Domination
Lazio thrash Empoli with goals from Negro, Salas and Mancini
Also on this day: November 8, 1942: Lazio Juventus 5-3. Four Piola goals send the Zebras back home with their tails between their legs. Player of the day: Luciano Ramella
The season so far
The summer of 1998 was an interesting transfer window. President Sergio Cragnotti wanted to add greater quality to the squad but also wanted to cash in on players that after the Coppa Italia win the extraordinary previous season would now be worth a lot more. Those who left were Diego Fuser (Parma), José Chamot and Vladimir Jugovic to Atletico Madrid, Pierluigi Casiraghi to Chelsea and Beppe Signori, on return from his loan to Sampdoria, to Bologna. In the autumn window more players left: Giovanni Lopez to Napoli, Igor Protti to Reggiana and Roberto Rambaudi to Genoa, plus the loan of Dario Marcolin to Blackburn Rovers.
Who arrived? Marcelo Salas from River Plate, Christian Vieri from Atletico Madrid, Sinisa Mihajlovic from Sampdoria, Fernando Couto and Ivan de la Pena from Barcelona. Enough? No. Sergio Conceição from Porto, Dejan Stankovic from Red Star Belgrade and in the winter session Attilio Lombardo from Crystal Palace.
A decisive upgrade in quality and fire power.
The pre-season was not so great as Lazio lost to Benfica, Deportivo La Coruña and Atlético Madrid. Without Alessandro Nesta, seriously injured during the World Cup and who would return in December, the defence with Mihajlovic and Couto was too slow and not helped by the midfield. The first major test was the Supercoppa played in Turin on August 29. The Biancocelesti managed to win in the last second with a Conceição goal. Pavel Nedved had put them ahead and then in the second half a ridiculous penalty for a non-existent hand ball (the ball hit Lopez on the back) gave Juve the equaliser. This was the first Supercoppa win for the Biancocelesti.
In Serie A, so far Lazio were sixth in the company of Bari and Inter. They had started with three consecutive draws followed by two wins (5-3 against Inter in Milan) but in the last couple of games they had earned just one point between Vicenza and Salernitana.
In Coppa Italia they had eliminated Cosenza 4-1 on aggregate in the second round and beaten Milan 3-1 in the first leg of the Round of 16.
In the Cup Winners Cup Lazio had qualified for the quarter finals after eliminating Lausanne on away goals and Partizan Belgrade 3-2 on aggregate.
Time for a convincing win.
The match: Sunday, November 8, 1998, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Lazio started strongly. Very strongly. After a goal disallowed due to a Marcelo Salas offside, in the 18th minute a venomous Sinisa Mihajlovic free kick was headed by Roberto Mancini. Matteo Sereni was miraculous and parried the attempt onto the post. In the 22nd minute Mihajlovic took a corner, the ball arrived to Dejan Stankovic who tried a shot towards the far post, Paolo Negro intervened and made sure the ball went into the net.
In the 26th minute Beppe Favalli to Salas who chipped the ball for Pavel Nedved, splendid volley from outside the box, another marvellous save by the Empoli keeper. Mihajlovic took the corner, ball cleared by the Brescia defence, in came Negro from 30 metres, missile impossible to save, Lazio 2 Empoli 0.
In the 30th minute Sereni had the ball, Salas pressed him, the keeper tried to get rid of the ball but accidently hit the Chilean and it went into the goal.
In the 42nd minute Empoli’s first attempt. Arturo Di Napoli on a free kick hit the crossbar.
Lazio continued to attack and in the 47th minute Giorgio Venturin forced Sereni into another great save with a shot from outside the box. In the 54th minute Nedved to Mancini, unmarked in the box, powerful shot, Sereni parried into corner. Eight minutes later, the Czech midfielder to Mancini again who avoided the return of the defence and this time was able to beat Sereni for his 150th goal in Serie A.
Lazio slowed down and Empoli managed to score in the 81st minute. Alessandro Pane opened up the defence and Marco Carparelli beat Marco Ballotta who had substituted Luca Marchegiani in the interval. Salas could have made it five but again Sereni managed to deflect his close range shot onto the crossbar.
Good win for the Biancocelesti who really dominated right from the word go.
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani (46’ Ballotta), Pancaro (52’ Lombardi), Negro, Mihajlovic, Favalli, Stankovic, Venturin (73’ Conceicao), Almeyda, Nedved, Mancini, Salas
Manager: Eriksson
Who played for Empoli
Sereni, Fusco, Baldini, Bianconi, Tonetto, Lucenti (66' Cribari), Pane, Morrone, Di Napoli, Zalayeta (46' Carparelli), Bonomi (60' Martusciello)
Substitutes: Mazzi, Cupi, Bisoli, Chiappara
Manager: Sandreani
Referee: Borriello
Goals: 22’ Negro, 27’ Negro, 30’ Salas, 62’ Mancini, 81’ Carparelli
What happened next
At the end of the first half of the season Lazio were second with Parma and three points behind Fiorentina. But they were favourites having beaten both teams in the last two games. In the 21st game Fiorentina lost at Udine and the Biancocelesti drew at Cagliari joining the Viola at the top of the league. The next Sunday Lazio were solitary first after their win against Inter at home. Their lead had risen to five points by the 26th match and seven more than Milan who seemed to be completely out of the picture. In the next game the Biancocelesti drew with the Rossoneri. Vieri had scored but the goal had been disallowed due to a dubious off-side. But all was well since Lazio had a six-point lead over Fiorentina. Little did we know that disallowed goal would prove to be fundamental.
