April,1 1962: Lazio-Reggiana 1-0
- Lazio Stories
- 6 days ago
- 9 min read
Morr-one nils please
A solitary goal by the Gaucho is enough to clinch two important promotion points
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had been relegated to Serie B for the first time in their history. For the first ten matches the manager had been Fulvio Bernardini and then former player Enrique Flamini had taken over with Jesse Carver as technical director. The only highpoints were beating Roma 2-1 and reaching the Coppa Italia final which they then lost 0-2 to Fiorentina. Top scorer was Orlando Rozzoni with 13 goals (11 in A).
This season the manager was initially Paolo Todeschini. He had played for Lazio in 1948-49 and had recently coached Milan (with Giuseppe Viani as T.D). After the 21st fixture however Bob Lovati had taken over but from today the new manager was Carlo Facchini. Todeschini had left Lazio in 4th place (W7, D10, L4) while Lovati had dropped a position to 5th (W1, in D3, L3). Third manager lucky for the final promotion rush?
The lower category brought numerous changes to the squad. The main new arrivals were defenders Vincenzo Gasperi (Atalanta), Gilberto Noletti (Milan - on loan), Gianni Seghedoni (Bari), Diego Zanetti (Novara), midfielders Nello Governato (Como), Graziano Landoni (Messina) and forward Dimitri Pinti (Vicenza).
Some big names left, these included keeper Bob Lovati (would retire early in season but never leave Lazio), defenders Franco Janich (Bologna), Franco Carradori (Brescia), Bruno Franzini (Bologna), midfielders Pierluigi Pagni (Cosenza - on loan, he would return and stay another 6 years), Ugo Pozzan (Pisa), Egidio Fumagalli (Novara) plus forward Amos Mariani (Napoli). Nine players with 582 league games between them.
On March 4 however there had been an extremely controversial episode in a home game against promotion rivals Napoli. Lazio were 4th on 27 points and Napoli 5th on 26, so it was an important game. In the 76th minute Gianni Seghedoni took a free kick for Lazio and scored with the referee pointing to midfield. Lazio celebrated wildly and Pontel, the Napoli keeper, looked gutted but had no complaints. Then the unexpected happened, the linesman claimed the ball had not gone in as a ball boy had picked it up outside the goal and convinced the referee to disallow it. The ball had obviously gone in and then out again through a hole in the net. The Lazio players found the hole but the referee was not interested. The TV images would later show the goal was perfectly valid but it was too late. Lazio could only hope they would not live to miss that potential point.
In Coppa Italia, Lazio had got through the first two rounds (Genoa 3-1 and Palermo 1-0 at home) and would now play Roma on April 15 in the last 16.
Reggiana had finished 4th in Serie B the previous season, narrowly missing out on promotion. The manager was Luigi Del Grosso and the top scorer Luigi Sardei with 15 league goals.
This season the manager was still Del Grosso. The main new signings were goalkeeper Ezio Galbiati (Palermo), defenders Giampiero Grevi (Palermo but previously at Reggiana) and Luigi Robbiati (Palermo), midfielders Piero Ferri (Palermo), Renato Martini (Brescia) and Orazio Rancati (Genoa) plus forward Paolo Morosi (Palermo). Half of Palermo's team…
Leaving Reggio Emilia were goalkeeper Biagio Dreossi (Forlì), defender Luciano Gariboldi (Lilion Snia Varedo), midfielders Luigi Bertoli (Pisa) and Giuseppe Fabris (Pescara) plus forwards Giancarlo Mezzalira (Varese) and Luigi Sardei (Palermo, then Bari).
Reggiana were not repeating the previous season's campaign and were currently joint 15th, with Alessandria on 25 points (only two above 18th placed Bari who also had a 6-point docking). The Granata had won 7 (including Napoli 2-1 at home), drawn 11 (including Lazio 0-0) and lost 10 (including last 2). La Regia's last win was on February 4 away at Cosenza 1-0.
In Coppa Italia, Reggiana had crashed straight out, losing the derby to Modena 1-2 away.
A game between two sides in difficulty today but with different objectives. Promotion for Lazio and at this point survival for Reggiana. Lazio had been on the coast in Ostia in pre-match retreat to find the right concentration for this game.
The match: Sunday, April 1, 1962, Stadio Flaminio, Rome
A nice day in Rome with about 20,000 in attendance at the Flaminio.
