. Lazio 1 Verona 0.
A goal helped by a dose of luck but created by a player who had injected new energy into the Romans.
Lazio then relied on ball possession to maintain the lead. This was favoured by the visitors' complete lack of ambition. In the 67th minute the Gialloblu tried putting on a more attacking player, Scudetto hero Piero Fanna, for former Lazio midfielder Andrea Icardi.
Not much changed and Lazio were never threatened and were almost forced to go forward due to Verona's submissive attitude.
In the 71st minute Sosa tried again from the edge of the area but this time with his weaker right foot and Gregori saved low.
Verona then had a shot at goal but Serena's long distance, low drive was well saved by Fiori.
In the 83rd minute Lazio made a second change, taking off Thomas Doll and bringing on Stefano Melchiori.
Sosa then again threatened with a blistering free kick just over the bar. A few minutes later Giovanni Stroppa latched onto a perfect Sosa low cross from the left but challenged by Ernesto Calisti put the ball wide from close range.
Lazio finally put Verona out of their misery in the 89th minute. It was Stroppa who got the goal again set up by Sosa. The Uruguayan put a lovely through ball to the Italian who went around the keeper and hit the post but was the quickest to the rebound and made sure it went in. Lazio 2 Verona 0.
A poor-quality game changed by a player of superior level, Rubén Sosa.
Lazio did the minimum necessary against a negative and toothless Verona.
An important two points for Lazio however who moved up to joint 9th with Genoa with 26 points and now with a reassuring nine-point advantage on the B zone and only three off the European slots.
Verona were in deep trouble. The Gialloblu were now joint 15th with Bari on 17 points. The table read Cremonese 13, Ascoli 13, Bari 17, Verona 17, Cagliari 18, with four going down.
Who played for Lazio
Fiori, Corino, Sergio, G. Pin, Gregucci, Soldà, Bacci, Doll (83' Melchiori), Riedle, Stroppa, Neri (52' Sosa)
Manager: Zoff
Who played for Verona
Gregori, Calisti, Polonia, Rossi, C. Pin, L. Pellegrini, D. Pellegrini, Icardi (67' Fanna), Serena, Magrin (46' Piubelli), Raducioiu
Substitutes: Zaninelli, Lunini, Renica
Manager: Fascetti
Referee: Amendolia
Goals: 57' L. Pellegrini, 89' Stroppa
What happened next
Lazio never really fought for Europe and finished 10th, a slight improvement on the previous year. Lazio drew 1-1 away to Juventus a week later and then in the last 8 games won 3, drew 1 and lost 4. So, compared to 1990-91 more defeats but also more victories and one extra point. Top scorer was Rubén Sosa with 15 (13 in A, as Karl-Heinz Riedle).
During the season Sergio Cragnotti had bought Lazio from Gianmarco Calleri. Better times were on the way… and Gazza.
Verona ended up 16th and relegated. After today's game Fascetti was sacked and replaced by the Nils Liedholm-Mario Corso duo. In the next 9 games the Gialloblu won 1, drew 2 and lost 6. Verona would be back in Serie A in 1996 but have been up and down ever since. Top scorer was Robert Prytz with 6 goals (4 in A).
The Scudetto was won by Milan for the 12th time. Serie B beckoned for Bari, Cremonese and Ascoli and of course Verona.
Let’s talk about Gianmarco Calleri
Born in Busalla near Genoa on January 10, 1942, Calleri, before becoming an entrepreneur, was a promising centre forward. He played in the youth team of G.S. Bacigalupo then moved to Novara (1958-1960) in Serie B and later for Monza. In November 1962 he signed for Lazio and played in the reserves team. He did not make the A team but he did play a few friendlies and actually scored a goal for Lazio on March 27, 1963 in a match against the Inter B side. News about his football career from then onwards ends here.
In 1975 he starred in a film, but his acting career was brief. He then went into the security business. In 1983, together with his brother Giorgio, he bought Alessandria and was President until 1985.
In 1986, the Calleri's and entrepreneur Renato Bocchi bought Lazio and Gian Marco Calleri became President.
The story is a long one. After Giorgio Chinaglia became President in 1983, he realised that there was a 13 billion lire debt (approximately 6.5 million euros). Not having any money and with no possibility of acquiring US partners from a world that had seen US Soccer fail and go bust, his plan was to play it safe in the first year and then sell Bruno Giordano and Lionello Manfredonia in his second to eliminate the debt and start building the club. The plan failed and the two Lazio golden boys stayed. This, plus some disastrous decisions by Chinaglia (the return of manager Juan Carlos Lorenzo for example) contributed to Lazio’s relegation to Serie B. Giorgio was however optimistic that new US partners could provide the necessary capital to solve Lazio’s financial problems, but no money came in and he was forced to sell to Franco Chimenti and his group on December 2 1985, with Lazio on the verge of bankruptcy.
