Pandev slaloms Lazio to victory
A great goal by Pandev allowed Lazio to clinch the three points against a dangerous Ascoli side.
Also on this day:
The season so far: The effects of Calciopoli
Despite a UEFA Cup qualification at the end of the previous season, Lazio were unable to play due to the infamous refereeing scandal known as Calciopoli. They had also been docked 3 points for this season.
In the summer, Lazio said goodbye to Fabio Liverani, Ousmane Dabo and Paolo Di Canio who had not renewed their contracts. The new arrivals were Cristian Ledesma (Lecce), Pasquale Foggia (Milan on loan), Massimo Mutarelli (free transfer), Stephen Makinwa (Palermo), Modibo Diakité (Pescara) and Tommaso Berni (Ternana, loan).
The first games of the season had been in Coppa Italia. In the first round Lazio had beaten Rende 4-0, in the second they had drawn at Monza 1-1 but won on penalties, in the third they had lost to Messina 4-3 in extra time.
In Serie A Lazio started pretty badly with two defeats against Milan and Palermo, but they had not played badly (especially against Palermo). And as a matter of fact Lazio played quite well most matches with some good wins and just a few bad losses.
The big boost in confidence arrived with the -11 being changed to only -3, eight more points on the table all in one go.
The match: Sunday November 26, 2006, Rome, Stadio Olimpico
It was not an easy match for Lazio. Coming from two big wins against Udinese and Messina, the fans expected another performance with lots of goals and it looked like this match could deliver the goods when eight minutes in the game Stefano Mauri’s shot was deflected by Gianluca Pagliuca against Manuel Belleri, in the right place at the right time, to make it 1-0. Ascoli protested for a possible offside but to no avail.
Things are looking downhill for the Biancocelesti but this was not to be the case. Eight minutes later Michelangelo Minieri crossed the ball low in the penalty box and Mauri was unlucky. Instead of clearing the ball, he sent it behind Angelo Peruzzi for the Ascolani's equaliser.
Not to worry. Goran Pandev in the 25th minute dribbled three players a-la-Alberto Tomba and put the ball past Pagliuca. The North Macedonian player missed an easy chance very shortly after.
Lazio then mistakenly stopped playing and handed over the initiative to Ascoli who missed a really easy chance with substitute Giampietro Perulli ten minutes from the end. Lazio stirred and it was soon 3-1. In the 84th minute Tommaso Rocchi crossed a low ball and Pasquale Foggia slotted in to give Lazio the double lead.
With this win Lazio started thinking that maybe a Champions League qualification was no longer mission impossible.
Who played for Lazio
Peruzzi, Belleri, Siviglia, Cribari, Zauri, Mudingayi, Baronio (60’ Firmani), Mutarelli, Mauri (82’ Makinwa), Pandev (74’ Foggia), Rocchi
Manager: Rossi.
Who played for Ascoli
Pagliuca, Minieri, Cudini, Nastase, Pesce, G. Fontana, Fini (84’ Pecchia), P. Zanetti, Boudianski (65’ Perrulli), Guberti (78’ Delvecchio), Bjelanovic
Substitutes: Elefteropoulos, Pecorari, Bocchetti, Galloppa
Manager: Sonetti
Referee: Paparesta
Goals: 8’ Belleri, 16’ Mauri (og), 25’ Pandev, 84’ Foggia
What happened next
And Champions League it was. Eight consecutive wins between February and April were fundamental to clinch an incredible 3rd place at the end of the season. Lazio certainly took advantage of Milan’s 8-point deficit due to Calciopoli and Juventus having previously been relegated to Serie B, but for such a young, inexperienced team such as Lazio in 2006-07 this was an incredible feat.
Lazio ended up 18 wins, 11 draws and 9 losses. Rocchi was the leading scorer with 16 goals and also one of the three who played more together with Pandev and Luciano Zauri (39 appearances).
Let’s talk about Goran Pandev
Goran Pandev was one of the most interesting players in the early years of Claudio Lotito’s presidency.
Born in Strumica, North Macedonia, on July 27, 1983, Pandev spent his early football career in the local FK Belasica until at 18 he joined Inter. In 2001-2002 he won the Torneo di Viareggio and the Primavera Championship. The next year he was loaned to Spezia in Serie C1 and in the following season he played for Ancona in Serie A.
Pandev was jointly owned by Udinese and Inter at this point, and the Milanese team gave Lazio their share as partial payment in the Dejan Stankovic deal. It took him a year to become a regular player in the first 11 and under Delio Rossi he became Tommaso Rocchi’s ideal attacking partner. Together they were one of the best scoring duos in Serie A. He reached double figures for four consecutive years showing a constant improvement.
With Lazio he won the Coppa Italia in 2008 and was top scorer for that year’s competition. This was when the problems start.
Lazio had spent quite a lot of money for their then standards to keep him, but he refused to renew his contract. In the meantime he claimed he was injured. He really wanted to go back to Inter and he pushed Lotito for a sale. Big mistake, never try to put Lotito in a corner.
The Lazio President threatened to leave him in the stands until the expiry of the contract and Pandev took Lazio to court. He won, joined Inter (surprise, surprise) as a free agent, and was one of the protagonists of Inter’s Triplete (Champions League, Scudetto and Coppa Italia).
He played one further year at Inter, and scored in the final of the 2010 World Fifa Club World Cup (the former Intercontinental Cup), before joining Napoli, first on loan for a year and then definitively. In 2014-2015 he was sold to Galatasaray. He stayed in Turkey for just a year before joining Genoa. He played in Liguria for five and a half years before joining Parma in January 2022 in Serie B.
After Lazio his goals were far and few between, but he continued to a charismatic player for all of his clubs.
In September 2022 he announced that the 2022-23 season will be his last.
He played 191 games for Lazio (159 in Serie A, 18 in Coppa Italia, 4 in Uefa Cup, 3 in Intertoto and 7 in Champions League) and scored 64 goals (48 in Serie A, 10 in Coppa Italia, 5 in Champions League and 1 in Uefa Cup).
He is considered a legend in North Macedonia and has played 122 times for his national team with 38 goals. He scored the first North Macedonia goal ever in a European Championship in 2021.
Pandev is among the most hated former players, the tifosi have booed him ever since he left and he has done nothing to make peace. It also does not help that he keeps scoring against us.
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | UEFA Cup | Intertoto Cup |
2004-05 | 30 (4) | 25 (3) | 1 | - | 4 (1) | - |
2005-06 | 41 (12 | 35 (11) | 3 (1) | - | - | 3 |
2006-07 | 39 (14) | 36 (11) | 3 (3) | - | - | - |
2007-08 | 44 (19) | 32 (14) | 5 | 7 (5) | - | - |
2008-09 | 37 (15) | 31 (9) | 6 (6) | - | - | - |
Total | 191 (64) | 159 (48) | 18 (10) | 7 (5) | 4 (1) | 3 |
Sources
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