Quarter Finals, Intertoto Cup, Second Leg
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Ratinan Stadion, Tampere
Tampere United Lazio 1-1
With a 1-1 draw Lazio qualify for the Intertoto semi-final.
Today was the second leg of the quarterfinals of the Intertoto Cup. The competition gave the opportunity to teams that had not qualified to enter the UEFA Cup. It was played between July and August. From 2006, 11 qualification places were granted.
A week earlier Lazio had beaten the Finns 3-0 in Rome so this game in southern Finland should be more of a training exercise, bar nasty surprises. The Finns were half way through their league, so fitter, but the difference in skill and technique between the two sides had been more than clear at the Olimpico.
The match
Lazio travelled just over 3,000 kilometres to get to Tampere. The town is the third biggest in Finland but the largest nordic inland town. They were welcomed to the "Manchester of the North" by a drizzly day and a crowd of about 8,000.
Lazio put out the same team that had dominated the Finns a week earlier.
The start was slow, as if both sides considered this to be more of a training game. The rhythm was far from intense yet the play was still error strewn.
The first shot at goal came in the 16th minute when Christian Manfredini tried his luck from the distance but was off target.
In the 24th minute Tampere replied with a long range shot by Jarkko Wiss which Matteo Sereni parried with his fists and then Luciano Zauri cleared for a corner before the hosts could pounce.
Lazio went close in the 27th minute. On a César corner, Fabio Firmani rose and headed towards the far post but Mikko Kaven did well and saved.
Lazio were in control but occasionally risked on long range shots by the Finns, such as in the 42nd minute when Matteo Sereni had to pull off an excellent save to deny Ville Lehtinen. Half time Tampere 0 Lazio 0.
No reasons for concern so far for Lazio who had limited the Finnish to a couple of shots from well outside the area.
In the second half it was the home side who attacked more but at a slow pace which did not cause Lazio any particular problems.
In the 61st minute came the first substitution when Antti Hynynen came on for Jussi Kujala.
In the 65th minute Tommaso Rocchi had a cross goal shot saved by Kaven and two minutes later Lazio had their biggest chance so far. With the Finnish goalkeeper off his line, César drilled a shot towards goal but it was deflected near the goal line by Janne Rasanen.
In the 65th minute Lazio made their first change, bringing on Roberto Muzzi for Rocchi
The rain stopped and Lazio seemed to be energised. In the 71st minute a Fabio Liverani free kick was superbly kept out by Kaven who deflected it onto the crossbar.
In two minutes, the 74th and 75th, both sides made replacements. Mika Lahtinen (not to be confused with Lehtinen...) for Henri Scheweleff and Goran Pandev for Paolo Di Canio.
Ten minutes from time, Lehtinen forced Sereni into a good save before the real show started. With about five minutes to go a naked man ran onto the pitch and performed a couple of somersaults before being escorted off by the police.
The two teams then decided the solitary pitch invader should not steal the show and scored two late goals. In the meantime, in the 87th minute Lorenzo De Silvestri had replaced Manfredini.
The first goal came in the 88th minute. On a corner, Wiss surprised the Lazio defence and headed in to give the Finns the lead. Tampere 1 Lazio 0.
Lazio knew they were still practically through but did not want to have travelled 3,000 kilometres to get beaten. In the 90th minute Muzzi equalised with a low strike after a neat through ball into the area by César. Tampere 1 Lazio 1.
The tie had never been at risk for Lazio who had not overly exerted themselves. They could be pleased with not having lost and could now possibly enjoy a celebratory sauna and a Mustamakkara (local blood sausage) or maybe not, it was a long way home again.
Lazio would now play the winners of Olympique Marseille versus Young Boys.
Who played for Tampere
Kaven, Rasanen, Kuoppala, Heinanen, Saarinen, Ojanpera, Wiss, Sainio, Kujala (61' Hynynen), Lehtinen, Scheweleff (74' Lahtinen)
Substitutes: Hilander, Marchis, Aho, Junnila
Manager: Hjelm
Who played for Lazio
Sereni, Belleri, Cribari, Lequi, Zauri, Manfredini (87' De Silvestri), Firmani, Liverani, Cesar, Di Canio (75' Pandev), Rocchi (65' Muzzi)
Substitutes: Peruzzi, Sannibale, Ciani, Melara
Manager: Rossi
Referee: Styles (Eng)
Goals: 88' Wiss, 90' Muzzi
Sources
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