Chimenti did not have the money to continue and looked for partners. In came the Calleri brothers. The duo owned a number of companies including Mondiapol, an Italian security firm, and had already had an experience with the ownership of Alessandria.
Lazio were safe at least financially. Meanwhile the team, who were favourites to get back up to Serie A, had enormous problems and started to plummet in the table, at one point even risking going down to Serie C. After a defeat against Cagliari in March 1986, Chimenti got manager Gigi Simoni to sign a new contract, without asking the Calleri brothers, who, angry because this was a decision which had to be made by all the owners together, decided to leave Lazio and wanted their money back.
The frantic search for partners was dramatic but farcical. Every Tom, Dick and Harry with 10 euros in the bank looking for five-minutes of notoriety turned up at Chimenti’s office.
Chimenti gave up and Lazio were technically bankrupt. The Calleri brothers at this point stepped in again and bought out Chimenti, but they needed a partner since the financial situation was so terrible. In came Renato Bocchi, Roman entrepreneur, who bought 51% of the shares with 49 % remaining with the brothers. Financially safe, Lazio also avoided relegation.
Everything was OK now. The new owners could start to take Lazio back to where they belonged, Serie A. However, another dark cloud appeared.
On May 2, 1986, Armando Carbone, right hand man of Italo Allodi was arrested. Allodi was a well-known figure in Italian football and worked for a number of clubs, including Juventus and Inter. In 1986 he was working for Napoli. Carbone told the magistrates that there was a match fixing association with clubs at all levels involved. Numerous clubs were investigated: Bari, Napoli and Udinese in Serie A, many more in Serie B and C. Plus Lazio.
Why were Lazio involved? Carbone was a good friend of Claudio Vinazzani, a Lazio player. Vinazzani had played for Napoli for seven years before joining Lazio in 1983. He did like to bet but never on matches where he played.
In Italy one could not legally bet on the result of a single game or on the scores of multiple games. There was just the Totocalcio where one had to guess the result of 13 games. There was however an illegal betting system called Totonero run by illegal bookmakers similar to how legal bets were organised in the UK. Lazio had already been involved in the 1980 scandal and, despite a total lack of proof or wrongdoing by the club itself, since four players had been involved, Lazio were relegated to Serie B.
If there was basically nothing in 1980, in this case there was even less. There was a telephone conversation between Carbone and Vinazzani where the former asked whether the Lazio player was interested in “buying” a Lazio win against Palermo. Vinazzani’s answer was vague and nothing happened. The vagueness in the response was an indication of Lazio’s guilt, according to the prosecution. For this Lazio were sentenced to relegation to Serie C on August 5.
A difficult summer for the Lazio fans, but a very difficult summer for the new owners, Calleri and Bocchi. “If Lazio go down to Serie C, what are we going to do?” they must have asked themselves. It would have been the end of Lazio; the new owners would probably have backed out. Lazio fans mobilised, there were demonstrations and protests. It was simply not possible to relegate Lazio for nothing.
The appeal started on August 21 with many Lazio fans outside the Hilton hotel in Rome waiting to see what would happen. Carboni should have testified but the court refused to have him present. The decision to be made therefore had to be based on the material provided in the first court case. Hence, the written declaration from Carboni saying that Lazio had nothing to do with the match fixing and that he never fixed a match for the Biancocelesti could not be used.
On August 27, Lazio had to play Napoli at the Olimpico for the Coppa Italia. Minutes before the match, the Italian State Television, RAI, announced that the sentence had been confirmed. An overzealous member of the court had leaked the news. This ultimately saved Lazio. The court could not confirm the previous sentence otherwise it would have lost face. In the end Lazio stayed in Serie B but with a docking of nine points. This was a very heavy burden with only two points for a victory, but it at least meant that the new owners could continue.
Lazio did so well at the beginning that by early 1987 they were closer to promotion than relegation. Then the stress took its toll and the team physically and mentally collapsed. Before the last game of the season, Lazio were second from bottom on 31 points together with Taranto, on 32 there were Campobasso, Vicenza, Sambenedettese and Catania, with Modena on 33. With Cagliari already relegated, there were three places left. The last game was Lazio-Vicenza on June 21.
