Poor performance but decent point
A disappointing game by both sides ends up with a point apiece as Siviglia cancels out Suazo's lightning strike
Also on this day: September 11, 2022, Lazio Hellas Verona 2-0. Immobile and Luis Alberto give Lazio three points in an extremely complicated game against Verona. Player of the day: Marcos Antonio
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had flirted with relegation but had managed to escape and ended up 13th. They had then even qualified for the Intertoto Cup, due to Livorno and Messina dropping out for various reasons.
This year saw the arrival of new manager Delio Rossi, who took derby and relegation battle hero Giuseppe Papadopulo's place.
The main players coming in were: defenders Manuel Belleri (Udinese), Guglielmo Stendardo (Perugia) and Emilson Cribari (Udinese on loan), midfielders Valon Behrami (Genoa), Gaby Mudingayi (Torino) and Fabio Firmani (Catania) plus forward Igli Tare (Bologna).
Over twenty players were leaving Lazio, but those worthy of note were: Scudetto heroes Fernando Couto (Parma) and Paolo Negro (Siena) plus the Filippini twins (both to Palermo) and Giuliano Giannichedda (Juventus).
In August Lazio had taken part in the Intertoto Cup in an attempt to qualify for the UEFA Cup. They had first eliminated Tampere United 4-1 on aggregate but then lost in the semifinal to Olympique Marseille 1-4 on aggregate.
In the first league game of the season, on August 28, Lazio had defeated Messina thanks to a Goran Pandev goal in the first half. An underwhelming performance but a winning start at least.
The atmosphere surrounding the club however was heavy with the fan base unsatisfied with the owner Claudio Lotito's lack of ambition and investment in the transfer market.
Cagliari had finished 12th the previous season under Daniele Arrigoni. They beat Lazio 3-2 in Rome and drew 1-1 in Sardinia. Top scorer was Mauro Esposito with 19 goals (16 in league).
This season they had initially changed manager to Attilio Tesser but he had been sacked after only one league game so Daniele Arrigoni was back. The fatal match for Tesser had been the 1-2 defeat at Siena on the league debut.
Unfortunately for "Casteddu", their legend Gianfranco Zola had retired at the end of the previous season. The Sardinians still had some good players: defenders Daniele Conti (Roma legend Bruno's son), captain Diego López, Michele Canini, midfielders Alessandro Budel, Nelson Abeijón and Andrea Cossu plus forwards Antonio Langella, Mauro Esposito and David Suazo, to name a few.
The match: Sunday, September 11, 2005, Stadio Sant'Elia, Cagliari
A hot evening on the island attracted a 10,000 crowd, the majority displeased with owner Massimo Cellino's recent decisions and vocal in their opinions.
The home side opted for a more cautious approach and left Langella on the bench while Lazio chose Paolo Di Canio as Tommaso Rocchi's attacking partner rather than Pandev.
The game got off to a flying start. Still inside the first minute Andrea Capone went through the middle and fed Suazo, loosely marked in the area, the Honduran turned and his low left foot beat Angelo Peruzzi. Thirty-five seconds gone and Cagliari 1 Lazio 0. A dream start for the Rossoblu and disastrous for Lazio.
Lazio reacted well and attacked constantly putting the Sardinian defence in difficulty with several scrambles in the area. In the 13th minute one of these confused actions was resolved by Sebastiano Siviglia when, after a defensive clearance, he headed the ball low into the right-hand corner from just inside the area, an unusual goal, but Cagliari 1 Lazio 1.
The game then slowed down and the chances were few and far between. The Cagliari defence almost gifted Lazio a goal with a poor back pass but Michele Canini just anticipated Rocchi. The home side then had a couple of chances, first in the 23rd minute Conti had a shot saved by Peruzzi and then in the 29th they wasted a massive opportunity with Massimo Gobbi who, completely unmarked in front of Peruzzi, had his diving header miraculously saved by the "Cinghialone " (The big Wild Boar). The last two threats came from Suazo wide and an almost own goal by Cagliari when a defender sliced a cross just over the bar. Halftime Cagliari 1 Lazio 1, not a spectacular game but unfortunately the crowd had unknowingly already seen the best of the match.
At halftime Cagliari changed goalkeepers, putting Andrea Campagnolo on for an injured Uruguayan Carini while Lazio remained unchanged.
