April 22, 1945: Juventus Roma Lazio 0-1

Simon Basten
Apr 22
3 min read

Andreolo’s curled ball

A splendid free kick from Andreolo gives Lazio the win

Other games in April
Season 1944-45

The season so far

The previous season had seen Lazio triumph in the Roman War League. This year the Federation decided to organise a Mixed National League with Serie A, B, and C teams. The organisation was left to the Regional Organising Committees and the best teams of each region would face each other for the title. Only the Southern Italian teams would have played since the northern part of the country was still under fascist rule. The league should have started in November but it was postponed to January 1945.

Initially eight clubs qualified: Lazio, Roma, MATER, Juventus Roma, Ala Italiana, Albaerotecnica, Vigili del Fuoco and Avia. However, the latter two dissolved but some elements of both set up the Italia Libera team. So, there was a need to choose a final eighth participant. In a round robin with STEFER and Trionfale, Trastevere won and qualified.

Today was the 11th fixture. Roma were top on 15 points, Lazio and Juventus Roma second on 13.

Prior to this tournament there had been another “preliminary” one named Coppa Città di Roma where Lazio had arrived third after being beaten in the semi-finals by MATER.

The match: Sunday, April 22, 1945, Motovelodromo Appio, Rome

Juventus Roma started much better than Lazio and in the first ten minutes dominated the play, then the Biancocelesti woke up and the game was in equilibrium for most of the afternoon.

Just a couple of chances in the first half, one for each team. In the 39th minute Battaglia with a splendid save denied Giuseppe Mancini a goal and in the final minutes Lozzi in front of Amedeo Rega shot straight at him, Ermanno Picchi had an easy tap in but he fumbled and nothing happened.

In the second half, in the 60th minute the referee ignored a probable hand ball in the box by Edoardo Valenti but then saw Massimo Caristi touch the ball with his hand a few metres from the Juventus Roma penalty area in the 67th minute. Michele Andreolo placed the ball over the wall in the top hand corner and the Biancocelesti were ahead.

The hosts reacted and in the 76th minute had a chance similar to the one at the end of the first half but Luigi Vettraino and Picchi failed to score.

A good win for Lazio, with a little external help, for once.

Who played for Juventus Roma

Battaglia, Giovanardi, Rossi, Borgi, Cipriani, Caristi, Lozzi, Longhi II, Vettraino, Muzioli, Picchi

Who played for Lazio

Rega, Valenti, De Pierro, Fabbri, Andreolo, Manfrè, Mancini, Manola, Koenig, De Andreis, Gualtieri Manager: Canestri

Referee: Arpaia

Goal: 67’ Andreolo

What happened next

Lazio finished joint second with Italia Libera behind winners Roma. All three should have participated in the final phase but it was impossible to organise. The Biancocelesti played an interregional competition with Fiorentina, Roma and Livorno in late May. They beat the Viola but lost to Roma in the final.

Giuseppe Mancini topped the appearances with 24, Henglebert Koenig was top scorer with 22 goals.

Let’s talk about Aldo De Pierro

Aldo De Pierro was born in Rome, on May 3, 1923.

He joined the Biancoceleste youth academy at the age of nine and progressed through all the club’s youth ranks. He combined football with his job at a real estate company. Over the years, he was coached by Dino Canestri, Alessandro Popovich, Walter Alt, Karl Stürmer, and Toni Cargnelli.

He spent two seasons with Lazio’s first team beginning in 1943–44 making 37 appearances and winning the first Roman War League. With the Lazio youth side, he won the Provincial Boys’ Championship twice. Gifted with quick physical reactions and a powerful kick, he soon became a highly reliable member of the defence and was named best full-back in Group I of Serie C during a loan spell with Alba.

The war left a deep mark on Aldo’s life. His family and his father Oreste, a barber, sheltered escaped prisoners of war, thus risking German reprisals from the nearby SS headquarters.

In 1947 he moved to Sora, where he remained for two seasons, before joining Viterbese, where he played alongside future journalist Sandro Ciotti. In 1949–50 he played for Sogene, in 1950–51 for Artiglio, and finally, after returning to Sora, he ended his career at the age of 30 with Artiglio of Piazza Bologna in Rome.

He died in Tarquinia (Viterbo) on April 11, 2015.