April 17, 1977: Lazio - Genoa 4-1

Lazio Stories
Apr 17
7 min read

Much ado about nothing

The dreaded Genoa attacking partnership is nullified as Lazio crush Genoa

The season so far

Lazio had finished 13th the previous season. It had been a difficult season due to Tommaso Maestrelli's illness. Lazio had started the season with Giulio Corsini in charge but he had clashed with the old guard players especially Giorgio Chinaglia and left in early December.

At this point Maestrelli surprisingly returned seemingly in better health. Lazio however struggled all season and in April Chinaglia left to play for the New York Cosmos. Lazio ultimately avoided relegation in a dramatic last game of the season 2-2 draw at Como.

This season Maestrelli was replaced by Brazilian Luís Vinicio. The main new players were keeper Claudio Garella (Novara), defender Dario Pighin (Palermo), midfielders Franco "Ciccio" Cordova (free agent), Fernando Viola (Cagliari) and forward Renzo Rossi (Como).

Leaving were keeper Avelino Moriggi (Novara), defender Sergio Petrelli (Anconitana), midfielder Sergio Borgo (Pistoiese) and forward Giovanni Carlo Ferrari (Cagliari).

The season had started with the Coppa Italia in August-September. Lazio had won 2 (Novara 3-2 at home and Catania 3-1 away) and lost 2 (Atalanta 1-2 away and Milan 1-2 at home) and were eliminated.

In Serie A, Lazio lost the opener (Juventus 2-3 at home) but had since done reasonably well and were now in mid-table, on 22 points. After losing on their debut the Biancocelesti had won 7 (including first derby 1-0, Fiorentina 4-1 and Inter 2-1 at home), drawn 8 (including Inter 1-1) and lost 8 (including second derby 0-1, Genoa 1-3 away and most recent game 0-1 at Foggia).

It had not been an easy season for Lazio as Tommaso Maestrelli died on December 2 1976.

Yet another tragedy hit Lazio on January 18, 1977. One of their star players Luciano Re Cecconi died tragically at 28. He was shot by a jeweler in a shop in north Rome. Initially it seemed it may have been a prank gone wrong and that Re Cecconi had jokingly simulated a hold up, pretending to have a gun in his coat pocket. This version has since been challenged, especially by his teammate Pietro Ghedin who was with him at the time. It emerged that the jeweler just panicked, he had already shot at someone before and was on edge, while the Lazio player had done nothing suspicious at all. At the time there were often hold ups by political terrorist groups to finance their activities. It did not help that the jeweler did not follow football and so did not recognise "Cecco" who had even played for the national team. The sad fact remains that Re Cecconi died at 28.

Genoa were newly promoted. They had won the Serie B championship under Gigi Simoni. The Grifoni were back in Serie A after a two-year absence. The top scorer was Roberto Pruzzo with 18 league goals. Interesting players in the squad were future Lazio Enrico Vella (1982-83), future World Champion Bruno Conti and an end of career Mario Corso.

This season Simoni was still the manager. The main new signings were goalkeeper Claudio Tarocco (Mantova), defenders Antonio Maggioni (Avellino - back from loan), Antonio Matteoni (Modena), Claudio Onofri (Avellino) and Felice Secondini (Piacenza), midfielder Gregorio Basilico (Sambenedettese) plus forwards Giovanni Urban (Cesena), Pierino Ghetti (Ascoli) and Oscar Damiani (Juventus)

Leaving were defenders Francesco Ciampoli (Cagliari), Pier Giuseppe Mosti (Pescara) and Eliseo Croci (Lecce), midfielders Otello Catania (Sambenedettese), Paolo Mariani (Modena), Denis Mendoza (Ternana - on loan) and Bruno Conti (Roma - end of loan) plus forward Fabio Bonci (Cesena).

Genoa were currently 7th on 24 points with Verona. The Rossoblu had won 7 (including the derby with Sampdoria 2-1 and most recently Milan 1-0 at home), drawn 10 (including the first derby 1-1) and lost 7. The Pruzzo-Damiani duo was doing well with 25 goals between them (Pruzzo was top Serie A scorer with 16).

In the Coppa Italia the Genoese had been eliminated in the first group phase. They had won 2 (Verona 3-0 away and Sambenedettese 1-0 at home) and drawn 2 (Monza 2-2 away and Juventus 0-0 at home) but went out in favour of Juventus who had a better goal difference.

A difficult game for Lazio this afternoon against the best attacking partnership in the league.

The match: Sunday, April 17, 1977, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

A lovely, sunny spring day brought about 35,000 spectators to the Olimpico.

Lazio were missing winger Renzo Garlaschelli and attacking midfielder Vincenzo D'Amico.

Genoa were without regular goalkeeper Sergio Girardi and defender Antonio Maggioni.

It was one-way traffic from the start. Lazio attacked and Genoa defended. In the first half hour the Rossoblu managed to survive mainly because Lazio were wasteful in the last third.

In the 32nd minute however Lazio got the breakthrough. Ciccio Cordova was astute to see Claudio Tarocco too far off his line and cleverly lobbed him, 1-0.

