April 7, 2007: Lazio-Messina 1-0
- Dag Jenkins
- Apr 7
- 11 min read
Eight in a row !!
A Stendardo goal is enough to give Lazio eighth consecutive win
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had finished a positive 6th under Delio Rossi but that all changed at the end of the season due to the Calciopoli scandal for which Lazio were docked 30 points thus losing their UEFA Cup place. Top scorer was Tommaso Rocchi with 17 goals (16 in A).
The season was supposed to start with an eleven-point docking for the previous year's Calciopoli scandal, but it had then been reduced to three.
It was Delio Rossi's second year in charge and the main new players of note were defender Modibo Diakité (Pescara), defensive midfielders Cristian Ledesma (Lecce) and Massimo Mutarelli (Palermo), plus attacking midfielder Pasquale Foggia (Milan but he then left on loan in January to Reggina). In January Lazio had also signed Chilean midfielder Luis Jiménez (Ternana on loan).
Meanwhile, Lazio had lost midfielders Ousmane Dabo (Manchester City), Fabio Liverani (Fiorentina) and above all charismatic leader Paolo Di Canio (Cisco Roma). One player who was leaving, goalkeeper Samir Handanovič, (Udinese end of loan then Rimini) would later be cause for regret as he went on to become a top keeper (455 games for Inter). In January they sold Massimo Oddo, another important loss.
Lazio's Serie A campaign started with two defeats, 1-2 away to Milan and 1-2 at home to Palermo. Fortunately things had then improved. Since then the Biancocelesti had won 16 (including Messina 4-1 away and Roma 3-0), drawn 7 and lost 4. They also came from seven consecutive wins and were unbeaten since December 20 (Inter 0-2 at home) so the Eagles were flying high. The Biancocelesti were 3rd on 52 points, four ahead of 4th placed Palermo and seven ahead of 5th placed Empoli. With four Champions League slots available things were looking good.
Lazio were however already out of the Coppa Italia. In August they had defeated Rende 4-0 at home and Monza away on penalties but then fell to today's opposition Messina 3-4 away after extra time.
Today however was a Serie A game and time to consolidate 3rd position and go for an impressive eight wins in a row.
Messina had finished 18th in Serie A the previous season. This meant they should have been relegated but then following the Calciopoli scandal and various teams' point-dockings they climbed to 17th and survived. The manager was first Bortolo Mutti (1-31) and then Gian Piero Ventura (32-38). The Giallorossi had lost 0-1 to Lazio in Rome and drawn 1-1 at home. The top scorer was Arturo Di Napoli with 13 league goals.
This season the manager was Lazio legend Bruno Giordano. He had started, been replaced by Alberto Cavasin in January and now been called back. Today was his debut in his second stint. The most important new signings were defenders Angelo Rea (Cesena), Salvatore Masiello (Udinese - on loan), Mark Iuliano (Sampdoria) and Enrico Morello (Torres), midfielders Daniele De Vezze (Genoa), Mitsuo Ogasawara (Kashima Antlers - on loan), Nicolás Córdova (Livorno via Ascoli), Edgar Alvarez (Roma - on loan), Luigi Lavecchia (Le Mans - back from loan), plus forwards Christian Riganò (Fiorentina) and Ivica Iliev (Genoa - back from loan). In the winter session they added defender Vincent Candela (Siena - on loan), midfielders Manolo Pestrin (Cesena), Andrea Giallombardo (Livorno - on loan) and Roberto D'Aversa (Siena) plus forward ibrahima Bakayoko (Livorno).
Leaving east Sicily were defenders Rahman Rezaei (Livorno), Filippo Cristante (Mantova) and Salvatore Aronica (Reggina), midfielders Domenico Giampà (Ascoli), Gaetano D'Agostino (Udinese), Antonio Nocerino (Piacenza) and Massimo Donati (Atalanta - end of loan) plus forward Zlatan Muslimović (Parma - end of loan). In the January window they also let go of goalkeeper Marco Storari (Milan), midfielders Salvatore Sullo (Avellino, after six seasons) and Carmine Coppola (Livorno - on loan after six seasons).
Quite a lot of changes to avoid the previous year's close shave with relegation.
The Biancoscudati nevertheless were in difficulty and currently 18th on 24 points. They were one point behind the last survival slot, Reggina from across the straits on 25 points. Messina had won 5 (Including Palermo and Reggina both 2-0 at home), drawn 9 and lost 15 (including Lazio 1-4 and last two games).
In Coppa Italia they had eliminated Sansovino 1-0 away, Piacenza 2-0 at home and as mentioned Lazio 4-3 but then in the last 16 lost to Inter 0-5 on aggregate.
On current form Lazio were strong favourites today. Although Messina were desperate for points, anything different from a home win would be a surprise.
The match: Saturday, April 7, 2007, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
On a sunny and warm pre-easter Saturday just under 30,000 turned up at the Olimpico.
Lazio were missing defender Emílson Cribari plus midfielders Cristian Ledesma and Massimo Mutarelli.
