Last second equaliser
Thanks to a last gasp Pancaro equaliser, Lazio add a good point to the tally
Also on this day: October 30, 2004: Inter Lazio 1-1. Against the mighty Inter, Lazio manages to equalize towards the end of the game thanks to Talamonti. Player of the day: Oscar Lopez
The season so far
In the previous season Lazio had gone agonisingly close to winning the scudetto. With eight games to the end of the season they were leading with five points over Fiorentina and seven over Milan. But a single point in the next three games reduced the cushion over Milan to just one point. Lazio then won three consecutive games but so did Milan. In the penultimate match in Florence, the Biancocelesti were held to a draw and denied a clear penalty by a distracted referee. Milan won, overtook them, and maintained the lead in the last game.
In the summer transfer window, Lazio surprisingly sold their centre forward Christian Vieri to Inter in exchange for 90 billion lire (45 million euros) plus Diego Simeone. Other signings were Juan Sebastian Veron and Nestor Sensini from Parma, Simone Inzaghi from Piacenza and Kenneth Andersson from Bologna. The Swede would go back to Emilia Romagna in the winter and Lazio would add Fabrizio Ravanelli.
The 1999-00 season opened with the victory against the mighty Manchester United in Monte Carlo for the UEFA Super Cup with a Marcelo Salas goal. Another European triumph after having won the final Cup Winners Cup the previous year in Birmingham against Real Mallorca.
Lazio had played five Champions League matches. The 1999-00 Champions League saw Lazio participate for the very first time. In the 1974-75 season Lazio should have played the European Cup but had been disqualified following the brawl with Ipswich Town players in the UEFA Cup earlier the previous season.
Lazio were grouped with Bayer Leverkusen, Dynamo Kiev and Maribor. They had drawn in Germany, beaten the Ukranians, despite being 1-0 down due to an absurd penalty, won twice against the Slovenians, drawn with Leverkusen again and were certain to top their group and go through to the second group phase.
In Campionato the Biancocelesti were first with a three point lead over Juventus. They had won five and drawn two. They needed to maintain their record in Milan against Inter.
The match: Saturday, October 30, 1999, Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan
Lazio started very well and played the first half hour beautifully, even though the only real opportunity for scoring came in the 23rd minute with a Juan Sebastian Veron assist for Marcelo Salas who put the ball wide. Salas also appealed for a penalty but the referee was not convinced.
Quite suddenly, in the 36h minute, Inter scored. Splendid long pass from Paulo Sousa to Ivan Zamorano who beat the Lazio defenders for speed and put the ball past Luca Marchegiani.
The Biancocelesti went into difficulty and Christian Vieri almost made it two in the 43rd minute with a splendid shot from 30 metres well saved by the Lazio goalkeeper.
In the second half, Lazio continued to have problems and their first shot on goal came in the 70th minute with Pavel Nedved but it was no problem for Angelo Peruzzi. Two minutes later Inter threw away the possibility of making it two. Javier Zanetti crossed from the right, the ball went over Marchegiani and fell exactly to Zamarano who had an open goal in front of him. His header however hit the woodwork.
Inter had complete control of the match and the game was ending when a freekick for a dubious foul on Beppe Pancaro was given to Lazio in the 90th minute. The free kick, near the corner on the left, was taken by Veron, the ball with lots of players trying to get at it, arrived two metres in front of Peruzzi, in came Pancaro and Lazio equalised.
Not a great match by Lazio’s usual standards, and probably an undeserved draw, but one more point to add to the tally and first place in Serie A confirmed.
Who played for Inter
Peruzzi, Panucci, Blanc, Domoraud, Zanetti, Di Biagio, Paulo Sousa, Jugovic (86' Dabo), Georgatos, Zamorano, Vieri
Substitutes: Ferron, Fresi, Cauet, Moriero, Recoba, Baggio
Manager: Lippi.
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Pancaro, Couto, Mihajlovic, Favalli (35’ Negro), Conceição (58’ Simeone), Veron, Almeyda, Nedved, Boksic (73’ Inzaghi), Salas
Manager: Eriksson
Referee: Treossi
Goals: 36’ Zamorano, 90’ Pancaro
What happened next
In the Champions League Lazio won their group thanks to four wins against the Ukrainians and Slovenians plus two draws against the Germans. The second part of the Champions League was another group phase, this time against Chelsea, Olympique Marseille and Feyenoord.
