Glass half full
Despite taking the lead with 15 minutes to go Lazio come back from Genoa satisfied with a point
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. Then came two more defeats, but a week earlier Lazio had won 1-0 away against Pistoiese. The Biancocelesti were currently joint 9th on 9 points with four other teams including today's opponents Sampdoria. The A zone however was still only three points away (but so was the C zone the other way)
In Coppa Italia, in August/September, the Biancocelesti had lost 3 (Reggina 1-1 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.
Sampdoria had finished 5th the previous season and like Lazio just missed out on promotion. The manager was Enrico Riccomini and top scorer was Gianluca De Ponti with 11 league goals.
This season Riccomini had started but had been replaced on October 11 by Renzo Ulivieri. At that point the Blucerchiati were joint 16th on 3 points. Since then Sampdoria had won 3 and lost 1 and were now joint 9th with Lazio on 9 points.
In Coppa Italia they had already reached the quarter finals by eliminating Como (1-0), Lecce (0-0), Cagliari (1-2) and Sambenedettese (3-0) in the group phase. They would play Reggiana home and away in December-January.
In the summer Sampdoria had brought a few new players in: keeper Paolo Conti (Verona), defenders Giovanni Guerini (Fiorentina), Salvatore Vullo (Bologna), midfielders Gianfranco Bellotto (Ascoli), Marco Calonaci (Empoli), Andrea Manzo (Fiorentina), Paolo Rosi (Vicenza), Patrizio Sala (Torino), Alessandro Scanziani (Ascoli) plus forwards Salvatore Garritano (Bologna), Ezio Sella (Brescia) and Nicola Zanone (Udinese). An impressive mixture of players.
Leaving were: keeper Claudio Garella (Verona), defenders Antonio Logozzo (Cagliari - on loan), Ciro Pezzella (Avellino), midfielders Enrico Vella (Catania-on loan), Luigi Delneri (Vicenza), Maurizio Orlandi (Lecce), Giorgio Redeghieri (Avellino), Antonio Genzano (Cesena) plus forwards Gianluca De Ponti (Ascoli) and Giovanni Sartori (Cavese).
So, an uncertain clash today between two ambitious teams who had not started well and were on the same points.
The match: Sunday, November 15, 1982, Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa
A good crowd of about 30,000 gathered at the old Marassi stadium.
Sampdoria had no absences while Lazio were without midfielders Roberto Badiani and Alberto Bigon.
It was an unspectacular game from the start. Lazio sided a defensive line-up, an eleven clearly ready for battle to clinch a point.
Lazio defended grittily for long periods. Sampdoria attacked but had great difficulty creating anything remotely dangerous.
For Lazio the defence was rock solid while Fernando Viola and Michele De Nadai were excellent defensively in midfield. Lazio rarely went forward but it was usually on solitary Claudio Vagheggi initiatives. Half time came with a frustrated home side and a satisfied Lazio who had been successful in muffling Sampdoria's moves in the last twenty metres.
The second half continued in the same pattern. A lot of territorial superiority and ball possession with numerous high balls into Lazio's area but little else.
In the 67th minute the Blucerchiati tried changing something, on came striker Ezio Sella (and Roma fan) for midfielder Giorgio Roselli.
In the 76th minute Lazio took the lead. Dario Sanguin floated in a freekick from the right and De Nadai headed over the keeper into the far top hand corner. Sampdoria 0 Lazio 1.
The lead was short lived however. In the 79th Alessandro Scanziani rose above the defenders from a Giancarlo Galdiolo cross and headed in the equaliser. Sampdoria 1 Lazio 1.
Both sides then made substitutions, the hosts threw on midfielder Paolo Rosi for defender Salvatore Vullo while Lazio protected themselves with debutant defender Vincenzo Mirra for midfielder Stefano Ferretti.
Things became even more complicated for Lazio two minutes later. The referee judged a Sanguin foul on fresh replacement Rosi to be excessively dangerous and sent him off.
Lazio spent the last ten minutes in the trenches but resisted with a solid defensive performance and brought home a precious point. Final score Sampdoria 1 Lazio 1.
Lazio were satisfied with the away draw. It could have been a win but that would possibly have been too much to ask. The Biancocelesti had battled hard but rarely been dangerous up front with Walter Speggiorin having one of his many off days.
