Lazio's positive tradition in Udine continues with Crespo brace
Lazio are favoured by two Udinese red cards but ultimately clinch a convincing big away win.
Also on this day:
The season so far
Lazio had renewed their squad after the two excellent previous campaigns. They had started the season with Dino Zoff as manager but after 3 disappointing draws he had been replaced by Alberto Zaccheroni. The main other change had been the arrival of highly acclaimed midfielder Gaizka Mendieta from Valencia, to substitute Juventus bound Pavel Nedved. In hindsight it was a disastrous decision. Lazio did however still have captain Alessandro Nesta on the books.
The season was going reasonably well despite a bruising 2-0 defeat in the local derby two weeks earlier. Lazio were travelling north after a convincing 5-0 home thrashing of Brescia.
In the Champions League play-off in August Lazio had eliminated F.C Copenhagen. In Denmark Lazio had lost 2-1 but in the return leg in Rome a 4-1 victory (Hernan Crespo 2 goals, Claudio Lopez and Stefano Fiore) gave them access to the group stage.
Udinese on the other hand, after narrowly avoiding relegation the year before, were again struggling. They were not without talent with Chilean David Pizarro and Danish Martin Jorgensen in midfield and a solid attacking duo in Roberto Muzzi and David Di Michele. There was also a British connection in English manager Roy Hodgson.
The match: Sunday, November 18, 2001, Udine, Stadio Friuli
The game was played in front of 14,000 spectators and was largely controlled by Lazio who were wasteful in the first half with Hernan Crespo and Simone Inzaghi missing clear chances. The Romans continued to attack after the break and got the opening goal after 53 minutes through previous year's top serie A scorer Crespo with a tap in, set up by Inzaghi.
A match changing moment arrived two minutes later when Udinese defender Valerio Bertotto was given his marching orders. Lazio then doubled their lead on 73 minutes through Fabio Liverani after a clever back heel by Inzaghi.
In the 76th minute Udinese did pull a goal back with Samuel Caballero but another red card and two late goals by Argentine forwards Crespo and Claudio Lopez finally secured the victory for the Biancocelesti.
In the end a convincing win for Lazio who made their obvious technical superiority count. The home team were maybe a little unlucky that their 4 bookings brought 2 reds while Lazio's 5 all got away avoiding an early shower.
Who played for Udinese
De Sanctis, Gargo ,Sottil, Bertotto, Almiron (55' Caballero), Helguera (71' Marcos Paulo), Pizarro, Pinzi (71' Sosa), Jorgensen, Muzzi, Di Michele
Substitutes: Turci, Scarlato, Pieri, Nomvete
Manager: Hodgson
Who played for Lazio
Peruzzi, Negro, Nesta, Couto (81' D. Baggio), Favalli, Poborsky, Giannichedda, Liverani, Stankovic (80' Fiore), Crespo, S. Inzaghi (83' Lopez)
Manager: Zaccheroni
Referee: Treossi
Goals: 53' Crespo, 74' Liverani, 76' Caballero, 86' Lopez, 90' Crespo
What happened next
Lazio's season continued a week later with an excellent 1-0 home win against eventual champions Juventus, thanks to a Liverani goal. Their season however faltered and they ended up a disappointing 6th with 53 points.
They did end with a controversial victory over Inter on the now famous May 5th. This last game saw Inter needing a win to be sure of the scudetto. There was also the chance of Roma stealing the championship had Inter and Juve failed to win and Roma done so. There was therefore a lot of talk of Lazio throwing the game to avoid the “unmentionables” glory. Many Lazio fans were initially blatantly supporting Inter but the risk was soon out of the question with Juve taking an early double lead away at Udinese. Inter still had their fate in their own hands but inexplicably collapsed at the Olimpico against opposition who didn't exactly play as if their life depended on it. Inter may have assumed it was a done deal but Karel Poborsky's lack of understanding of the city rivalry dynamics, and hence fierce determination, together with Inter's lacklustre performance, produced one of the few championship-deciding last matches of the season shock results in recent history. Another one obviously being Juventus getting washed away in Perugia two years earlier, handing the scudetto to Lazio in an even more dramatic fashion.
Udinese meanwhile narrowly avoided relegation to Serie B (the second tier) with 40 points, just 1 more than 4th bottom Verona.
Lazio 2001-02
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 50 |
Coppa Italia | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
Champions League | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 9 |
Total | 46 | 19 | 11 | 16 | 65 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League |
Fiore | 40 | 30 | 20 | 8 |
Lopez | 38 | 29 | 1 | 8 |
Peruzzi | 37 | 27 | 2 | 8 |
Stankovic | 36 | 27 | 4 | 5 |
Couto | 35 | 29 | 2 | 4 |
Giannichedda | 35 | 28 | 3 | 4 |
Top Five Goal Scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League |
20 | 13 | 4 | 3 | |
Lopez | 12 | 10 | - | 2 |
Stankovic | 8 | z7 | - | 1 |
S. Inzaghi | 6 | 5 | 1 | - |
Fiore | 5 | 3 | - | 2 |
Let's talk about Gianpiero Pinzi
Pinzi was born in Rome, on March 11, 1981.
Pinzi was a solid, dynamic central midfielder who could play both in front of the defence and behind the forward line. He was a product of the Lazio youth sector having played through all the various age groups joining the first team squad in 1999. He was therefore part of the “scudetto” winning team of 2000 but without getting any Serie A playing time. The following year he joined Udinese, to try to carve out a more active role for himself. His career then took him to Chievo Verona for 2 years and then back to Udine for another 5 years. In 2015 he returned to Chievo before joining Brescia for a year and then ending his career at Padova.
Pinzi only played 4 matches for Lazio (3 in Coppa Italia and 1 in Champions League) but he won the Scudetto and Coppa Italia double in 1999-2000. Pinzi's heart belonged to Lazio, as he repeatedly quoted in interviews but he will be best remembered in the black and white Udinese jersey which he wore an impressive 305 times.
At International level he played 21 times for the Under 21 national side winning a European Championship winners medal. He also won a bronze medal with the Italian Olympic team at Beijing 2004 and won his only full Italian cap in 2015.
Appearances for Lazio
Season | Coppa Italia | Champions League |
1999-00 | 3 | 1 |
Sources
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