In Giuliano Fiorini’s words: “We went onto the pitch for a brief walk two hours before the game. What we saw was incredible. Two hours before the match, the stadium was completely full”. A packed stadium. All the love and support the team could get. But with seven minutes to go, it was still 0-0. Gabriele Podavini got the ball and shot. It was more of a desperate attempt than an actual goal possibility. He miskicked it but the ball reached Fiorini who turned on himself and scored. People driving on the nearby Tangenziale at the time of the goal felt the bridge tremble like in an earthquake. More than fifty spectators felt ill at the stadium and some had to be taken to hospital. There were tears, lots of tears.
Final verdict: Lazio, Campobasso and Taranto needed a playoff to determine who would join Cagliari, Catania and Vicenza in Serie C.
In Naples on June 27 Lazio played their first game against Taranto and lost due to a goal in blatant offside. Then Taranto and Campobasso drew 1-1 on July 1. This meant that Lazio had to beat Campobasso to stay in Serie B. They did so thanks to a Fabio Poli goal. More tears but it was finally over. The new ownership could now go back to work in normal circumstances.
A baptism of fire for the new president.
Having escaped possible relegation, Calleri’s first decisions for the 1987-88 season were to sell Fiorini and Poli plus other -9 heroes Podavini, goalkeeper Giuliano Terraneo and Daniele Filisetti. This would become a typical Calleri move, that is, to get rid of fan favourites. But the new players had an excellent pedigree. Silvano Martina and Paolo Beruatto had had good seasons at Torino, Paolo Monelli with Fiorentina and Giuseppe Galderisi had won three scudetti with Juventus and Verona and even played for Italy. Lazio were able to clinch promotion to Serie A after three years, not without difficulty, thanks also to Monelli’s goals.
For his first year in Serie A in the 1988-89 season three South American players were signed, relatively unknown (pre-internet days) defender Nelson Gutierrez (River Plate) and forward Abel Dezotti (Newell's Old Boys) plus better known, promising forward Ruben Sosa (Real Zaragoza), plus good solid players Claudio Sclosa and Andrea Icardi. But Monelli was sold. In July 1987 Calleri had a fall out with manager Eugenio Fascetti and sacked him. He replaced him with Giuseppe Materazzi. Lazio were not exceptional, had a few problems during the year but managed to stay in Serie A which was the main objective.
In the summer of 1989 a few more -9 players went and in came Pedro Troglio and Amarildo. Another little step in improving the team. Lazio finished not far off a UEFA Cup qualification and the club actually made a profit, probably for the first time in their history. Bocchi slowly reduced his share in Lazio and the Calleri brothers became majority owners.
In 1990 Calleri chose legend Dino Zoff as manager and Lazio gained international recognition and visibility. Furthermore, Karl-Heinz Riedle was signed and the Biancocelesti now had an interesting attacking duo. Somebody had to go in order to balance things from a financial point of view and Lazio said goodbye to Paolo Di Canio. However, Lazio failed to qualify for Europe and were disappointing. A further step forward was needed.
In the summer of 1991 Lazio bought Paul Gascoigne. A massive deal for Dino Zoff’s side, but unfortunately Gazza’s dangerous tackle in his final match for Tottenham caused a very serious injury to the English player that would keep him out of the game for over a year. In his place Calleri signed Thomas Doll. In 1991 Lazio bought the plot of land for its new training ground near Formello. Unfortunately, Calleri’s brother Giorgio died on February 7 1991. He was the financial brains behind the economic security of the club.
Lazio continued to miss out on the European Cup qualification, but the accounts were OK and the club was financially solid. This attracted the interest of Rome entrepreneur Sergio Cragnotti who bought Lazio and became president on March 12, 1992.
Calleri though never left the world of football. In 1994 he bought Torino and was president until 1997 when the club ended up in Serie B. He would try again with another club in 1998 with Bellinzona, in the Swiss League. He sold it in 2001. In 2003 he tried to buy Genoa and Lazio again a year later but failed. At that point he retired.
He may not have been the greatest president of all time, but he was just what Lazio needed at exactly the right time. Calleri cleaned the Lazio shop, gave them economic stability, attracted interest and invested in great players. He was not a tycoon, but he was a good administrator.
We owe a lot to Gianmarco Calleri. Without him there would probably be no Lazio, there would certainly be no Formello training ground, and any of the later successes. He rescued Lazio at the gates of hell and took them to safety, laying the foundations of the modern club.
We must never forget that if we are still supporting the team, going to the stadium, watching the games on TV, it is thanks to Calleri.
Gianmarco Calleri died on March 8, 2023 in Rome.
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