The second half was by far an epic event. There even came the suspicion someone had poured out Camomile to the players during the interval. There were however a few chances. The biggest fell to Mauro Esposito but his powerful volley whistled over the top hand corner with Peruzzi beaten.
Both coaches tried to liven things up with some substitutions, in the 58th minute Pandev came on for Di Canio and in the 61st minute Langella replaced Capone.
The entertainment however stagnated, Cagliari had a weak Langella shot and Lazio wasted a few counter attacks. A potential game changer came in the 78th minute when Lopez was sent off for hacking Pandev down from behind. More tactical changes followed a minute later, Francesco Pisano for Esposito and, for Lazio, Fabio Firmani for Roberto Baronio.
Not a lot changed. Lazio attacked more but always messed up the final pass thus never really threatened until the 85th minute, when a Pandev effort was saved well by Campagnolo.
In fact. it was then Cagliari who went closest to breaking the deadlock in the last minute when a Conti free kick was tipped over the bar by a flying 36-year-old Peruzzi. Final score Cagliari 1 Lazio 1.
A disappointing game but a fair result. Both teams had problems, not least physical and would have to step up fitness levels to be more competitive. Luckily it would not always be this hot and humid, and Lazio had the quality to have a decent season while Cagliari looked as if they may struggle.
Who played for Cagliari
Carini (46' Campagnolo), Lopez, Canini, Bega, Agostini, Abeijon, Conti, Esposito (79' Pisano), Capone (61' Langella), Gobbi, Suazo
Substitutes: Vignati, Budel, Conticchio, Ferrarese
Manager: Arrigoni
Who played for Lazio
Peruzzi, Oddo, Siviglia, Stendardo, Zauri, Manfredini, Dabo, Baronio (79' Firmani), César, Di Canio (58' Pandev), Rocchi (83' S. Inzaghi)
Manager: D. Rossi
Referee: Bertini
Goals: 1' Suazo, 13' Siviglia
What happened next
Lazio improved and had a good season, at least on the pitch. They won 16, drew 14 and lost 8. They would have come 6th and qualified for the UEFA Cup had it not been for off field issues. Lazio were accused of being involved in the "Calciopoli" scandal and docked 30 points (initially the sentence was relegation), so ended up 16th. The scandal was basically alleged lobbying by certain clubs on the choice of referees.
A pity as Lazio had performed well and had a surprisingly good season in Serie A. In the Coppa Italia they were eliminated by Inter 1-2 (Dejan Stankovic scored home and away) on aggregate in the quarterfinals. Top scorer was Tommaso Rocchi with 17 goals (16 in league).
Cagliari predictably had a difficult season. The "Casteddu" did not win a game until their 13th attempt on November 27 (Sampdoria 2-0). They got through four managers; Tesser sacked, Arrigoni resigned, Davide Ballardini sacked and finally Nedo Sonetti. During the season, owner Massimo Cellino also resigned and in came Bruno Ghirardi. The Rossoblu however managed to avoid relegation in 16th place, after 8 wins, 15 draws (including Lazio 1-1 in Rome) and 15 defeats. Their position was then upgraded to 14th place after Juventus and Lazio were docked points. Their top scorer was David Suazo with 25 goals (22 in league). In the Coppa Italia the islanders were knocked out by Sampdoria 2-3 on aggregate in the last 16.
The Scudetto was won but then taken away from Juventus (Calciopoli punishment) and awarded to Inter. Going down were Lecce, Treviso and Juventus, as they were deemed to be the club and directors with the heaviest involvement in the scandal.
The scandal was of course soon forgotten with Italy's World Cup triumph in Germany 2006.