Messina were without defender Marco Zoro and forward Ivica Iliev.
The first half was a dull affair. Lazio were slow and predictable and Messina made it obvious they would be more than pleased with a goalless draw.
In the 4th minute Roberto Baronio had a curling free kick from the left saved by Gabriele Paoletti.
In the 11th minute Lazio were denied a penalty for a seemingly clear Marco Zanchi handball on a Goran Pandev initiative. The spring heat and the visitors' crowded area made sure the threats on goal were few and far between. Lazio however had their chances.
Despite the apathy Stefano Mauri almost scored the goal of the season when he chested the ball down and went for an acrobatic scissor kick volley but it went just wide.
Mauri then had a dangerous header from a Valon Behrami cross but he narrowly missed the target from an extremely favourable position.
Christian Manfredini then tried his luck from the left but Paoletti parried away.
One huge chance came in the 43rd minute but Pandev, set up by Tommaso Rocchi, pulled his shot wide from a position where he would usually score blindfolded.
Two minutes later Lazio scored courtesy of a defender. In the 45th minute Manfredini worked the ball well and then Luciano Zauri crossed into the area where Guglielmo Stendardo twisted his body and headed into the right corner, 1-0 at half time.
In the second half, despite trailing, Messina continued with the same approach. Any plan to change tactics was then thwarted in the 53rd minute when former Roma Vincent Candela got himself sent off for a second booking, obviously much to the delight of the Lazio fans.
Messina immediately replaced forward Ibrahima Bakayoko with midfielder and Roma loanee Edgar Álvarez.
It seemed Lazio would now have it easy but a combination of the forwards having an off day, the wings being systematically blocked and Baronio's sluggish and predictable playmaking meant Lazio struggled to be dangerous.
Lazio plodded forward and had another penalty appeal for a clear Paoletti foul on Gaby Mudingayi but the referee was not in a penalty mood today.
In the 68th minute Mauri tried a chipped lob but the idea was better than the execution. In the 72nd minute it was Pandev who tried to close the game but his left footed strike shaved the left post.
Messina tried to change things by making two substitutions: in the 73rd minute defender Enrico Morello for defender Mark Iuliano and in the 81st forward Arturo Di Napoli for defender Salvatore Masiello. A minute later Lazio brought on midfielder Luis Jiménez for Stefano Mauri.
Lazio pushed forward but were imprecise as with Rocchi who sliced a good opportunity wide and as the minutes ticked away the risk of throwing it away increased.
This almost happened as in the dying minutes Daniele De Vezze teed up Christian Riganò in the area and his low cross goal effort gave the shivers to the Lazio fans but flew out to Angelo Peruzzi's left.
From a seemingly easy win Lazio were now holding on for the three points. In the 90th minute to break things up Rossi took off both forwards and put on Fabio Firmani and Stephen Makinwa.
After three minutes of added time, in which Lazio just ran down the clock, the referee blew for full time.
Not a great performance by any means but meant an eighth consecutive win for Lazio. The club record was nine, set by Sven-Goran Eriksson's team in the 1998-99 season.
Lazio had been slow and lazy today, perhaps underestimating the game. Lazio were still 3rd, on 55 points but now eight points ahead of 4th placed Palermo who had lost 1-3 at home to Cagliari. The best player was Mudingayi who had worked hard despite the general apathy.
Messina had been too negative but with a bit of luck could have snatched a point at the death. The Giallorossi were now 19th, on 24 points overtaken by Parma who had beaten Livorno 1-0 at home. Safety was now two points away (Reggina, who had held Inter 0-0 at home, on 26).
Who played for Lazio
Peruzzi, Behrami, Stendardo, Siviglia, Zauri, Mudingayi, Baronio, Manfredini, Mauri (82' Jimenez), Pandev (90' Makinwa), Rocchi (90' Firmani)
Manager: Rossi
Who played for Messina
Paoletti, Zanchi, Iuliano (73' Morello), Candela, Lavecchia, Pestrin, De Vezze, Masiello (81' Di Napoli), Giallombardo, Riganò, Bakayoko (54' Alvarez
Substitutes: Ferla, D'Aversa, Cordova, Floccari
Manager: Giordano
Referee: Girardi
Goal: 45' Stendardo
Red card: 54' Candela
What happened next
Lazio had an excellent season conquering 3rd place and an unexpected but extremely welcome Champions League preliminary qualification. Lazio's winning run ended at eight a week later with a 2-2 draw at Ascoli. The Biancocelesti then won 1, drew 3 (including derby 0-0) and lost 3 but had already done enough.
A great season, starting from minus three points and with a satisfying 3-0 derby win thrown in as well. The top scorer was Tommaso Rocchi with 19 goals (16 in A).
Lazio would then qualify for the Champions League beating Dinamo Bucharest 4-2 on aggregate.
Messina finished 20th and relegated. In the remaining games they drew 2 and lost 6. They tried changing managers from Giordano to Bruno Bolchi but to no avail. The top scorer was Riganò with 19 league goals.