Qualification for the quarterfinal was put in peril by only getting one point against the Dutch, after beating the French twice. In the final game against Chelsea, after having drawn at home, Lazio had to win at Stamford Bridge to clinch the qualification in first place (the top two teams went through) as a bonus, so they could avoid having to play the quarter final against Barcelona, Manchester United or Bayern. They managed to do so coming from behind in a spectacular game. In the quarterfinals Lazio played against Valencia.
Everybody thought that it would be an easy match, but Lazio collapsed in Spain. Without Luca Marchegiani and Alessandro Nesta, Lazio went 2-0 down after 4 minutes, re-opened the game thanks to an Inzaghi goal half way through the first half, but Valencia netted another two goals and with ten minutes to the end were leading 4-1. Salas scored in the dying minutes to give Lazio a chance of qualification but another defensive blunder with just a few seconds to go, gave Valencia a three-goal lead. Fans were hopeful Lazio could recover at the Olimpico, but the Biancocelesti only scored one goal with Veron and went out of the Champions League. A real pity.
Lazio, like many of the big teams, started the Coppa Italia in the fourth-round games and had to play against Reggiana, who had won their group in August. Lazio, with a few Primavera players in the starting eleven, plus more on the bench, had drawn the first leg away 1-1 (Alen Boksic the scorer for the Biancocelesti) and won the return match 4-1 at home thanks to a Sinisa Mihajlovic free kick double and goals by Simone Inzaghi and Boksic.
The quarter finals were much more difficult as Lazio had to face Juventus. At the end of the first half in Turin the Biancocelesti were losing 3-0 and were virtually out of the competition. But in the second half first a penalty scored by Fabrizio Ravanelli and then a goal by Roberto Mancini with ten minutes to go re-opened the contest. In the return match at the Olimpico Lazio scored in the second half with Boksic. Alessandro Del Piero equalised but Diego Simeone put Lazio ahead in the 81st minute and the Biancocelesti were able to hold onto the precious victory.
Whereas on the one side there were two big clashes in the quarter finals (Lazio vs Juve and the Milanese derby), the other two games should have been more one-sided: Cagliari-Roma and Fiorentina-Venezia. But the islanders eliminated the Giallorossi and an away goal by Venezia gave them a historic semi-final against Lazio.
In the first leg, Lazio destroyed Venezia 5-0 with doubles from Mancini and Mihajlovic (with two penalties) plus a Ravanelli goal. Silver Fox had also missed a penalty. The return was just a formality and Lazio drew 2-2 with an Inzaghi double.
Inter brushed off Cagliari and so met Lazio in the final. The first leg was in Rome on April 12. Inter scored immediately with Clarence Seedorf but Lazio managed to equalise with Pavel Nedved at the end of the first half. In the beginning of the second, Simeone put Lazio ahead so Marcelo Lippi put Ronaldo on the pitch, his first game in five months. Five minutes later the Brazilian broke his patellar tendon. The scene was dramatic and very sad. The game basically ended there.
In the Campionato Juventus caught up with Lazio in the 10th game after the Biancocelesti lost the derby. A trio of teams (Lazio, Roma and Juve) then led the Serie A for a few matches until Lazio sprinted off in the 14th. It did not last long. A loss on a freezing Venice evening on January 5 gave Juventus the lead again. Roma had fallen behind. Lazio regained the top of the table after beating Bologna in the Centenary game, but two goalless draws in the next two games gave Juve a three-point lead. By the 26th game the deficit increased to nine points and it looked as if it was all over for the scudetto. But on March 25 Lazio won the derby and Juve lost at Milan. The Biancocelesti were at -6 but the next match was in Turin against Juventus. Thanks to a goal from Diego Simeone, the Juventus lead was reduced to three points. However, Florence looked as if it would be fatal again as Lazio drew 3-3 and Juventus won in Milan against Inter.
There were four games to go. Everybody thought it was all over but manager Sven Goran Eriksson tried to get the team to believe in the impossible. In the 32nd game of the season Lazio beat Venezia and Juventus lost at Verona. Two games to go, two points difference. Lazio beat Bologna away and Juventus were winning 1-0 against Parma. Towards the end of the match there was a corner for Parma. Mario Amoroso crossed and Fabio Cannavaro equalised but the referee inexplicably disallowed it.
This was the talking point in Italy for the entire week. Juve had already won a controversial scudetto a couple of years back when a clear penalty on Ronaldo was not given to Inter in Turin. So, there was massive media pressure on the last two games of the season: Lazio-Reggina and Perugia-Juventus.
