March 21, 1982: Lazio-Perugia 1-0
- Lazio Stories
- Mar 21
- 7 min read
Updated: Mar 25
Badiani gives Lazio hope
A good goal by the Tuscan midfielder rekindles slim promotion hopes
Also on this day:
The season so far
Lazio had an unlucky 80-81 season under Ilario Castagner. They finished 4th narrowly missing out on promotion. A missed penalty in the penultimate game condemned them to at least another season in the "purgatory" of Serie B.
Ilario Castagner had been confirmed as manager, but several new players had come in, as well as some back from loan periods. Fan favourite Vincenzo D'Amico had returned from his year at Torino, as had Stefano Ferretti from Empoli and Roberto Badiani from Pistoiese. Lazio had also bought defender Vincenzo Chiarenza (Taranto), midfielder Michele De Nadai (a rare signing from rivals Roma) and forwards Walter Speggiorin (Napoli) and Claudio Vagheggi (L.R Vicenza).
Leaving Lazio were defenders Filippo Citterio (Napoli) and Pietro Ghedin (Pistoiese), midfielder Giuseppe Greco (Ascoli) and forward Stefano Chiodi (Bologna on loan).
Lazio had got off to a sluggish start with 1 point in the first 3 games but then picked up with 3 consecutive wins. Since then they had been inconsistent with 4 wins, 5 draws and 5 defeats (including Perugia 0-1). The last defeat 0-3 at home to Palermo had cost Castagner his job. The new manager was Roberto Clagluna from the U19s team.
Lazio had since won 1, drawn 3 and lost 2, so not a great improvement. The most recent game had been a 0-1 defeat at Lecce.
The Biancocelesti were currently joint 10th on 25 points. The A zone however was still only six points away but the C zone was only four the other way.
In Coppa Italia, in August-September, the Biancocelesti had lost 3 (Reggina 1-1 at home but then 0-2 for an object hitting a visiting player, Udinese 1-2 and Pisa 0-2, both away) and drawn 1 (Bologna 1-1 at home) and were out.
Perugia had been relegated from Serie A the previous season. The Umbri ended up 15th, first under Renzo Ulivieri and then from halfway Giampiero Molinari. Several players had been suspended due to the Calcio scommesse scandal and the Grifoni struggled, eventually going down to Serie B after six years in the top flight (including a 2nd place).
This season the manager was Gustavo Giagnoni. The main new signings were: defenders Guglielmo Bacci (Udinese) and Claudio Ottoni (Foggia - back from loan), midfielders Domenico Caso (Inter) and Enzo Scalini (Verona) plus forwards Claudio Ambu (Inter), Moreno Morbiducci (Maceratese), Giovanni Pagliari (Maceratese) and Ezio Cavagnetto (Como).
Leaving Perugia were: defender Giuseppe Lelj (Verona), midfielders Salvatore Bagni (Inter), Antonio Di Gennaro (Verona), Giuseppe De Gradi (Como) plus forwards Sergio Fortunato (Las Palmas), Gianfranco Casarsa (Udinese) and Gianni De Rosa (Como then Palermo).
Perugia were currently in joint 5th place, on 29 points with Palermo. The Grifoni were only two points behind 3rd placed Verona. Perugia had won 11, drawn 7 and lost 7. A week earlier they had beaten SPAL 1-0 at home and were unbeaten since January 24.
In Coppa Italia the Umbri had won 1 (Torino 1-0 at home) and drawn 3 (Juventus 2-2, Cavese 0-0 away and Rimini 0-0 at home) but been eliminated.
A difficult game for Lazio against high flying Perugia but it was also one of their last chances to try and get back in the promotion race. Lazio however had not won at home since January 3.
The match: Sunday, March 21, 1982, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
A lovely and warm spring day saw about 25,000 spectators turn up at the Olimpico.
Lazio were missing defender Dario Pighin and midfielder Fernando Viola. Manager Roberto Clagluna gave 20-year old Leonardo Surro his debut maybe already planning for the following year.
Perugia had to without midfielder Paolo Dal Fiume and forward Giovanni Pagliari.
The game started perfectly for Lazio as they took the lead after only three minutes. Alberto Bigon found Claudio Vagheggi who ran forward before squaring to Roberto Badiani, the blond midfielder won a tackle, surged into the area past Celeste Pin and Pierluigi Frosio and beat Nello Malizia with a low cross goal shot. Lazio 1 Perugia 0. Badiani continued his run and celebrated wildly under the Curva Nord.
Lazio could have made it two only a couple of minutes later. In the 5th minute Roberto De Nadai put in a high cross which Bigon volleyed and hit the top part of the crossbar.
The visitors showed their faces in Lazio's area in the 20th minute when a Frosio freekick went wide.
A minute later it was Lazio again who went close when a Bigon effort shaved the crossbar.
In the 25th minute the Perugini lost defender Antonio Ceccarini through injury and he was replaced by future Lazio, Domenico Caso.
The last chance of the half was for the visitors but Ezio Cavagnetti fired over the bar from a favourable position.
For the second 45 minutes Lazio replaced defender Arcadio Spinozzi with youngster Vincenzo Mirra.
