April 8, 1999: Lokomotiv Moscow Lazio 1-1, Cup Winners Cup
- Lazio Stories
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The return of the Alien
Boksic returns from injury and scores fundamental goal
The season so far
The summer of 1998 was an interesting transfer window. President Sergio Cragnotti wanted to add greater quality to the squad but also wanted to cash in on players that after the Coppa Italia win in the extraordinary previous season would now be worth a lot more. Those who left were Diego Fuser (Parma), José Chamot and Vladimir Jugovic to Atletico Madrid, Pierluigi Casiraghi to Chelsea and Beppe Signori, on return from his loan to Sampdoria, to Bologna. In the autumn window more players left: Giovanni Lopez to Napoli, Igor Protti to Reggiana and Roberto Rambaudi to Genoa, plus the loan of Dario Marcolin to Blackburn Rovers.
Who arrived? Marcelo Salas from River Plate, Christian Vieri from Atletico Madrid, Sinisa Mihajlovic from Sampdoria, Fernando Couto and Iván de la Peña from Barcelona. Enough? No. Sergio Conceição from Porto, Dejan Stankovic from Red Star Belgrade and in the winter session Attilio Lombardo from Crystal Palace.
A decisive upgrade in quality and fire power.
The pre-season was not so great as Lazio lost to Benfica, Deportivo La Coruña and Atlético Madrid. Without Alessandro Nesta, seriously injured during the World Cup and who would return in December, the defence with Mihajlovic and Couto was too slow and not helped by the midfield. The first major test was the Supercoppa played in Turin against Juventus on August 29. The Biancocelesti managed to win in the last second with a Conceição goal. Pavel Nedved had put them ahead and then in the second half a ridiculous penalty for a non-existent hand ball (the ball hit Lopez on the back) gave Juve the equaliser. This was the first Supercoppa win for the Biancocelesti.
In Serie A Lazio had a slow start also due to long term injuries for Vieri and Alessandro Nesta but once the two were back in the first eleven things had improved. At the end of the first half of the season they were third with Parma, three points behind leaders Fiorentina. In the 21st fixture the Biancocelesti had caught Fiorentina up and from then on, they went off alone. They now had a six-point lead over the Viola.
In Coppa Italia Lazio had been eliminated by Inter in the quarter finals.
In today’s competition, the Cup Winners Cup, the Biancocelesti had so far eliminated Lausanne on away goals, Partizan Beograd 3-2 on aggregate and Panionios 7-0. Today was the first leg of the semifinals.
The match: Thursday, April 8, 1999, Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow
A very difficult game for the Biancocelesti on an awful pitch in front of a packed house. Lokomotiv Moscow surprised Sven-Goran Eriksson with a 3-5-2 setup and a lot of running. Lazio were forced to defend with ten men, only Christian Vieri up front. But in the ten minutes of initial forcing all the hosts could muster was an Aleksey Smertin shot saved by Luca Marchegiani and an Evgeniy Khalachev volley over the crossbar.
The Biancocelesti realised that perhaps the Russian bear was not that fierce after all. A Sinisa Mihajlovic corner was headed onto the crossbar by Vieri in the 13th minute and suddenly the Russians were scared. Vieri towered over all of them so the Lazio tactic of long high balls to their centre-forward looked like the best tactic. The Biancocelesti continued to create half chances: a Mihajlovic free kick in the 25th minute saved by the keeper, and another chance for Vieri on a Marcelo Salas assist, well parried by Ruslan Nigmatullin five minutes later.
In the second half Lazio went into difficulty. First only an exceptional save from Marchegiani denied Kharlachev a goal and the keeper had previously had to save a Zaza Dzanashia shot deflected by Attilio Lombardo. It was the prelude to the Moscow goal. In the 61st minute long ball into the Lazio half, Beppe Pancaro headed it back only to find Dzhanashia who beat Mihajlovic for speed, dribbled past Marchegiani and deposited the ball into the net.
Eriksson first took off Vieri and put in Alen Boksic, back on the pitch after five months, and then Roberto Mancini for Salas. These substitutions would be fundamental. Lokomotiv were close to a second in the 68th minute when Dimitri Bulikin advanced undisturbed for 40 metres but when he got close to Marchegiani his shot was weak and Luca saved into corner.
In the 77th minute the Biancocelesti equalised. Long ball from Pancaro to Boksic just outside the box. The Alien headed the ball to Dejan Stankovic on the right who rushed into the penalty area and crossed low towards the centre, Mancini back heeled to the upcoming Boksic and it was 1-1.
