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A Puccinelli double secures Lazio win
Also on his day: May 28, 2023, Lazio Cremonese 3-2. Lazio self-inflict a dramatic game on themselves but ultimately win on a day of celebrations for the May 26 tenth anniversary and Radu’s last match at the Olimpico. Player of the day: Elseid Hysaj
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 against Sampdoria and demolished Novara at home 4-0. At the end of the first half of the season they were joint seventh with other teams.
In the second half, Lazio beat Juventus (away), Milan as well as Inter, that is the top three teams, a great feat for a team like Lazio. Other highlights included a 5-0 thrashing of Palermo and a 4-0 against Padova.
Today’s game was the last of the season and Lazio were joint fourth together with Fiorentina.
The match: Sunday May 28, 1950, Stadio Nazionale, Rome
Venezia did everything they could to stop Lazio and bring home a point but the Biancocelesti, even though not playing particularly well, had players who could resolve a game at any moment and this is exactly what happened.
In the 13th minute Enrique Flamini got hold of the ball, advanced, passed it to Aldo Puccinelli who, with a powerful shot, put Lazio ahead.
Venezia tried to equalise but Lazio contained all their attacks and in the second half doubled the lead. In the 82nd minute Romolo Alzani passed the ball to Vittorio Sentimenti III who in turn passed it to Puccinelli about eight metres from goal. The little Lazio winger had no problem in making it 2-0 for Lazio.
Fiorentina lost, so Lazio were able to secure fourth place. An excellent season for the Biancocelesti.
Who played for Lazio
Sentimenti IV, Antonazzi, Remondini, Furiassi, Alzani, Sentimenti III, Puccinelli, Magrini, Hofling, Flamini, Penzo
Manager: Sperone
Who played for Venezia
Caburlotto, Bellesini, Lucchi, Sandroni, Chiappin, Leduc, Massagrande, Nicolich, Golob, Renosto, Degano.
Manager: Fiorentini.
Referee: Casini
Goals: 13’ Puccinelli, 82’ Puccinelli
What happened next
At the end of the season Lazio played the Latin Cup, an international competition between the French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian teams, this was because the top three Italian teams had declined participation due to the upcoming World Cup. The Biancocelesti were unable to do much against Benfica (lost 3-0) and also lost to Atletico Madrid (lost 2-1), but in this case participation in itself was a big honour for Lazio.
Before these two games Lazio played the Teresa Herrera Trophy against Atlético Madrid. This is a tournament that has been played since 1946 and is the third oldest professional tournament in Spain. Lazio won the trophy 3-1 coming from behind with goals from Alzani, Sentimenti III and Magrini. This was the only time the Biancocelesti managed to win this tournament. They played again in 1993, 1998 and 2000.
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 Zeffiro Furiassi
Zeffiro Furiassi is one of Lazio’s greats. A wonderful defender, not particularly tall (1.67 metres), but physically strong and fast. Marvellous man-to-man marker, he was part of that steel defence Lazio had in the 1950s together with Francesco Antonazzi, Stefano Malacarne, Romolo Alzani and the two Sentimenti brothers Vittorio and Lucidio. An extremely intelligent player, he would often be fundamental for counter attacks when he managed to stop the opposition and recover the ball. He was also a middle distance runner and he liked high jump.
Born in Pesaro on January 19 1923, he started his professional career with Vis Pesaro in Serie C in 1939-40 and a year later signed for Fiorentina where he stayed until 1949, with the exception of the war years when he played for Carpi and Biellese. In his second stint he really showed how great he was. In 1949 he signed for Lazio and established himself as one of the best defenders in Serie A. He was called to play for Italy in the 1950 World Cup in Brazil and played against Sweden (Italy lost 3-2) and Paraguay (Italy won 2-0).
At Lazio, he was part of the team that came fourth for three consecutive years. He played for 6 seasons and appeared in 122 games in Serie A and 2 in the Zentropa Cup. He won a reserves team scudetto in 1952-53. In his last year at Lazio, Furiassi only played with the reserves team. In 1955-56 he played his last professional season for Foligno.
In 1957 he started his career as a manager. He was head coach for quite a number of teams (Savona, Perugia, Latina, Taranto to mention some) but always in the lower tiers.
Furiassi died in Florence on November 4, 1974. In Pesaro, a road has been named after him.
Lazio Career
Season | Total Appearances | Serie A | Zentropa Cup |
1949-50 | 36 | 36 | - |
1950-51 | 32 | 30 | 2 |
1951-52 | 30 | 30 | - |
1952-53 | 22 | 22 | - |
1953-54 | 4 | 4 | - |
Total | 124 | 122 | 2 |
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