April 27 1941: Lazio - Fiorentina 4-1

Lazio Stories
2 days ago
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Lazio win but lose Piola

Important win but other results are not positive and Lazio lose Piola for decisive last game

The season so far

The previous season Lazio had finished a positive 4th, under Hungarian manager Géza Kertész. The highlights were wins against Juventus 4-0, Roma 1-0, at home and Fiorentina 3-2, Milan 2-0 and Bari 5-1 away. Top scorer was Silvio Piola with 10 goals (9 in A).

This season Kertész had started but was replaced by Ferenc Molnár after 6 games, then after the 17th fixture Dino Canestri took over. The main new players this season were keeper Uber Gradella (Verona), defender Italo Romagnoli (Napoli), midfielders Alberto Fazio (San Lorenzo), Salvador Gualtieri (San Lorenzo) plus forward Aldo Puccinelli (Pontedera) and Otello Zironi (Modena).

Saying goodbye were: keepers Giacomo Blason (Napoli) and Vincenzo Provera (Pro Vercelli), defender Maximiliano Faotto (Napoli), midfielders Bruno Camolese (Vicenza), Luigi Milano (Napoli) plus forwards Evaristo Barrera (Napoli), Umberto Busani (Napoli) and Giovanni Costa (Spezia).

Some important players in Lazio history were coming and going.

So far in Serie A Lazio had played 23 games and were 15th on 24 points. The Biancocelesti had won 6 (including the second derby 2-0), drawn 12 (including Juventus 2-2 at home on debut and first derby 1-1) and lost 10 (including the most recent away to Milan, Fiorentina 1-2 away). There were two relegation slots and Lazio were in one of them but luckily only one point from safety (Novara on 25, then Genoa, Venezia, Torino and Livorno on 26).

The Coppa Italia would start on May 11 away to Triestina in the last 32.

Fiorentina had finished 13th the previous season. The manager was first Rudolf Soutschek (1-16) and then Giuseppe Galluzzi (17-30). The Gigliati had won their first Coppa Italia (Genoa 1-0). The games against Lazio had finished 3-2 for Lazio in Florence and 1-1 in Rome. The top scorer was Romeo Menti with 9 league goals.

This season the manager was still Galluzzi. The main new players were: Mario Lovati (Cantù) and Giuseppe Geigerle (Triestina, after 215 league games), midfielders Giovacchino Magherini (Cagliari - back from loan) and Pietro Degano (Udinese) plus forwards Ferruccio Valcareggi (Triestina), Dante Di Benedetti (Lucchese - back from loan).

The squad included three future Lazio connections: Henglebert Koenig (1942-47), Romano Penzo (1947-50) and Giuseppe Bigogno (manager 1951-53).

Leaving Florence were: defenders Piero Antona (Vigevano), Angelo Simontacchi (Triestina) and Franco Pincelli (Verona), midfielders Mario Mannelli (Savoia), Guido Boldi (Siena) and Giuliano Tagliasacchi (Triestina) plus forwards Mario Celoria (Liguria), Arrigo Morselli (Milan) and Elio Grolli (Verona). Celoria was the goal scoring hero of the previous year's cup final.

Fiorentina were joint 3rd, with Juventus on 32 points. La Viola had won 13 (Juventus 3-2 away and Lazio 2-1 at home and most recently Bologna 3-0 at home), drawn 6 and lost 9.

Their cup defence would start on May 11 at home against Liguria.

A difficult game for Lazio today but the Biancocelesti desperately needed the two points.

The match: Sunday, April 27, 1941, Stadio PNF, Rome

A sunny but very windy day saw just under 15,000 spectators at the P.N.F stadium.

Lazio were missing forward Otello Zironi.

Fiorentina were without defender Carlo Piccardi, midfielder Armando Frigo both suspended plus forwards Giuseppe Baldini and Dante Di Benedetto.

