Pre Season Friendly
Sunday, August 9, 1992
Parkstadion, Gelsenkirchen
Schalke 04 Lazio 1-3
Two goals by Teutonic striker Riedle give Lazio victory in Germany
Lazio had been in Germany for a while with first some minor training games and then a friendly against Bayer Leverkusen where they had been defeated 2-1.
The match
The climatic conditions were not exactly what Lazio had hoped for in Northern Germany, 37 degrees centigrade and a high level of humidity… A 16,000 crowd turned up on this sticky evening.
After only seven minutes Claudio Sclosa was forced off with a twisted ankle and was replaced by Dario Marcolin. The Germans started strongly and their two forwards Bent Christensen (had scored against Roma in UEFA semi-final for Brøndby in '91) and Radmilo Mihajlovic put Lazio’s defence under pressure. An Angelo Gregucci mistake in the 28th minute allowed Mihajlovic an easy goal to put "Die Knapen" (The Miners) ahead. Schalke 1 Lazio 0.
Lazio equalised a few minutes before the break. Aron Winter received the ball about 25 metres out and seeing Beppe Signori and Karl-Heinz Riedle marked, decided to try his luck. A superb strike gave Jens Lehmann no chance, 42 minutes gone and 1-1.
For the second half the Germans made three changes; Uwe Scherr, Aleksander Borodjuk and Peter Sendscheid for Steffen Freund, Antoine Hey and Mihajlovic. Lazio made two: Mauro Bonomi for a struggling Gregucci and Maurizio Neri for Winter, who had a light injury.
"Die Königsblauen" (The Royal Blues) came out flying after the break. They had three one-on-ones with Valerio Fiori but somehow managed not to score. After an initial ten-minute onslaught, the hosts, possibly due to the heat, started to flag.
In the 56th minute Lazio went in front. Neri who had impressed since coming on teed up Riedle who beat his compatriot Lehmann, Schalke 1 Lazio 2.
In the 67th minute Danish striker Bent Christensen also went off and Lazio took control of the game. In the 85th minute Giovanni Stroppa, who had replaced German Thomas Doll, struck the crossbar. A minute later Lazio closed the game again with the Neri-Riedle partnership, the Italian providing another assist for the German's brace. Schalke 1 Lazio 3.
A good win for Lazio against a decent Bundesliga team. Dino Zoff was satisfied and as a former goalkeeper he pointed out the difficulty of playing with the new back pass rule. This was the first season in which the keepers would have to play the ball with their feet when receiving intentional passes from teammates (with the exception of headers).
Who played for Schalke 04
Lehmann, Luginger, Spanring, Eigenrauch, Güttler, Freund (46' Scherr), Anderbrügge, Hey (46' Borodjuk), Mihajlovic (46' Sendscheid), Buskens, Christensen (67' Schlipper)
Substitutes: Gehrke, Müller, Linke, Leifeld, Prus
Manager: Lattek
Who played for Lazio
Fiori, Corino, Favalli (85' Madonna), Sclosa (7' Marcolin), Gregucci (46' Bonomi), Cravero, Fuser (71' Bacci), Doll (74' Stroppa), Riedle, Winter (46' Neri), Signori
Substitutes: Orsi
Manager: Zoff
Referee: Witke
Goals: 28' Anderbrügge, 42' Winter, 56' Riedle, 86' Riedle
Sources
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