Lazio lost the next two games against Roma and Juventus and Milan were just a point behind with five games to the end. The Biancocelesti won three but so did Milan. Two games to the end and Lazio went to Florence. The Viola played like it was the Champions League final and went ahead with a Gabriel Batistuta goal. Lazio managed to equalise with Vieri but in the second half Fiorentina were awarded a penalty which they missed and the Biancocelesti were denied one despite a clear foul on Salas. A final crossbar hit by Vieri sealed the draw. Milan beat Empoli 4-0 and went ahead. The last game at Perugia was a formality for the Rossoneri and they won a scudetto that Lazio had deserved to win.
In the Coppa Italia the Biancocelesti were eliminated by Inter 6-4 on aggregate.
But there was glory.
In the quarter finals of the Cup Winners Cup, Lazio demolished Panionios 7-0 on aggregate and faced Lokomotiv Moscow in the semis. An Alen Boksic goal in Moscow was enough to reach the final which was played in Birmingham against Real Mallorca. Lazio took the lead early with Vieri but the Spaniards soon equalised. In the 81st minute a splendid volley by Nedved gave Lazio their first European trophy and the last ever Cup Winners Cup.
The player with most appearances this season was Luca Marchegiani with 48. Top scorer was Salas with 24 goals in all competitions.
Lazio 1998-99
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals Scored |
Serie A | 34 | 20 | 9 | 5 | 65 |
Coppa Italia | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
Cup Winners Cup | 9 | 4 | 5 | - | 16 |
Super Coppa | 1 | 1 | - | - | 2 |
Total | 50 | 29 | 15 | 6 | 95 |
Top Five Appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Cup Winners Cup | Super Coppa |
Marchegiani | 48 | 34 | 5 | 8 | 1 |
Mancini | 47 | 33 | 6 | 7 | 1 |
Conceição | 44 | 33 | 5 | 5 | 1 |
Mihajlovic | 44 | 30 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
Salas | 43 | 30 | 6 | 6 | 1 |
Top Five Goal Scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Cup Winners Cup |
Salas | 24 | 15 | 5 | 4 |
Vieri | 14 | 12 | 1 | 1 |
Mancini | 12 | 10 | 2 | - |
Mihajlovic | 9 | 8 | 1 | - |
Stankovic | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
Let's talk about Giovanni Martusciello
Giovanni Martusciello was born on August 19, 1971, in Ischia. He began to play football with Ischia Isolaverde and debuted in Serie C1 at 16 years of age. He would go on to play 160 games with Ischia with 6 goals all in C1 with the exception of a single year in C2 in 1990-91.
In 1995 he signed with Empoli in Serie C1 but in two years the club was in Serie A. In the first they won the League and the Serie C Coppa Italia. In the second they arrived second in Serie B. Empoli stayed in Serie A two years and in 1999 were relegated. The highlights were a goal against Lazio and one that gave Empoli their first win in Florence. He made 118 league appearances for the Tuscans.
In September 1999 he signed for Genoa in Serie B but did not fit in, so he quit after six months and signed for Palermo who were in Serie C1. In Sicily he did not play much due to injury. He then signed for Cittadella in Serie B and played for two seasons. His last four seasons of active football were with Catania in Serie B, Sambenedettese and Lucchese in Serie C1 and Pontedera in Serie D.
He started his managerial career at Empoli as assistant of the Primavera team. He became number two coach of the first team in 2010 helping out Alfredo Aglietti and stayed in this role for the following season too, despite four changes of manager. When Maurizio Sarri took over at Empoli he became part of the technical team and reprised his role as assistant when Marco Giampaolo was nominated head coach.
Martusciello took over the full managerial duties for the 2016-17 season. From 2017 to 2019 he worked for Inter as technical collaborator and when Sarri was called to coach Juventus, he became his assistant, a role he kept when Sarri moved to Rome.
During his third year in Rome, after the home defeat against Udinese, Maurizio Sarri resigned. Lazio had a problem in that there was no time to give the job to another manager so Martusciello stayed and took over for the single game against Frosinone which Lazio won 3-2. When the new manager, Igor Tudor, arrived after the game, Martusciello quit.
In the summer of 2024 he became manager for Salernitana.
Lazio fans will always be thankful for Martusciello’s choice to help weather the storm after Sarri resigned. He could have gone, but he stayed to give a hand to the club and team in a difficult moment.
Sources
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