Great win despite thanks to and despite Rocchi
Rocchi scores and is sent off, but Lazio resist and bring home the three points
The season so far
On July 19, 2004 Claudio Lotito became President. The situation was critical from a financial point of view. Many of their best players such as Sinisa Mihajlovic, Beppe Favalli and Jaap Stam did not renew their contracts and went elsewhere. Manager Roberto Mancini signed for Inter despite being under contract with Lazio. But Lazio had no means to keep him and he knew it. From what is known, his contacts with Inter started in the autumn and he tried to convince many of his players to follow him to Inter. Some did, some refused (for example Stam).
Stefano Fiore and Bernardo Corradi were sold to Valencia to cover the debt remaining with the Spanish club for the signing of Gaizka Mendieta. Demetrio Albertini was sold to Atalanta as payment for the other halves of Luciano Zauri and Ousmane Dabo. Claudio Lopez was loaned to America Mexico so Lazio could save paying his wages.
Two players not under contract decided to stay: Angelo Peruzzi and Fernando Couto.
Lotito therefore inherited a team with no manager and just a few players. The team was temporarily given to Mimmo Caso, the primavera manager and hero of the -9 season, for the pre-season training in Japan. Lazio had to fulfil a contract so off they went. In Japan Caso got on well with the players (and he was also cheap), so Lotito confirmed him.
Lotito’s second move was a PR one. He needed the Lazio fans on his side, so his idea was the return of Paolo Di Canio, an unforgotten hero of the tifosi. Di Canio managed to get released from his contract and came back home.
Lotito’s last move was the signing of seven players on the last day of the summer transfer window. These included some forgettable signings, but also two players that would become the backbone of the early Lotito years: Tommaso Rocchi and Sebastiano Siviglia.
The first game of the season was the Super Coppa final. Lazio did not have the strength to put up much of a fight and lost 3-0. They did manage to pass the UEFA Cup playoff against Metalurh Donetsk and reach the group stage.
In the first two games of the season the Biancocelesti had won in Genoa against Sampdoria and drawn at home with Reggina. They were not spectacular games, particularly the second one, but there was room for optimism.
The match: Wednesday, September 22, 2004, Stadio Mario Rigamonti, Brescia
Brescia started strongly and in the 2nd minute a Andrea Caracciolo header off a Maurizio Domizzi corner was saved on the line by Antonio Filippini.
It was not a particular exciting match and the two teams played rather poorly but in the 29th minute Massimo Oddo sent a long ball from the defence that was picked up by Tommaso Rocchi who beat Martinez, moved towards the centre and then gave the ball a big whack that went past Luca Castellazzi.
Brescia were absent and in the 45th minute Lazio made it two. Free kick, cross into the box by Oddo and Fernando Couto headed the ball in.
In the second minute of injury time, a foul from behind by Rocchi on Jonathan Bachini was considered to be serious enough by the referee to show the red card to the Lazio centre forward.
A possible game changer? Not really. It took 22 minutes in the second half for Brescia to muster a shot at goal, with Giuseppe Sculli off a Simone Del Nero cross. It was comfortably saved by Matteo Sereni who in the 78th minute made a double save denying first Del Nero and then Bachini.
That was the maximum Brescia could do and Lazio controlled the rest of the game.
Who played for Brescia
Castellazzi, Adani (43' Stankevicius, 46' Mannini), Di Biagio, Mareco (64' Del Nero), Martinez, Milanetto, Guana, Domizzi, Bachini, Sculli, Caracciolo
Substitutes: Agliardi, Zoboli, Dipasquale, Dallamano
Manager: De Biasi
Who played for Lazio
Sereni, Oddo, Negro, Couto, Zauri, Dabo (81’ Giannichedda), E. Filippini, A. Filippini, Pandev (46’ Oscar Lopez), Rocchi, Muzzi (62’ Inzaghi)
Manager: Caso
Referee: Racalbuto
Goals: 29’ Rocchi, 45’ Fernando Couto
What happened next
In Serie A things did not go well. In 16 games Lazio won four, drew five and lost seven. They had 17 points, just four clear of relegation zone. They were clearly in difficulty: badly organized, no game plan, problems between Caso and Di Canio and poor quality of some of the players. Furthermore, the Biancocelesti were eliminated in the UEFA Cup group stage without winning a match.
So, just before Christmas Lotito called another former player, Giuseppe Papadopulo, to manage Lazio. He was seen as more apt to guide the Biancocelesti to safety. The task was immediately uphill since the first game of the season was the derby, but Lazio amazingly won 3-1 and won in Florence in the next match, but that was followed by just one point in the next five games.
The Biancoclesti won three in a row, then one point in three games, and then two wins and a draw. As one can see the story of the season was two steps forward, three steps back. With six games from the end of the season Lazio were 7th and relatively safe but then they lost three in a row and things got dangerous. Lazio then drew the last three matches and managed to stay in Serie A. Papadopulo was able to add a greater fighting spirit to the side, but little else. Lotito had a lot of work to do if he wanted to improve the side.
Oddo was the player with the most appearances (42) and Rocchi the most goals with 17.
