Late Negro goal gives Lazio deserved draw
A Paolo Negro strike almost at the death gives Lazio a well-earned point in Perugia.
Also on this day: March 2, 1941, Lazio Livorno 1-0. Thanks to a Flamini header five minutes from the end, Lazio beat Livorno. Player of the day: Renato Ferrarese
The season so far
The return of Roberto Mancini, this time as manager, created high hopes among the Lazio fans for the 2002-03 season. But Sergio Cragnotti was having considerable financial difficulties and someone had to be sold. The first player who everybody had their eyes on was obviously Alessandro Nesta. Cragnotti hoped that Milan, Inter and Juventus would battle to the end to get the greatest defender of all time and that the price would be really high. Instead there was a secret pact between them to get the player for a much lower price than his real value. All three clubs waited until the very last moments of the transfer window to force Lazio to accept a low price. Milan won and Cragnotti was forced to agree to a mere €31 million. At this point a second player had to go and that was Hernan Crespo who was sold to Inter for €36 million.
Mancini had to reinvent the team and he did a really good job. Bernardo Corradi took Crespo’s place and became a fundamental player on the chessboard, opening up gaps for Claudio Lopez. They struggled at home, but this was compensated by a good number of away wins. The season looked promising. At one point, Lazio were top of the table after recovering from a 0-2 deficit and winning 3-2 at Piacenza. But in the next match against Inter they only managed to draw 3-3 after being 3-0 up after the first half. Not to worry, Mancini’s boys then managed to win in Turin against Juventus. At the end of the first part of the season Lazio were joint second with Inter and just three points behind Juve.
But that had been Lazio’s last win. Since then, in 5 games the Biancocelesti had only managed four draws and any hopes of battling for the scudetto had faded. Lazio were now fourth, 8 points behind leaders Juventus and Inter. There was however still hope for a Champions League qualification.
In the UEFA Cup, Lazio comfortably passed the first round against Xanthi thanks to a 4-0 home win in the first leg. Round two was slightly more complicated after a 1-0 in the first leg at home against Red Star Belgrade. Lazio fell behind in the second leg, but Enrico Chiesa resolved everything taking Lazio to the third round. A win in Austria against Sturm Graz was enough to pass to the fourth round where Lazio faced Wisla Krakow. The 3-3 at the Olimpico meant that the return game was going to be difficult. It should have taken place on February 27, but a frozen pitch meant that a postponement to March 5 was necessary.
In Coppa Italia Lazio had qualified for the semi-final against Roma, but had lost the first leg at home and now needed a miracle to reach the final.
The match: Sunday, March 2, 2003, Stadio Renato Curi, Perugia
On a rainy day in Perugia, Lazio hoped that this game would give them their first win since January’s match against Udinese. The start however was not promising. In the tenth minute Jaap Stam had complete control of the ball but slipped, Giovanni Tedesco took advantage and surged towards the ball in the penalty box on the right. Luca Marchegiani tried to stop the Perugia player who dived over the Lazio goalkeeper in spectacular fashion as if he wanted to break a wave at the seaside. The dive was so good that the ref awarded the penalty. There had been no contact between the players, but there was nothing the Biancocelesti could do. Ze Maria scored and Perugia were in the lead.
However, Lazio equalised almost immediately. In the 16th minute, a corner from the left was taken by Massimo Oddo. Željko Kalac found himself in no man’s land and Corradi headed the ball in.
The match was entertaining with both teams trying their best despite the wet pitch. In the 43rd minute Fabrizio Micoli’s corner was cleared by Oddo but the ball fell exactly right for Fabio Grosso in the centre of the penalty box. The future hero of Italy’s win in the 2006 World Cup, had the time to stop the ball, aim and shoot low in the left corner beating Marchegiani.
In the second half Lazio had an immediate chance in the 52nd minute when Diego Simeone crossed the ball into the box for Corradi. His header unfortunately hit the woodwork. A minute later Zisis Vryzas passed the ball to Manuele Blasi on the left of Lazio’s box. Marchegiani tried to intervene on the cross but missed the ball completely, Luigi Pagliuca could have made it three but his shot was weak and Giuseppe Favalli was able to clear.
In the 10th minute Pagliuca made a wonderful flying pass over the Lazio defence for Miccoli who, had he stopped the ball decently, would have had a colossal chance. His mistake in controlling the ball was very much appreciated.
Lazio attacked but exposed themselves to Perugia counter attacks. Marchegiani was excellent in clearing the ball off Miccoli in the 28th minute. Shortly after a clear handball in the Perugia box by Sean Sogliano not seen by the ref, Lazio managed to equalise. In the 85th minute Oddo sent a great ball in the box and Paolo Negro headed it in. A minute later Claudio Lopez even had the chance to give Lazio the win but his shot was wide.
A good point on a difficult day. But the winning drought continued.
Who played for Perugia
Kalac, Sogliano, Di Loreto, Milanese, Zé Maria, Tedesco (46' Pagliuca), Obodo, Blasi, Grosso, Vryzas, Miccoli (83' Caracciolo).
Substitutes: Tardioli, Baronio, Berrettoni, Fusani, Rezaei.