In the first half it was Lazio who played with the strong wind behind them and immediately took advantage. In the 7th minute Italo Romagnoli cleared and the ball flew forward reaching Silvio Piola, the striker touched it to Luigi Vettraino who teed up Salvador Gualtieri racing in on the right and he drilled a low, unstoppable shot past Luigi Griffanti, 1-0.

Fiorentina were passive and Lazio continued to attack for the whole half. The Biancocelesti had at least a dozen goal scoring chances. Griffanti made six excellent saves, one in particular on a Silvestro Pisa freekick, Piola hit a crossbar and another five dangerous attempts went just wide, at least one by Vettraino easier to score than miss.

The second goal finally came just before half time. In the 46th minute Piola hit a long ball to Gualtieri who raced towards goal while the keeper did the same towards the ball hoping to get their first, he failed and the Biancoceleste slotted it into the right corner, 2-0.

Lazio were well on top but they could have had at least a four or five goal margin.

In the second half the Gigliati had the wind in their favour and looked more eager. In the 52nd minute they halved the deficit. Romeo Menti hit a great freekick which flew in mid-height to Uber Gradella's right, 2-1. Game on?

Lazio soon dampened the visitors' hopes by scoring only two minutes later. In the 54th minute Giuseppe Baldo took a freekick which was headed on by Enrique Flamini and bicycle kicked by Piola into the net, 3-1.

There was little or no reaction by La Viola and in the 72nd minute Piola got his double. Gualtieri pumped a long pass forward to Piola who, despite being closely marked, drilled a low precise shot on the far post, 4-1.

The striker from Vercelli then unfortunately suffered a bad injury. In the 80th minute, following a challenge with Giuseppe Bigogno the defender fell heavily on him and he fractured his collarbone and was forced off.

Luckily for Lazio the contest was over but there was still time for tempers to flare in the 87th minute as Romano Penzo and Luciano Ramella got involved in a scuffle after a rough tackle by the midfielder. Both players got their marching orders.

Final score: Lazio 4 Fiorentina 1. A crucial victory for Lazio, helped by a non-existent Fiorentina and superb performances by their forwards Piola and Gualtieri, the Biancocelesti had hopefully taken a decisive step towards survival. The negative fact was that they would have to play the last game without Piola who would need about 40 days to get over his injury.

Unfortunately the other results had not really gone Lazio's way. Novara had beaten Atalanta 5-1 at home, Torino had won 2-0 away at Inter, Livorno and Genoa had demolished Bari and Roma both 6-1 at home…, the only team who had drawn were Venezia 1-1 away in Naples. The table now read: Bari 17, Lazio 26 (-4 gd), Novara 27 (-4), Venezia 27 (-8), Triestina 28 (+4) Genoa 28 (+2) Torino 28 (+1), Livorno 28 (-8) Roma 28 (+2) and Napoli 28 (-11), all for two slots. At the moment Lazio would still be down.

So it was all down to the last game. The fixtures were: Champions Bologna vs Lazio, Venezia vs Novara, Torino vs Livorno, Milan vs Genoa and Roma vs Triestina. Lazio had the same goal difference as Novara and better than Venezia so if one of the two won the direct clash and Lazio got a point the Biancocelesti would be safe.

It was therefore touch and go. Lazio had to hope Bologna had been celebrating their league title with rivers of Lambrusco and that the other result went their way.

Fiorentina were now 4th, on 32 points with Juventus and overtaken by Milan who had defeated the Bianconeri 2-1 away.