Lazio 2004-05
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 48 |
Coppa Italia | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 4 |
UEFA Cup | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 11 |
Super Coppa | 1 | - | - | 1 | - |
Total | 47 | 14 | 14 | 19 | 63 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup | Super Coppa |
Oddo | 42 | 35 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
A. Filippini | 41 | 36 | 2 | 3 | - |
Rocchi | 41 | 35 | 1 | 5 | - |
Dabo | 37 | 29 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
Giannichedda | 37 | 32 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup |
Rocchi | 17 | 13 | 2 | 2 |
Di Canio | 7 | 6 | - | 1 |
Muzzi | 6 | 3 | - | 3 |
Oddo | 4 | 4 | - | - |
A. Filippini | 4 | 2 | 2 | - |
Pandev | 4 | 3 | - | 1 |
Cesar | 4 | 3 | - | 1 |
Let’s talk about Fernando Couto
When one thinks of Fernando Couto one does really contemplate him as a player who has won numerous trophies but a look at his CV shows that during his career he has won:
Scudetto (Lazio 1999-00)
Liga (Barcelona 1997-98)
3 Primeira Liga (Porto 1987-88, 1991-92, 1992-93)
2 Coppa Italia (Lazio 1999-00, 2003-04)
2 Copa del Rey (Barcelona 1996-97, 1997-98)
2 Taca de Portugal (1990-91, 1993-94)
2 Supercoppa (Lazio 1998, 2000)
1 Supercopa de España (Barcelona 1996)
3 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (Porto 1991, 1993, 1994)
2 Cup Winners Cup (Barcelona 1996-97, Lazio 1998-99)
UEFA Cup (Parma 1994-95)
3 UEFA Super Cup (Porto 1987, Barcelona 1997, Lazio 1999)
Intercontinental Cup (Porto 1987)
Under 20 World Cup (Portugal 1989)
That is a lot of silverware!!! He basically only missed out on the Champions League/European Cup where he reached the semi-final in 1993-94.
Fernando Manuel Silva Couto, better known as Fernando Couto, was born in Espinho on August 2 1969. He joined the Porto youth sector at the age of 17 and debuted professionally on June 2 1988 against Academia de Coimbra. He was then loaned for a couple of seasons to gain experience to Famalicao and Academia. In 1990 he returned to Porto and stayed until 1994 with 131 appearances and 13 goals.
In 1994 he signed for Parma in Serie A and played in Emilia Romagna for a couple of seasons. In 1996 he joined Barcelona and played in the Spanish Liga for two years. He became very friendly with Ivan de la Pena so when Lazio started enquiring if the Little Buddah wanted to come to play for Lazio, he demanded that Couto too should join the Biancocelesti. President Sergio Cragnotti agreed.
With Lazio he played seven seasons (de la Pena just one!) playing alongside Alessandro Nesta, Sinisa Mihajlovic and Jaap Stam. He was a bit crazy when he lost his patience. Sergio Conceicao suffered a very severe tackle in training and the two literally fought. Roberto Mancini tried to calm everybody down but the Portuguese put his hands around Mancio's throat. A difficult situation for Sven-Goran Eriksson. In 2000 another big argument between him and Diego Simeone got everybody running into the changing rooms to try to calm the two down.
But he was a fan favourite and lethal with his forays into the penalty box when there were corners and free kicks. He scored 11 goals for Lazio, mostly headers. He was also a bad boy on the pitch (18 red cards in career). “The meanest defence pair were Couto-Mihajlovic. Ball or leg, it did not matter”, said former Juventus centre-forward David Trezeguet. One can only imagine what a poor forward had to go through when face to face with Couto, Mihajlovic and Stam.
At the end of his contract in 2004 Couto could have left Lazio to get a higher salary. The club was in deep financial distress and could not afford the salary he was getting. But he stayed on one more year, accepting €450 thousand instead of € 4 million. Lazio managed to avoid relegation thanks also to his experience.
In 2005 Lazio however did not renew his contract looking for younger players (he was 36!!!). He moved back to Parma and played another three years before retiring. By the end of his career he had 563 appearances and 37 goals.
At Lazio he played 217 times (145 in Serie A, 24 in Coppa Italia, 23 in Champions League, 8 in the Cup Winners Cup, 15 in the UEFA Cup and 2 Super Coppa finals) with 11 goals.
Couto’s first game for Portugal took place in 1990, his last in 2004. In total he has 110 caps with 8 goals. He participated in Euro 1996, 200 and 2004 and the World Cup of 2002. In 1989 he participated in the Under 20 World Cup which Portugal won. He was part of the Golden generation of Portuguese football.
When Couto retired he began to work for the Portuguese Federation. In 2010 he became Sports Director for Braga.
Fernando Couto is a much-loved player at Lazio and the fans still have very fond memories of him.
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Cup Winners Cup | UEFA Cup | Super Coppa |
1998-99 | 36 (2) | 22 (2) | 5 | - | 8 | - | 1 |
1999-00 | 26 | 14 | 5 | 7 | - | - | - |
2000-01 | 30 | 18 | 4 | 8 | - | - | - |
2001-02 | 35 (1) | 29 (1) | 2 | 4 | - | - | - |
2002-03 | 31 (1) | 15 | 4 | - | - | 12 (1) | - |
2003-04 | 31 (4) | 23 (3) | 4 (1) | 4 | - | - | - |
2004-05 | 28 (3) | 24 (3) | - | - | - | 3 | 1 |
Total | 217 (11) | 145 (9) | 24 (1) | 23 | 8 | 15 (1) | 2 |
Sources
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