Genoa had no reaction and Lazio found no resistance especially on the wings where Gigi Martini, Andrea Agostinelli and Roberto Badiani ran riot.

A second goal was on the cards and it came just before half time. In the 43rd minute Cordova rolled an indirect freekick to Renzo Rossi who blasted an unstoppable shot past Tarocco, 2-0.

Lazio cruising and completely in control.

In the second half the Grifone barely had time to even try and change their game plan before they were punished again. In the 47th minute Cordova worked the ball well and fed Bruno Giordano who let off a superb mid-height volley from the edge of the box. 3-0.

Genoa were having an off day but in the 57th minute were awarded a penalty for a Lionello Manfredonia push on Roberto Pruzzo. The spotkick was taken and put away by Oscar Damiani, 3-1.

It was only now that Genoa showed more initiative and they looked as if they could have a small chance to claw themselves back into the game.

The possibility lasted just over ten minutes as in the 70th Lazio made it four. It was a brilliant solo effort by Giordano who danced past a couple of defenders and blasted the ball past Tarocco, 4-1.

In the 77th minute Pruzzo, who had barely touched the ball all afternoon, went off due to a slight injury and was replaced by Giovanni Urban.

Genoa tried to make the scoreline more respectable with a couple of isolated attacks but efforts by Damiani and Felice Secondini went just wide. Final score: Lazio 4 Genoa 1.

A match practically dominated from start to finish by Lazio. An excellent team effort but with stand out performances by Cordova and Giordano. Genoa had been fragile defensively, non-existent in midfield and in attack Damiani had worked hard but with negligible results while Pruzzo had been a ghost.

Lazio were now joint 8th, with Verona and Genoa on 24 points. The European UEFA slots were now only four points away (Napoli Fiorentina on 28).

Genoa 8th with Lazio had been caught up by the Biancocelesti and overtaken by Perugia who had beaten Roma 3-0 at home. The Rossoblu could still aspire to get into Europe but today's result and especially performance were a serious setback.

Who played for Lazio

Pulici, Ammoniaci, Martini, Manfredonia, Wilson, Cordova, R.Rossi, Agostinelli, Giordano, Viola, Badiani

Substitutes: Garella, Ghedin, Lopez

Manager: Vinicio

Who played for Genoa

Tarocco, Secondini, Ogliari, Castronaro, Onofri, Matteoni, Damiani, Arcoleo, Pruzzo (77' Urban), Ghetti, Basilico

Substitutes: Girardi, Rosato

Manager: Simoni

Referee: Lo Bello

Goals: 32' Cordova, 43' R.Rossi, 47' Giordano, 57' Damiani (pen), 70' Giordano

What happened next

Lazio finished a positive 5th and got into Europe. The Biancocelesti then won 2 and drew 3 (including Milan 2-2 away from 0-2 down). An emotional, sad and tragic year off the pitch had at least ended decently on it with a UEFA Cup qualification. Lazio had a good mix of experienced players and some promising youngsters, including Lionello Manfredonia, Andrea Agostinelli and especially Bruno Giordano who was top scorer with 13 goals (10 in A).

Genoa finished 11th, on 27 points. They then won 1, drew 1 and lost 3 (including Torino 1-5 away). The top scorer was Pruzzo with 18 league goals while Damiani got 11.

The manager Gigi Simoni would one day be at Lazio (1985-86), as would Damiani as a player at the end of his career for a season (1985-86). Roberto Pruzzo would become an arch enemy at Roma (1978-88) while Claudio Onofri would go on to play 215 league games for the "Vecchio Balordo" and also be coach briefly (2002).

In Serie A the winners were Juventus who won their 17th title, one point ahead of Torino. The Coppa Italia was won by Milan who beat Inter 2-0 at San Siro. Leaving Serie A for now were Cesena, Catanzaro and Sampdoria (they are all currently in B-2025-26).

Let's talk about Renzo Rossi

Renzo Rossi was born on January 23, 1951, in Giacciano con Baruchella, near Rovigo.

He started playing football in Serie D with Passirio Merano. He stayed in the fourth tier until 1973 when he signed for Como. After a year when he was in the first eleven and scored seven league goals in Serie B, he was noticed by Inter. He went to Milan and debuted in Serie A on November 10 in the derby. But he played just 8 league games with one goal and in 1975 went back to the lakeside. Como in the meantime had been promoted to Serie A but they were immediately relegated.

In 1976 he signed for Lazio. The Biancocelesti were looking for a backup forward who could help their rising star, Bruno Giordano. He stayed just one year, made 16 appearances and scored four goals.

In 1977 he moved to Catanzaro where he stayed for two seasons, the first in Serie B and the second in Serie A. He ended his career at Taranto where he played for three seasons from 1979 to 1981.

At Lazio, Renzo Rossi will also be remembered for being with Luciano Re Cecconi earlier in the evening he died. He had then left Cecco and Pietro Ghedin's company because he had things to do. Later that evening Re Cecconi was shot as he entered a jeweller’s.