Lazio 2005-06
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 38 | 16 | 14 | 8 | 57 |
Coppa Italia | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Intertoto Cup | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
Total | 46 | 18 | 18 | 10 | 65 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Intertoto Cup |
Zauri | 45 | 37 | 4 | 4 |
Pandev | 41 | 35 | 3 | 3 |
Rocchi | 41 | 37 | 1 | 3 |
Oddo | 38 | 35 | 3 | - |
Cribari | 35 | 28 | 4 | 3 |
Dabo | 35 | 31 | 4 | - |
Liverani | 35 | 29 | 2 | 4 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Intertoto Cup |
Rocchi | 17 | 16 | - | 1 |
Pandev | 12 | 11 | 1 | - |
Oddo | 7 | 7 | - | - |
Di Canio | 7 | 5 | - | 2 |
Manfredini | 3 | 2 | 1 | - |
Tare | 3 | 3 | - | - |
Lets talk about Ousmane Dabo
Ousmane Dabo was born in Laval, on February 8, 1977. His mother is French and his father Senegalese, so he holds both passports. His father Moussa played for Laval, amongst other clubs, in the 1970's.
Ousmane started playing football for local Forcé and then in 1985 moved to Laval's academy. He stayed five years and then joined Rennes youth sector.
In 1995 he made his debut with the "Rouges et Noirs" in the French top flight (then still Division 1) and over the following three seasons played 45 games and scored 2 goals. The Bretons finished 8th, 16th and 14th.
In August 1998 he made the big step to Inter in serie A. The Nerazzurri were initially coached by Gigi Simoni and then from the 12th fixture by Mircea Lucescu, more coaches followed, but Dabo by then had already left. He only stayed until January, playing 5 league games and 3 in the Coppa Italia. For the record Inter finished 8th.
In January 1999 he joined Vicenza on loan. The "Berici" were struggling in Serie A under Franco Colomba, who was replaced in February by future Lazio Edy Reja. The Biancorossi failed to avoid relegation. Dabo played 13 league games, putting in good performances and earned himself a return to Inter.
His second spell at Inter was again short lived. The manager was Marcello Lippi and Dabo played 8 league games and 2 in Coppa Italia before leaving in January and signing for Parma (who now co-owned him with Inter).
At Parma things went well. Under manager Alberto Malesani the Ducali had already won the Italian Supercoppa beating Milan 2-1 at the Meazza. From his arrival Dabo played 16 league games plus a playoff and a game in the UEFA Cup. The Parmigiani finished joint 5th with Inter but then lost the CL playoff against the Nerazzurri 1-3. At Parma he played alongside past and future Lazio players Marco Di Vaio, Diego Fuser, Dino Baggio and Hernan Crespo.
In August 2000 he returned to France on loan and joined Monaco. The club from Monte Carlo were coached by Claude Puel and Dabo played 16 league games, 2 in the domestic cups with 1 goal and 4 games in the Champions League. In January however he was back in Italy. Monaco eventually finished 11th.
In January 2001 he returned to Vicenza on loan. Reja was still there as manager and Dabo played 17 league games with 1 goal (Milan in a 2-0 win). Unfortunately, the "Lane" were relegated with a 16th place finish.
In 2001 he was sold to Atalanta. The manager was Giovanni Vavassori and the "Dea" finished 9th in Serie A. Dabo played 21 league games and 3 in the Coppa Italia. The following year Vavassori stayed on but in April was replaced by Giancarlo Finardi and the "Orobici" struggled and were relegated. Their best results were beating Roma twice and a 3-3 away draw to Milan. Dabo played 31 league games with 4 goals (Modena, Brescia, Modena again and Chieco) and 2 in the relegation playoffs (lost to Reggina 1-2 on aggregate) plus 1 in the Coppa Italia. In Bergamo he played alongside Lazio connections Luciano Zauri and Rolando Bianchi.
In 2003 Dabo joined Lazio. The Roman club were starting to struggle financially but still had some good players: Angelo Peruzzi, Jaap Stam, Sinisa Mihajlovic, Dejan Stankovic, Claudio López just to mention a few and the manager was Roberto Mancini. The Biancocelesti had a decent Serie A campaign finishing 6th but triumphed in the Coppa Italia defeating Juventus 4-2 on aggregate. Dabo played 19 league games, 4 in Coppa Italia and 1 in the Champions League.
The following year was a difficult one. New owner Claudio Lotito had taken over a club full of debts and the squad changed drastically. The new manager was Domenico Caso but he was replaced by Giuseppe Papadopulo in January. Lazio eventually avoided relegation and also won an epic derby 3-1 with Di Canio scoring again, 16 years after his first derby goal as a young lad. Dabo had a positive season with 29 league games with 1 goal (Fiorentina), 6 in the Coppa Italia plus the Supercoppa (lost 0-3 to Milan).