Lazio's new manager chose defender Gilberto Noletti and forward Angelo Longoni over Guglielmo Mecozzi and Claudio Bizzarri but had no real absences.
Reggiana played Claudio Correnti rather than Paolo Morosi in midfield while up front Addis Savoldi was preferred to Mario Tribuzio.
The first chance was for the visitors as in the 2nd minute the Lazio goalkeeper was forced to save an Aldo Catalani effort with his feet.
In the 12th minute defender Piero Ferri interrupted a Graziano Landoni-Juan Carlos Morrone one-two with a hand in the area but it was judged involuntary.
In the 18th minute Lazio went in front. A prolonged move ended with a shot by Vincenzo Gasperi which was cleared weakly and badly by Giampiero Grevi and the ball reached Morrone who had the relatively easy task of beating Giovanni Ferretti, 1-0. It was unclear what the defender had been trying to do, clear or make a pass to a teammate. He did neither.
Lazio then wasted an opportunity to double their lead with Dimitri Pinti and the only other excitement was a Noletti clearance which resolved a threatening scramble in the Lazio area. Halftime score: Lazio 1 Reggiana 0.
Not a particularly spectacular game so far but Lazio with the all-important goal.
In the second half Ferri moved further forward and the Emiliani started to boss the game.
In the 46th and 64th minutes Idilio Cei had to save on Ricciotti Greatti, the second more difficult.
Lazio occasionally had space on the counterattack but on the most dangerous Ferretti did well to burst off his line and dive low to deny Morrone.
Then it was Greatti again who forced Cei to show off his skills.
In the last twenty minutes not much happened apart from a penalty appeal by the visitors for Savoldi being held back in the area but for the referee there was not enough in it. Final score: Lazio 1 Reggiana 0.
Two important points for the Biancocelesti but not a great performance. They had found the goal thanks to a possible defensive misunderstanding, then did the minimum necessary to win and could also thank goalkeeper Cei's good form. A useful two points but Lazio would have to improve to be sure of going up.
Reggiana had played well but were too cautious in their first half approach. They were better in the second but could not find the equaliser they possibly deserved.
Lazio were now 4th, on 31 points with Brescia and Modena. Third placed Napoli were one point above.
Reggiana were 16th, on 25 points with Novara and still two points from the drop zone which nevertheless now was made up of three teams all on 23 points, Bari, Como and Cosenza. The situation was worsening.
Who played for Lazio
Manager: Facchini
Who played for Reggiana
Ferretti, Martiradonna, Robbiati, Ferri, Grevi, Corsi, Correnti, Graeatti, Volpi, Catalani, Savoldi
Manager: Del Grosso
Referee: Gambarotta
Goal: 18' Morrone
What happened next
Lazio finished 4th and narrowly missed out on promotion by one point. After today Lazio won 5 (including Messina 4-1 and Alessandria 7-2), drew 1 and lost 3. Top scorer was Juan Carlos Morrone with 15 goals (14 in B).
The disallowed goal in March came back to haunt Lazio as at the end of the season Napoli were promoted one point ahead of Lazio…with Genoa and Modena.
In the Coppa Italia, Lazio then lost to Roma on penalties in the last 16 after a 0-0 draw (Pedro Manfredini scored all 6…). The eventual winners were surprisingly Napoli (this was the second and last time a second-tier club has won the domestic cup).
Reggiana ended up relegated. In the remaining games they only won 1 (the next game 1-0 away in Naples), drew 5 and lost 3. The Granata finished 19th on 32 points (one point from safety). After fixture 31 Del Grosso was sacked and in came Angelo Piccoli but things got worse. They went down with Prato and Novara (for corruption). Their top scorer was Carlo Volpi with 9 league goals.
Of their squad Mario Martiradonna would go on to win a Scudetto with Cagliari in 1969-70.
Let's talk about Giancarlo Morrone
Juan Carlos Morrone, better known as Giancarlo and nicknamed “El Gaucho”, is a Lazio legend.
Born a forward but later in his career he moved behind the attackers, Morrone was a Biancoceleste idol for many years and once he quit football he worked with the youth teams for over a decade.
Born in Buenos Aires on February 5, 1941, he started playing football at Platense in the Argentinian Second Division at just 17 years of age. In two years he scored 46 goals and in 1960 signed for Lazio. He arrived when the season had already started and Lazio were bottom. He could not save the Biancocelesti.