The Scudetto was won by Inter for the 15th time. For Serie B football it was Ascoli, Chievo and Messina (the Sicilians have not been seen again while Chievo bounced straight back and stayed another ten years but now play in amateur leagues).
Let's talk about Guglielmo Stendardo
Guglielmo Stendardo was born in Naples, on May 6, 1981.
He was formed in the Napoli youth sector and made his debut for the first team on May 16, 1998. This game would remain his one and only appearance for his hometown club.
In the summer of 1998 he moved to Sampdoria where he would stay for 4 full seasons, 3 of them in serie B. He played 33 games in Serie B and 14 in Coppa Italia.
In his fifth year in Genoa half way through the season he moved to Salernitana in serie B. He would stay in Salerno only one year making 17 league appearances.
The following year found him in Sicily at Catania. He made 42 appearances in Serie B (1 goal) and 1 in Coppa Italia.
His next stop was Perugia where he played 32 games (2 goals) in Serie B and 2 in Coppa Italia.
His Serie B experience finally came to an end in 2005 when he signed for Lazio in Serie A. In his first year, under manager Delio Rossi, he played 18 games (1 goal) and 3 in Coppa Italia. The year after he increased his appearances to 21 (3 goals) and 3 in Coppa Italia. The 2007-2008 started well for Stendardo who became Lazio's first choice centre- back in partnership with Emilson Cribari, also due to injuries to Sebastiano Siviglia and Modibo Diakité. In December however everything changed. He was left out of the starting line-up away to Real Madrid and this was followed by a major bust up with the manager. Stendardo was punished by the club who excluded him from the squad (so no training either, let alone match time).
At this moment of standby in his career Juventus stepped up. In January 2008 he moved to Turin on loan with an agreement to sign him in June. He only played 5 league games and 1 in Coppa Italia but he gave a good contribution and Juventus were interested in keeping him on. The two clubs though couldn't agree on the price (Claudio Lotito is well known for his rigidity when making deals) and Stendardo returned to Rome.
Not for long though, he barely had time to unpack before he was off to newly promoted Lecce in Serie A. In Salento he played 21 league games.
Only a year later however he was back at Lazio but the new manager, Davide Ballardini, was not overly keen on Stendardo and, in agreement with the club, he was again excluded from the team list. Lazio however, despite having won the Italian Supercoppa in August (against Mourinho's Inter), were struggling and in serious trouble in the league. In November Stendardo, Lotito and Ballardini reconciled and the Neapolitan defender was reintegrated into the squad.
Stendardo was fit and ready and played well, even scoring 2 goals. Lazio however were not over the crisis yet and in February Ballardini was sacked and replaced by experienced Edy Reja. Things changed dramatically for the better, results improved and Stendardo kept his place, ending up with 19 league appearances (2 goals) and 2 in Coppa Italia.
Over the next two seasons however Stendardo would play less. In 2010-11 he made 14 league appearances and 2 in Coppa Italia (with 1 goal). The following season he had not played at all until he was sold to Atalanta in January. At Lazio he totalled 85 league appearances (6 goals), 12 in Coppa Italia (1 goal) and 7 in Europe.
In Bergamo he would play for five and a half seasons totalling 116 league appearances with 7 goals and 5 games in Coppa Italia.
In January 2017 he signed for Pescara in Serie A and made 10 league appearances. That was the end of his professional career. He had played 363 games between Serie A and Serie B (20 goals), 34 in Coppa Italia (1 goal) and 7 in European tournaments. Not a bad club career.
Stendardo was not your typical football player. In 2012 he graduated in Law. He is one of the very few in the sport to have a degree (he was once fined by Atalanta for choosing to sit an exam over playing a cup game). He put his studies to good use and went on to lecture at university. Now he combines the two and is currently manager of the LUISS University team in Rome.
Stendardo, known as 'Willy' was a physical centre back. At 1.90 metres tall he was good in the air and most of his 20 career goals came from headers. He was not a technical player and was not particularly quick but what he lacked in those two areas he made up for in tenacity and hard work. With little natural talent you don't play 363 games without dedication, discipline and a strong desire to compete. Stendardo was a classic, rugged, strong defender who didn't make life easy for the opposing attackers.
Lazio have seen far better defenders in their history but Willy always gave 100% and was popular with the fans. They certainly will not forget his full length of the pitch 100 metre sprint in Ascoli, after scoring at the opposite end from the away supporters’ sector, just to celebrate with the Lazio fans. These are things fans appreciate, sometimes more than a Franz Beckenbauer style tackle.
Lazio Career
Season | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League |
2005-06 | 21 (1) | 18 (1) | 3 | - |
2006-07 | 24 (3) | 21 (3) | 3 | - |
2007-Jan 2008 | 22 | 13 | 2 | 7 |
2009-10 | 21 (2) | 19 (2) | 2 | - |
2010-11 | 16 (1) | 14 | 2 (1) | - |
Total | 104 (7) | 85 (6) | 12 (1) | 7 |
Sources
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