This Week In Lazio History | April 29 – May 5 | Matches, Memories, Birthdays

Some of the games between April 29 and May 5 have gone down in history. Lucas Castroman’s derby, Keita Balde’s derby, a fantastic draw away to stay in Serie A, and the worst day in history for Inter fans as Lazio brushed away any hopes of them winning the Scudetto on May 5, 2002. But, most of all, we all remember the Biancocelesti winning the first silverware of the Cragnotti era in 1998.

Date: Sunday, April 29, 2001
Location: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Fixture: Roma Lazio 2-2
Lucas Castromán equalises with twenty seconds to go to salvage pride and at least put the rivals’ title hopes in some doubt.

Date: Sunday, April 30, 2017
Location: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Fixture: Roma Lazio 1-3
A Keita Balde double and a Basta goal allow Lazio to beat Roma despite ridiculous refereeing.

Date: Sunday, May 4, 1941
Location: Stadio Littoriale, Bologna
Fixture: Bologna Lazio 2-2
Escape from hell as Lazio draw with champions Bologna and, thanks to Novara losing, narrowly avoid relegation. Romagnoli II and Vettraino are the scorers for the Biancocelesti.

Date: Sunday, May 5, 2002
Location: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Fixture: Lazio Inter 4-2
Inter throw away scudetto as Lazio have little choice but to take the win with a Poborsky brace plus goals from Simeone and Inzaghi.

Date: Wednesday, April 29, 1998
Location: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Fixture: Lazio Milan 3-1, Coppa Italia Final, Second Leg 

Well, that’s it. It’s all over. Finished. We had a good run, and we still have one more cup final to go. This was probably the state of mind of 99% of fans on the evening of April 29, 1998, when Demetrio Albertini scored for Milan early in the second half. Lazio had already narrowly lost the first leg 1-0, so the Albertini goal meant that they had just under 45 minutes to score three goals. Impossible.

Manager Sven Goran Eriksson in the 50^th minute decided to substitute Alessandro Grandoni, defender, with Guerino Gottardi, a diminutive Swiss player who could play high or low on either wing. He was not a champion or a top-class player, but he was a good, solid “labourer” of football. He came in and transformed the team. They had been struggling in recent weeks, too many games and not enough players to compete in three competitions. But Gottardi gave them the spark that ignited the greatest ten minutes in Lazio’s history.

Guerino transformed himself into Garrincha and became unstoppable. He scored in the 55^th minute, thanks to a Roberto Mancini assist, and three minutes later was again the protagonist when Paolo Maldini fouled him in the box. Vladimir Jugovic scored the penalty. The crowd could not believe it, the roar was just incredible, people were on the verge of tears as for the first time in many years Lazio were finally close to winning something.

After Pierluigi Casiraghi hit the post, in the 65^th minute there was a corner. The ball was not cleared properly and fell to Paolo Negro whose shot was saved but not blocked by Sebastiano Rossi and Alessandro Nesta was the quickest to slot the ball in for the 3-1.

From the Scudetto of 1974 there had been: Tommaso Maestrelli’s illness and death, Luciano Re Cecconi’s tragic end, the 1980 betting scandal and subsequent relegation punishment, the Giorgio Chinaglia President era of shattered dreams, six years in total of Serie B, the nine-point deduction and playout to avoid the third tier, city rivals winning things and playing a European Cup Final (fortunately they lost) – but then in the 90’s things got gradually better for the long-suffering Lazio fans and now finally it was time to celebrate… Lazio had won! Visit Lazio Stories to learn more about this season.

• Fabio Liverani, 29-4-1976, midfielder, Italy, 165 appearances, 10 goals (2001-05)
• Christian Manfredini 1-5-1979, midfielder, Italy, 136 appearances, 9 goals (2002-09)
• Aldo De Pierro 3-5-1923, defender, Italy, 38 appearances (1943-46)
• Ferenc Nyers II 3-5-1927, forward, Hungary, 37 appearances, 14 goals (1948-50)
• Armando Bertagni 4-5-1907, defender, Italy, 86 appearances (1932-35)
• Massimo Cacciatori 4-5-1951, goalkeeper, Italy, 85 appearances (1978-85)
• Oliviero Visentin 4-5-1936, forward, Italy, 23 appearances, 6 goals (1959-61)
• Juan Pablo Sorin 5-5-1976, defender, Argentina, 11 appearances (2002-03)

This Article Was Written by Dag Jenkins & Simon Basten from Lazio Stories. More Information on the Above Matches and Players can be found on LazioStories.com.