The 2005-06 season saw the arrival of Delio Rossi and Lazio had a better season on the pitch finishing 6th. Unfortunately, they were then docked 30 points for their alleged involvement in the Calciopoli scandal so were demoted to 16th place. Dabo played 31 league games with 2 goals (Empoli, Siena) and 4 games in the Coppa Italia.
In 2006-07 Dabo joined Manchester City but this was before the days of champagne and roses. The manager was Stuart "Psycho" Pearce and the Citizens finished 14th with Dabo playing 13 league games and 4 in the FA Cup. He played with former Lazio Bernardo Corradi. The following season former Lazio Sven-Goran Eriksson took over and Felipe Caicedo arrived, but Dabo only played 1 game, in the League Cup, before returning to Lazio in January 2008. The Mancunian Sky Blues then finished 9th under the Swede.
Back at Lazio Dabo found manager Delio Rossi, who had taken over in 2005. From his arrival in January Dabo played 13 league games and 2 in the Coppa Italia. Lazio finished 12th, were knocked out in the group stage in CL (Real Madrid 2-2, 1-3, Werder Bremen 2-1, 1-2 and Olympiakos 1-1, 1-2) and reached the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia (Inter 0-2 on aggregate). Lazio did get the satisfaction of beating Roma 3-2 in March with a 92nd minute winner.
In 2008-09 Lazio finished 10th again winning the return derby this time 4-2. Dabo played 21 league games with 1 goal (Genoa). It was in Coppa Italia that Lazio and Dabo lived their finest hour. The Biancocelesti eliminated Benevento 5-1, Atalanta 2-0, Milan 2-1, Torino 3-1 and Juventus 4-2 on aggregate to set up a final against Sampdoria. The game ended up 1-1 and went to penalties with Dabo scoring the last spot kick to give Lazio a 7-6 victory and Cup glory. His second domestic cup with the "Aquile".
The following year, with Delio Rossi gone, Davide Ballardini arrived. The season started off in the best way possible for Lazio and Dabo. The Biancocelesti beat José Mourinho's Triplete winning Inter in the Italian Supercoppa played in Beijing. Lazio won 2-1 with goals by Francelino Matuzalém and Rocchi. The season then went downhill and Ballardini was sacked in February and replaced by Edy Reja with Lazio struggling and already out of the Europa League. They picked up and finished 12th with Dabo playing 12 league games, 1 in Coppa Italia and 4 in the Europa League. This was his last season with Lazio.
In February 2011 he joined the New England Revolution in the U.S Major League but due to injuries only played 3 games. He then retired at 34.
At international level he earned 3 caps for France and won a Confederations Cup in 2003.
Since retiring he has been working in punditry for Sky Sport and Fox Sports.
On a curious note his cousin Bryan is also a professional footballer and his career has included spells in Italy for Fiorentina, SPAL and Benevento.
Ousmane Dabo was a central midfielder. At 1.84 and 84 kilos he was a solid presence in the centre of the park. The Frenchman was a hard player but clean. He was a good tackler, had playmaking skills and had a powerful shot which he probably could have taken more advantage of. He was not a quick player but had good positioning and technique which made up for it.
At Lazio he was very popular. He arrived in difficult times but always got stuck in and "sudato per la maglia" as they say here (literally sweated for the jersey). He had two successful spells, considering the enormous financial difficulties the club were going through. He played 138 games and scored 4 goals. He won 3 trophies, the Coppa Italia twice (2004, 2009) and the Super Coppa (2009). His winning penalty, along with Fernando Muslera's saves, will live forever in Lazio's history.
Lazio Career
Season | Toal games (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Europa League | Super Coppa |
2003-04 | 23 | 19 | 3 | 1 | - | - |
2004-05 | 37 (1) | 29 (1) | 1 | - | 6 | 1 |
2005-06 | 35 (2) | 31 (2) | 4 | - | - | - |
Jan-Jun 2008 | 15 | 13 | 2 | - | - | - |
2008-09 | 26 (1) | 21 (1) | 5 | - | - | - |
2009-10 | 17 | 12 | 1 | - | 3 | 1 |
Total | 138 (4) | 112 (4) | 14 | 1 | 9 | 2 |
Sources
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