Lazio destroys Roma
Lazio put on a great performance and literally destroyed Roma. A goal from Silvio Piola in the first half was followed by an own goal, with Henglebert Koenig making it three shortly after. A late Pantò penalty gave little consolation to the other team.
The season so far
Playing football while elsewhere there is a World War cannot have been easy for the players nor for the fans. But the show must go on and there was a Serie A to be played. There was not a lot of money, but manager Alessandro Popovich was trying to make it all work and he did have the great Silvio Piola on his side. New players included midfielder Alessandro Capponi (Ferrara) plus forwards Hengelbert Koenig (Catania) and Petar Manola (OFK Beograd). Leaving the Biancocelesti were Maximiliano Faotto (Ascoli), Bruno Camolese (Vicenza), Otello Zironi (Modena) and Giuseppe Baldo who had retired.
Lazio so far had had many ups and downs and were currently eighth. They beat Juventus 5-3 and Inter 3-1 but lost to Genoa 6-5 and Livorno 4-2.
The match: Sunday, November 22, 1942, Rome, Stadio del PNF
A very aggressive Lazio immediately created difficulty for Roma who had a really poor day. Lazio were superior in everything and deservedly ahead when the Roma goalkeeper was unable to hold onto a Luciano Ramella free kick with Piola ready for the tap in with ten minutes to go in the first half.
Roma did not react and Lazio continued to be dangerous. In the second half a misunderstanding between the defender Alberto Fazio and goalkeeper Uber Gradella nearly allowed an equalizer for Roma but then Mario Acerbi headed a shot from Flacco Flamini into his own net and it was 2-0 in the 71st minute. Eight minutes later Henglebert Koenig made it three.
The Roma goal came via a penalty with ten minutes to go. Alessandro Ferri put a hand on the ball and Pantò got the consolation goal.
Who played for Lazio
Manager: Popovich
Who played for Roma
Masetti, Brunella, Acerbi, Donati, Mornese, Bonomi, Benedetti, Cappellini, Amadei, Coscia, Pantò
Manager: Schaffer
Referee: Galeati
Goals: 35' Piola, 71' Acerbi (og), 79' Koenig, 80' Pantò
What happened next
Lots of goals scored but also lots of goals conceded. This is a good summary of Lazio’s 1942-43 season. Nothing exceptional but Lazio did have very little money and the war was not helping. The Biancocelesti were able to beat Juventus twice and also Bologna, Inter and Milan, but this was balanced with poor performances and defeats with weaker teams. Lazio finished 9th.
In the Coppa Italia, Lazio lost to Roma in the quarterfinals.
Ramella topped the caps and played all the 33 matches. Top scorer was obviously Silvio Piola with 21 goals. This was his last season with Lazio.
Lazio 1942-43
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals Scored |
Serie A | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 56 |
Coppa Italia | 3 | 2 | - | 1 | 6 |
Total | 33 | 12 | 8 | 13 | 62 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
Ramella | 33 | 30 | 3 |
Flamini | 30 | 27 | 3 |
Puccinelli | 30 | 27 | 3 |
Gradella | 28 | 25 | 3 |
Fazio | 27 | 24 | 3 |
Monza | 27 | 24 | 3 |
Pisa | 27 | 25 | 2 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
Piola | 21 | 21 | - |
Pisa | 9 | 8 | 1 |
Koenig | 8 | 6 | 2 |
Gualtieri | 6 | 5 | 1 |
Borici | 4 | 3 | 1 |
Manola | 4 | 4 | - |
Let’s talk about: Uber Gradella
Uber Gradella can easily be placed among the greatest goalkeepers to ever wear the Lazio shirt.
Born in Mantua on June 14 1921, after a few years in minor youth teams, he started playing for his hometown team in 1937-38. A year later he was in Verona but never made it into the first team. This changed in 1939 when he played 33 matches in Serie B.
Noticed and monitored by Lazio, he joined the club in 1940 and stayed until 1944. The events of the Second World War forced him to leave and he played firstly for Biella and then for Novara. Back at Lazio in 1945 he played in the local tournaments because the Serie A had been suspended due to the war.
In 1947-48 he played all of the matches but only ten games the following year. In an attempt to catch the ball, surrounded by Atalanta attackers, three players heavily fell on top of him and he broke his knee.
After a long period away from football he recovered, but Lazio had already bought a new goalkeeper, the legendary Lucidio Sentimenti IV, and there was no room for him.
The thought of playing for a team other than Lazio was unbearable and at the age of 28 he quit football. He opened a few sports shops in Rome and in his later years was often to be heard on the radio speaking about Lazio.
He died in Rome on January 6, 2015. He played 161 times for Lazio between Serie A, Coppa Italia and the Rome Campionato which took place in 1943-44, which Lazio won, and 1944-45.
In an interview on the Gazzetta dello Sport he spoke about his experience.
“I was 17 and playing for Verona in Serie B. Both Juventus and Inter had shown an interest in me but Lazio was very quick and President Zenobi brought me to Rome for 150 thousand lire. I was just a kid forever dreaming to be a goalkeeper. I had a wonderful adventure in Rome. On Sunday we used to all go to “da Umberto” on Via Frattina for lunch and then we’d walk to Piazzale Flaminio to take the tram to the stadium. On the number 1 tram, together with the fans, we’d reach what is now called the Stadio Flaminio. We were a classy team, as everybody used to say at the time, thanks to players such as Baldo, who won Olympic Gold in 1936, Ramella and Flamini. But especially thanks to the great Silvio Piola. We became great friends even after our Lazio days and to this day I still occasionally speak to his family. I left Lazio in strange circumstances: I suffered a severe injury, with two minutes left in the game, on a corner three opponents fell on me and I broke my knee. A year on crutches, operations, wrong diagnoses. When I was finally ok I went to the training ground but they had already bought Sentimenti IV for 500 thousand lire and they did not have the courage to drop the deal. But I was adamant: Lazio or nobody else. So I gave up playing football”.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances | Serie A | National Serie A-B Centre South Championshp | Coppa Italia | Roman Championship |
1940-41 | 25 | 21 | | 4 | - |
1941-42 | 31 | 29 | | 2 | - |
1942-43 | 28 | 25 | | 3 | - |
1943-44 | 2 | - | | - | 2 |
1945-46 | 19 | - | 19 | - | - |
1946-47 | 12 | 12 | | - | - |
1947-48 | 34 | 34 | | - | - |
1948-49 | 10 | 10 | | - | - |
Totals | 161 | 131 | 19 | 9 | 2 |
Sources
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