Manager: Cosmi
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Oddo, Negro, Stam, Favalli, Fiore, Simeone, Liverani (80’ Lazetic), Cesar (70’ Chiesa), Corradi, Claudio Lopez (90’ Castroman)
Manager: Mancini
Referee: Trefoloni
Goals: 13’ Ze Maria (pen), 16’ Corradi, 43’ Grosso, 85’ Negro
What happened next
The winning drought ended a couple of matches later but a missed penalty by Stefano Fiore in a home draw against Juventus and a loss at Udine in the final match meant Lazio lost out on a direct Champions League qualification by just one point. They would have a playoff in August to reach the group stage of the major European competition. A good result, but it could have been better.
Lazio were unable to come back from the first leg deficit against Roma in the Coppa Italia semi-final, but in the UEFA Cup they went far. They managed to win in Krakow, beat Besiktas in the quarter finals and had to face Porto in the semis. Unfortunately, they collapsed in the first leg 4-1 and were unable to score the necessary three goals at home to get to the final (0-0).
There was a change in the Presidency in early 2003. Some of Cragnotti’s companies went bust and the banks did not lend a hand. Lazio were also dragged into the crisis and the Presidency passed over to Ugo Longo who was a member of the Board of Directors. With the help of Luca Baraldi, the new presidency avoided bankruptcy. Just.
Lazio 2002-03
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 34 | 15 | 15 | 4 | 57 |
Coppa Italia | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
UEFA Cup | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 18 |
Total | 52 | 24 | 20 | 8 | 82 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup |
Lopez | 47 | 34 | 4 | 9 |
Fiore | 46 | 33 | 5 | 8 |
Stankovic | 38 | 29 | 2 | 7 |
Cesar | 36 | 26 | 1 | 9 |
Corradi | 36 | 32 | 4 | - |
Peruzzi | 36 | 30 | - | 6 |
Top Five Goal Scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup |
Lopez | 17 | 15 | - | 2 |
Corradi | 10 | 10 | - | - |
Fiore | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 |
S. Inzaghi | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
Simeone | 7 | 7 | - | - |
Chiesa | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
Let’s talk about: Luca Marchegiani
Luca Marchegiani is one of the Lazio heroes of the 2000 scudetto.
Born in Ancona on February 22 1966, he started his career in the youth teams of Jesi where he made his professional debut in C2 in 1986-87. The following year he signed for Brescia but played just one game in Serie B. In September 1988 he moved to Turin to play for Torino.
Thanks to the advice of Lido Vieri, father of Christian and expert goalkeeper, he improved his technical abilities and started playing regularly. He played four years at Torino, winning a Serie B Championship in 1989-90, a Mitropa Cup in 1991 and a Coppa Italia in 1992-93 beating Roma in the final. The 1991-92 season was his best as he was voted best goalkeeper in Serie A.
In 1993 he joined Lazio. He played for ten years and was one of the players that contributed to the best team Lazio has ever had. He was a goalkeeper that would save everything that could be stopped. He did not have the explosiveness and power of Angelo Peruzzi who could even save the impossible, but if it was within human reach, he got there. He did make the occasional mistake and there were always a couple of blunders each year, but “Il Conte” (The Count as he was called), was always very reliable.
In his first seven years of Lazio he was one of the best goalkeepers in Italy. After the Lazio scudetto, President Sergio Cragnotti had the opportunity of signing Peruzzi and Marchegiani became Lazio’s second keeper. Peruzzi was prone to injury so Lazio needed a goalkeeper that could step up and be an excellent replacement. He was not overjoyed at being on the bench and after three years as deputy he left Rome and joined Chievo Verona. He stayed there two years before retiring.
He played 339 games for Lazio, 243 in Serie A, 37 in Coppa Italia, 15 in Champions League, 8 in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup, 34 in the UEFA Cup, two Super Coppa finals and once the UEFA Super Cup. He won a scudetto, the Coppa Italia twice, the Italian SuperCoppa twice, a UEFA Cup Winners Cup and a UEFA Super Cup.
Marchegiani also played nine times for the Nazionale. He should have played more. In the World Cup of 1994, he substituted Gianluca Pagliuca for three games. Pagliuca had been sent off in Italy’s second match against Norway and was suspended for two games. Manager Arrigo Sacchi could have kept Marchegiani on since he was doing so well, but he didn’t. Italy was runner up at USA 94.
Once he stopped playing he was immediately signed by Sky to do punditry. The Lazio fans have never been particularly happy with Marchegiani’s commentaries, always very negative when it comes to speaking about Lazio.
But we cannot forget how important he was and how much he gave to Lazio and for this we will always be very grateful.
Lazio career
Season | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Cup Winners Cup | UEFA Cup | Super Coppa | UEFA Super Cup |
1993-94 | 40 | 34 | 2 | - | - | 4 | - | - |
1994-95 | 48 | 33 | 7 | - | - | 8 | - | - |
1995-96 | 31 | 26 | 2 | - | - | 3 | - | - |
1996-97 | 40 | 32 | 4 | - | - | 4 | - | - |
1997-98 | 51 | 33 | 8 | - | - | 10 | - | - |
1998-99 | 48 | 34 | 5 | - | 8 | - | 1 | - |
1999-00 | 39 | 28 | - | 10 | - | - | - | 1 |
2000-01 | 17 | 8 | 4 | 5 | - | - | - | - |
2001-02 | 11 | 9 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - |
2002-03 | 14 | 6 | 3 | - | - | 5 | - | - |
Total | 339 | 243 | 37 | 15 | 8 | 34 | 1 | 1 |
Sources
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