In the first year of Serie B, Morrone scored 14 goals (including the first ever Lazio goal in Serie B), but Lazio missed out on promotion due to the infamous ghost goal.
Lazio returned to Serie A in the 1962-63 season with Morrone contributing another 10 league goals.
In 1963-64, manager Juan Carlos Lorenzo decided to transform the centre forward into a number 10, so he could provide assists to forwards Orlando Rozzoni and Mario Mareschi. The intuition did not really work well but not through any fault of El Gaucho. The forwards had simply seen better days.
In 1964 Lazio sold Morrone to Fiorentina. Always short of money, the club took the opportunity to cash in a large amount plus two players (Can Bartu and Giampiero Vitali). Morrone played two years in Florence, met his future wife, won a Coppa Italia, and showed all his quality.
But he missed Lazio. So in 1966-67 he returned and stayed for another 5 seasons. Lazio had mixed fortunes in this period, but Morrone stood out. He played a total of 269 games for Lazio (120 in Serie A, 119 in Serie B, 18 in Coppa Italia, 5 in Mitropa Cup, 2 in the Intercities Fairs Cup, 3 in the Anglo Italian Cup and 2 in the Cup of the Alps) scoring 53 goals (15 in Serie A, 32 in Serie B, 4 in Coppa Italia and 2 in the Cup of the Alps).
In 1971 he signed for Foggia in Serie B and played a couple of years. In 1973 he moved to Avellino but a year later he suffered a very bad injury and was forced to retire.
Once he stopped he immediately started a very successful career as manager of Lazio youth teams.
In 1983 he was called to manage the A team for the last five games of the Serie B championship. Lazio had seen the return of Bruno Giordano and Lionello Manfredonia and under manager Roberto Clagluna had done very well in the first half of the season. But then the Biancocelesti went into a long psychological and technical crisis. They had difficulties in scoring because they were not creating chances. Clagluna could not figure out a solution. In April Lazio dismally drew 0-0 three times and lost at home against Pistoiese and away to Varese.
The match against Reggiana on May 8 was fundamental, Serie A was slipping away. Lazio scored three times with Giordano but were unable to secure victory. Clagluna had to go in order to create a spark that could help Lazio get over the line. Giancarlo Morrone was called in to help create that spark. In the next match however things precipitated even further and Lazio lost 5-1 to Milan. But then two home wins and two away draws gave Lazio the necessary points and it was Serie A again after three years.
There was a change in Presidency and Giorgio Chinaglia purchased the club. He confirmed Morrone as manager. There was great hope, but, with very few exceptions, Lazio were disappointing. In the first 12 games the Biancocelesti won three times (including beating Inter 3-0), drew twice and lost all the remaining matches. Morrone was fired, and replaced by Paolo Carosi, another former Lazio player.
Morrone returned to the Primavera team and won the national title in 1986-87 but with the arrival of the Calleri brothers he decided his time at Lazio was over. From 1987 he managed the Napoli Primavera team for four years and then went on teaching football in a number of Serie C clubs.
El Gaucho was a fantastic football player. Magnificent dribbler, he had a powerful shot and great vision. The chronicles indicate that his best game was against Mantova in 1963 when he was marked by Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, one of the most ruthless defenders the world has ever seen. That match he drove the German nuts, pure magic. He never made it to the Italian National team and that was a pity. As manager he was a great teacher of football, always up to date with what was happening.
Lazio career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia | Mitropa Cup | Fairs Cup | Anglo-Italian Cup | Cup of the Alps |
1960-61 | 21 (7) | 17 (4) | - | 3 (2) | - | - | - | 1 (1) |
1961-62 | 35 (15) | - | 33 (14) | 2 (1) | - | - | - | - |
1962-63 | 34 (9) | - | 33 (9) | 1 | - | - | - | - |
1963-64 | 32 (5) | 31 (5) | - | 1 | - | - | - | - |
1966-67 | 38 (4) | 33 (4) | - | 2 | 3 | - | - | - |
1967-68 | 30 (4) | - | 28 (4) | 2 | - | - | - | - |
1968-69 | 28 (6) | - | 27 (6) | 1 | - | - | - | - |
1969-70 | 30 (2) | 22 (2) | - | 3 | 2 | - | 3 | - |
1970-71 | 21 (2) | 15 | - | 3 (1) | - | 2 | - | 1 (1) |
Total | 269 (54) | 118 (15) | 121 (33) | 18 (4) | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 (2) |
Sources
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