The half started with a Claudio Ambu effort off target but then it was Lazio on top again. In the 51st minute Surro jiggled past two defenders but his shot was just wide. In the 60th minute a give and go between Vagheggi and Badiani set up Bigon but the Paduan midfielder missed the chance from only about two metres from goal.
In the 68th minute the Umbri made their second replacement, bringing on defender Claudio Ottoni for Michele Nappi.
The last twenty minutes saw the visitors constantly forward but they only created one real danger when a Cavagnetto header from an Ambu cross whistled just wide of the post.
Lazio held on for a good win. Final score Lazio 1 Perugia 0.
Lazio had shown that if they were concentrated and disciplined they could compete with the better teams. The Biancocelesti were now joint 9th with Cavese on 27 points. The Biancocelesti were still six points from the last promotion slot but now five from the drop zone.
Perugia dropped to 7th on 29 points, now four points behind 3rd placed Varese.
Who played for Lazio
Marigo, Spinozzi (46' Mirra), Chiarenza, Mastropasqua, Pochesci, Sanguin, Vagheggi, Bigon, Surro, De Nadai, Badiani
Substitutes: Moscatelli, Ferretti, D'Amico, Speggiorin
Manager: Clagluna
Who played for Perugia
Malizia, Nappi (68' Ottoni), Ceccarini (25' Caso), Frosio, C. Pin, Dal Fiume, Bernardini, Butti, Cavagnetto, Bacci, Ambu
Substitutes: Mancini, Cicchella, Morbiducci
Manager: Giagnoni
Referee: Prati
Goal: 3' Badiani
What happened next
Lazio did not keep it up and continued to struggle, finishing 11th, on 37 points. In the last 12 games they won 2, drew 6 (including the next 5) and lost 4. Between April 4 and May 2, they went four games without scoring a single goal (in 4 goalless draws). At a certain point they even risked relegation but a Vincenzo D'Amico hat-trick in a 3-2 home win against Varese ultimately got them out of trouble. Top scorer was D'Amico with 10 league goals.
A terrible season but to be fair the club was in financial difficulty and the players went months with unpaid or late wages. A shambles at all levels.
Perugia finished 6th on 42 points, five points from the last promotion slot. In the last twelve games the Grifoni won 5, drew 3 and lost 4. Top scorer was Cavagnetto with 7 league goals.
The teams going up were champions Pisa, Verona and Sampdoria. The teams relegated were Pescara, SPAL, Brescia and Rimini.
Let's talk about Roberto Badiani
Roberto Badiani was born in Prato, near Florence, on October 9, 1949.
He started his youth career with Club Sportivo Firenze and in 1968-69 played for Sangiovannese in Serie D. A year later he moved up to Serie B and played two seasons at Livorno. He made 50 league appearances and scored 7 goals. The Amaranto finished 9th and 14th.
In November 1971 he signed for Mantova in Serie A. He played 21 league games in Lombardy and scored 2 goals. The Virgiliani however were relegated to Serie B and Badiani moved to Genoa to play for Sampdoria in Serie A for two seasons.
He played fairly regularly there, making 57 league appearances and scoring 5 goals, with the Blucerchiati finishing 11th and 13th. He attracted the attention of champions Lazio who signed him for the 1974-75 season. He was the only signing of that year for the club.
Badiani suffered from the strong personalities in the team and was often the victim of pranks by his teammates. But he was fundamental at Como in 1976, when he scored the equaliser that allowed Lazio to stay in Serie A. He played fairly regularly for four years but in his fifth he played less and at the end of the season he was loaned to Napoli. At Lazio he had played 127 league games with 3 goals and Lazio finished 4th, 13th, 5th, 10th and 8th.
At Napoli he hardly ever played, only 4 league games, and Napoli finished 10th.
The following year he joined Pistoiese in Serie A, again on loan. Despite the relegation, he became a hero at the Tuscan team when he scored the derby winning goal against Fiorentina away. He played 22 league games with 2 goals.
He returned to Lazio in 1981-82 and a year later helped the Biancocelesti get promoted back to Serie A. In his second spell in Rome he played another 54 league games with 3 goals.
His last year of professional football came in the 1983-84 season with Vigor Senigallia in Serie C2. In Le Marche he played 28 league games with 2 goals and the Vigorini finished 10th.
After he quit football he went to work for the family business together with his brother-in-law, another former Lazio player, Walter Speggiorin.
He appeared in 226 games for Lazio and scored 7 goals. He was a good midfield player, one of those players that can be defined as a runner. He also played on the wing a few times. One of Badiani’s characteristics was that when he scored, which did not happen that often, he went berserk!!!
Lazio Career
Seasons | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup | Intertoto Cup |
1974-75 | 33 | 29 | - | 4 | - | - |
1975-76 | 43 (2) | 30 (2) | - | 10 | 3 | - |
1976-77 | 34 (2) | 30 (1) | - | 4 (1) | - | - |
1977-78 | 39 (1) | 25 | - | 4 | 4 | 6 (1) |
1978-79 | 18 | 13 | - | 5 | - | - |
1981-82 | 33 (1) | - | 31 (1) | 2 | - | - |
1982-83 | 26 (1) | - | 24 (1) | 2 | - | - |
Total | 226 (7) | 127 (3) | 55 (2) | 31 (1) | 7 | 6 (1) |
Sources
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