Who played for Sampdoria
P. Conti, Ferron, Vullo (81' Rosi), P. Sala, Guerrini, Galdiolo, Garritano, Scanziani, Zanone, Bellotto, Roselli (67' Sella)
Substitutes: Bistazzoni, L. Pellegrini, Manzo
Manager: Ulivieri
Who played for Lazio
Pulici, Chiarenza, Spinozzi, Mastropasqua, Pighin, De Nadai, Viola, Sanguin, Vagheggi, Ferretti (81' Mirra), Speggiorin
Substitutes: Marigo, Benini, D'Amico, Garlaschelli
Manager: Castagner
Referee: Lo Bello
Goals: 76' De Nadai, 79' Scanziani
Red card: 81' Sanguin (L)
What happened next
Lazio then earned 6 points in the next 4 games and pushed up to 4th place. The optimism soon faded however and Lazio went on to have a poor season. On January 24 the Biancocelesti replaced manager Ilario Castagner with Roberto Clagluna after a 0-3 home defeat to Palermo. Things didn't really improve and at one point Lazio even risked slipping down to Serie C1. In April Lazio didn't score a single goal for 4 consecutive matches. In the penultimate match of the season, after three consecutive defeats, a D'Amico hat-trick in a 3-2 home victory against high flying Varese, after being 0-2 down, eventually saved Lazio's blushes. Lazio finished 11th, on 37 points, only one above the drop zone. D'Amico was Lazio's top scorer with 10 goals.
Luckily in the summer Italy won the '82 World Cup, leading to an armistice for the players involved in the 1980 betting scandal. Bruno Giordano and Lionello Manfredonia would be back the following season.
Sampdoria finished 3rd and won promotion. The Blucerchiati then won 14, drew 11 (including Lazio 0-0) and lost 4. Top scorers were Nicola Zanone and Alessandro Scanziani with 10 total goals (Scanziani 10 in B).
Sampdoria did well in the Coppa Italia too, reaching the semi-finals. They knocked out Reggiana on penalties but then lost to Torino on away goals.
Sampdoria went up with Pisa and Serie B winners Verona. The four teams going down to Serie C1 were Rimini, Brescia, SPAL and Pescara.
Let's talk about Vincenzo Mirra
Vincenzo Mirra was born in Rome on March 6, 1962.
He went through the whole Lazio youth set up before joining the first team squad in 1981-82.
It was a difficult season for Lazio on and off the field. Lazio started with promotion ambitions but then only narrowly escaped relegation. The manager was first Ilario Castagner and then from January Roberto Clagluna. Mirra played 8 league games with 1 goal (Reggiana in 1-1 away draw).
In 1982 he joined Empoli in Serie C and won the league and promotion. The manager was Giampiero Vitali and Mirra played 19 league games.
In 1983 he stayed in Tuscany but moved to Siena for two seasons. Robur were in C1 and were relegated but came straight back up the following year. He played 42 league games. His teammates included former Lazio, Leonardo Surro (1981-83).
In 1985 he moved down to Campania and joined Nocerina for two seasons (Nocera Inferiore). The Rossoneri were in Serie D but won the league and got promoted and then finished 10th in Serie C1. Mirra played 56 league games with 4 goals.
In 1987-88 he spent a season at Atletico Catania in C2 but only played 5 league games and the Atletisti finished 10th.
In 1988 he returned to Nocerina for a season. The Molossi (The Molossians) had by now changed name and fallen to regional amateur level. They won promotion to Serie D and Mirra played 21 league games with 1 goal but he missed several months due to injury.
In 1989-90 he played at Ravenna in Serie C2. The Giallorossi finished 11th and Mirra played 29 league games.
His last season was with Narnese in 1991-92 in Serie D but the Umbri were relegated. He played 15 league games. At 38 he retired.
He reappeared in the football world in 2000 when he coached the Italian Women's team goalkeepers for two years. From 2002 to 2004 he was head coach of the Italy Women's U21's.
In 2004-05 he returned to Lazio. He was Giuseppe Papadopulo's assistant when he took over in January 2005. Their first game in charge was the epic 3-1 derby win. Lazio then finished 13th.
In 2006 he was in charge of Ascoli's scouting setup and then of the Bianconeri's youth academy.
Since retiring he has also had periods as a director. He was sporting director at Ascoli in 2009-10.
In 2011 he was sporting director at Grosseto and in 2012 at Siena he was assistant to the sporting director Stefano Antonelli. He then had stints at Bari as head of the technical sector, at Chievo as assistant to the sporting director and at Atalanta as a scout.
Mirra then became technical assistant to Giuseppe Iachini and followed him from Sassuolo (2017-18), Empoli (2018-19) and Fiorentina (2019-2000).
As a player Mirra was a defender. His peak was with Lazio but it was a problematic season. The highlight of his career was scoring for Lazio against Reggiana and the highest selling local sports paper came out with the headline: "Oro è Vincenzo Mirra" (Mirra translates as Myrrh in English and Oro is Gold...). Unfortunately, the rest of his career was not so golden although he did win four promotions.
Lazio career
Season | Serie B Appearances | Serie B Goals |
1981-82 | 8 | 1 |
Sources
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