Who played for Lazio

Gradella, Romagnoli II, Monza II, Fazio, Ramella, Baldo, Gualtieri, Pisa I, Piola, Flamini, Vettraino

Manager: Canestri

Who played for Fiorentina

Griffanti, Lovati, Geigerle, Ellena, Bigogno, Poggi, Menti II, Valcareggi, Koenig, Penzo, Morsico

Manager: Galluzzi

Referee: Cardinali

Goals: 7' Gualtieri, 45+1 Gualtieri, 52' Menti II, 54' Piola, 73' Piola

Red Cards: 42' Penzo and Ramella

What happened next

Lazio just managed to avoid relegation on goal difference. In the last game of the season they drew 2-2 in Bologna and clinched the crucial point that kept them up. Lazio went 2-0 up (Romagnoli, Vettraino) in Bologna and then held on for a draw. In the other game Venezia crushed Novara 3-0. The Biancocelesti finished 14th, on 27 points. The top scorer was Silvio Piola with 10 league goals.

Things went better in the Coppa Italia where Lazio reached the semi-finals. The Biancocelesti defeated Triestina 2-1 away, Milano 2-0 away and Spezia 5-2 away but then lost to Venezia 1-3 away.

Fiorentina finished joint 3rd, with Milan on 34 points. In the closing league game they picked up in front of their home crowd and demolished Juventus 5-0. The top scorer was Romeo Menti with 17 league goals.

In the Coppa Italia the Florentines beat Liguria 1-0 and Juventus 5-3 both at home but then in the quarter-finals lost 1-4 away to Roma.

The 1940-41 Scudetto was won by Bologna for the 6th time while Bari went down with Novara. Venezia won their first and so far only Coppa Italia defeating Roma 4-3 on aggregate (3-3, 1-0).

Let’s talk about Salvador Gualtieri

Salvador Gualtieri, or Salvatore as he was known in Italy, was born in Buenos Aires on May 14, 1917.

He started playing football in Argentina for San Lorenzo, the team that Pope Francis supported. In March 1940 he travelled to Italy in the hope of finding a club that could be interested in him. Lazio was, so he signed with the Biancocelesti but had to wait until the beginning of the 1940-41 season. In the meantime he could only play friendlies.

He was a very good midfielder. Tall, excellent technique with a great vision of the game. Gualtieri also had a cracking shot and was an excellent header of the ball. This allowed him to score lots of goals.

He arrived during World War II but unlike many of his compatriots, he stayed in Rome and was fundamental in the winning of the Roman War Championship in 1943-44. This tournament took place during the conflict among local Rome and Lazio Region clubs, since all the other tournaments had been suspended.

He stayed with Lazio for eight years and played 223 times (159 in Serie A, 20 in the Southern Serie A-B Championship, 1 in the 1945-46 Post Championship, 8 in Coppa Italia and 26 in the Roman War Championship and 9 in other tournaments during the war years) and scored 26 goals (15 in Serie A, 5 in Coppa Italia and 5 in the Roman War Championship).

He was skipper for quite a number of years and even took on the role of player-manager for a few games in the 1945-46 season.

When he quit football in 1949 he stayed on and became assistant to Mario Sperone in the 1949-50 season. He then went back to Argentina but almost immediately moved to Brazil where together with his former Lazio team mate Luciano Ramella he started a coffee plantation business.

In 1961 he came back to Rome and in the 1962-63 season he was assistant to Lazio manager Juan Carlos Lorenzo. He was later head trainer at Crotone from 1965 to 1967.

He died in Rome on December 18, 1998.

Lazio Career

Season	Total games (goals)	Serie A	Centre-South Serie A-B League	Post Centre-South League	Roman War League.	Coppa Italia	Other
1940-41	31 (4)	27 (2)	-	-	-	4 (2)	-
1941-42	28 (6)	26 (4)	-	-	-	2 (2)	-
1942-43	22 (6)	20 (5)	-	-	-	2 (1)	-
1943-44	14 (1)	-	-	-	13 (1)	-	1
1944-45	21 (5)	-	-	-	13 (5)	-	8
1945-46	21	-	20	1	-	-	-
1946-47	36 (1)	36 (1)	-	-	-	-	-
1947-48	28 (1)	28 (1)	-	-	-	-	-
1948-49	22 (2)	22 (2)	-	-	-	-	-
Total	223 (26)	159 (15)	20	1	26 (6)	8 (5)	9