Perugia President Luciano Gaucci, ashamed of the lack of fighting spirit his team had shown against Milan in the last game of the previous season, stated that it would not be a walkover for Juventus. Lazio fans hoped for a draw and then to go to a playoff. And this is what was happening at the end of the first half. Lazio were winning 2-0 and it was still goalless in Perugia. But a massive storm had blown up over the Umbrian capital and the pitch was waterlogged. Referee Pierluigi Collina tried a number of times to see if the ball would bounce on the flooded pitch, but no. There was a problem however. If the game had been abandoned, they would have to start from scratch the next day. With what had happened in the previous match when Cannavaro’s goal was disallowed for no reason at all, the Italian referee felt that the repetition of the game would have been unfair. So, he insisted. Just when they were about to give up, the rain stopped. The pitch was not in ideal condition, but playable. The second half could recommence, an hour later than it should have. In the 50th minute Alessandro Calori scored for Perugia. Juve did not manage to equalise and Lazio won their second scudetto.
Still smelling of champagne and without any training whatsoever since the Sunday match, Lazio faced Inter for the second leg of the Coppa Italia final. There were chances for both sides, particularly for Inter in the dying seconds of the match when Alvaro Recoba hit the woodwork, but the game was goalless and the Biancocelesti won the double.
An amazing season.
Lazio 1999-2000
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 34 | 21 | 9 | 4 | 64 |
Coppa Italia | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 18 |
Champions League | 14 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 26 |
UEFA Super Cup | 1 | 1 | - | - | 1 |
Total | 57 | 32 | 18 | 7 | 109 |
Top five appearances (complete player statistics)
Players | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | UEFA Super Cup |
47 | 28 | 6 | 12 | 1 | |
47 | 28 | 7 | 11 | 1 | |
47 | 31 | 4 | 11 | 1 | |
46 | 26 | 7 | 12 | 1 | |
Giuseppe Pancaro | 45 | 28 | 5 | 11 | 1 |
Top five goal scorers (complete player statistics)
Players | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | UEFA Super Cup |
19 | 7 | 3 | 9 | - | |
Marcelo Salas | 17 | 12 | - | 4 | 1 |
Sinisa Mihajlovic | 13 | 6 | 4 | 3 | - |
Juan Sebastian Veron | 10 | 8 | - | 2 | - |
8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | - |
Let's talk about Beppe Pancaro
Beppe Pancaro was a great right back who could also play on the left without too many problems. He was a good man-to-man marker, he could cross with both feet, he could shoot too and was often dangerous on corners and free kicks.
Born in Cosenza on August 26, 1971, he started his career with Acri in the Interregional League and then moved to the Torino youth sector. His professional debut came in Serie C2 with Avezzano in the 1991-92 season and a year later he joined Cagliari in Serie A. He stayed with the islanders for five years totalling 97 appearances with 5 goals. He did not play much in the beginning but slowly he became a regular first team player.
In 1997-98 he signed for Lazio. He made a great contribution playing 220 games (with seven goals) in six seasons. With the Biancocelesti he won a scudetto (1999-00), the Coppa Italia twice (1998 and 2000), the Super Coppa twice (1998 and 2000), a Cup Winners Cup (1999) and a UEFA Super Cup (1999). He played either left back or right back, depending on whether Beppe Favalli was playing. Pancaro in the scudetto year scored two decisive goals, both against Inter, both in the dying seconds of the match and both equalisers.
In 2003-04 he signed for AC Milan where he stayed for two years. In Milan he won a scudetto a UEFA Super Cup and a Super Coppa, His last two years of active football were with Fiorentina and Torino.
Pancaro played 19 times for Italy. He played in the qualifications for Euro 2000, the World Cup qualifiers of 2002 and 2006 but never made it to the final stages.
His managerial career started in 2012 when he became assistant to Dario Marcolin, former Lazio teammate, at Modena in Lega Pro. His first solo job was at Juve Stabia again in Lega Pro in 2014. After managing Catania, Catanzaro, and Pistoiese he became head coach at Monopoli in Serie C but was sacked in March 2023.
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Cup Winners Cup | UEFA Cup | UEFA Super Cup | Super Coppa |
1997-98 | 34 (1) | 24 (1) | 3 | - | - | 7 | - | - |
1998-99 | 42 | 30 | 4 | - | 8 | - | - | - |
1999-00 | 45 (3) | 28 (3) | 5 | 11 | - | - | 1 | - |
2000-01 | 43 | 31 | 1 | 10 | - | - | - | 1 |
2001-02 | 31 (1) | 23 (1) | 1 | 7 | - | - | - | - |
2002-03 | 25 (2) | 16 | 4 (2) | - | - | 5 | - | - |
Total | 220 (7) | 152 (5) | 18 (2) | 28 | 8 | 12 | 1 | 1 |
Sources
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