Lazio almost went ahead, but the draw stood. Biancocelesti with the away goal advantage for the return leg.
Who played for Lokomotiv Moscow
Nigmatullin, Arifullin, Chugainov, Cherevchenko, Gourenko (84' Borodiuk), Lavrik (85' Maminov), Smertin (46' Loskov), Drozdov, Karlachev, Dzanashia, Bulikin
Substitutes: Poliakov, Pachinine, Sarkissian, Ryndyouk
Manager: Syomin
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Pancaro, Negro, Mihajlovic, Favalli, Stankovic, Almeyda, De La Peña, Lombardo, Vieri (63' Boksic), Salas (73' R.Mancini)
Manager: Eriksson
Referee: Veissiere
Goals: 61' Dzhanashia, 77’ Boksic
What happened next
Lazio lost the next two games against Roma and Juventus and Milan were just a point behind with five games to the end. The Biancocelesti won three but so did Milan. Two games to the end and Lazio went to Florence. The Viola played like it was the Champions League final and went ahead with a Gabriel Batistuta goal. Lazio managed to equalise with Vieri but in the second half Fiorentina were awarded a penalty which they missed and the Biancocelesti were denied one despite an obvious foul on Salas. A final crossbar hit by Vieri sealed the draw. Milan beat Empoli 4-0 and went ahead. The last game at Perugia was a formality for the Rossoneri and they won a scudetto that Lazio had deserved to win.
But there was glory in the Cup Winners Cup. The Boksic goal in Moscow was enough to reach the final which was played in Birmingham against Real Mallorca. Lazio took the lead early with Vieri but the Spaniards soon equalised. In the 81st minute a splendid volley by Nedved gave Lazio their first European trophy and the last ever Cup Winners Cup.
The player with most appearances this season was Luca Marchegiani with 48. Top scorer was Salas with 24 goals in all competitions.
Let’s talk about Alen Boksic
Alen Boksic was an exceptional talent who, despite not living up to his potential, delighted Lazio fans for many years.
He was born in Makarska, Croatia, on January 21, 1970. He is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of Croatian football.
He started his career at nearby Hajduk Split. He played there for three years from 1987-1991. He made 96 appearances and scored 27 goals, also winning a Yugoslavian Cup in 1991.
In the summer of 1991 he went abroad to France and signed for Cannes in Ligue 1. He played just once for the seaside club but a year later he made the jump to bigger club Marseille along the coast. It was in Marseille that he really started to show his talent. In his only season with Marseille he scored 29 league goals in 37 appearances. A phenomenal achievement making him France's top scorer and helping to win the league title (then taken away for match fixing scandal). Marseille also lifted the pre-champions league European Cup beating Milan in the final in Munich. Boksic was a candidate for the prestigious Golden Ball award and came fourth (behind winner Roberto Baggio, Denis Bergkamp and Eric Cantona).
In November 1993 Boksic moved to Italy. He was signed by ambitious Lazio for 15 billion Lire (approx. 8 million Euros). At Lazio he would play for three seasons (1993-1996). He played 80 games and scored 19 times. He impressed but the Lazio manager was Zdenek Zeman, particularly renowned for his tough training methods. Boksic was said to not willingly accept these sessions and perhaps didn't show his full potential.
In 1996 Boksic moved up north to Italian giants Juventus. With the Bianconeri he won the Intercontinental Club Cup, the European Super Cup and the Scudetto. He also played in the Champions League final loss to Borussia Dortmund. He only scored 7 goals in Turin, with 4 coming in the Champions League. He was criticised for not being clinical enough in front of goal and he also suffered several injuries. As it was he returned to Lazio in 1997, after only one season up north. Lazio re-signed him for 25 billion Lire (approx. 13 million Euros) so not exactly a masterpiece of economic strategy. The fact was Boksic wanted to return and Lazio were glad to have him back, even at double the price.
Back in the capital Boksic would then have possibly his best season so far, scoring 10 goals in Serie A. Lazio fought for the title until April and won the Coppa Italia. Towards the end of the season, however, Boksic got injured again and was forced to miss the 1998 World Cup in France (Croatia came 3rd).
In the following season Boksic was again hindered by physical problems but Lazio won the European Cup Winners Cup in Birmingham. The following year he and Lazio won the biggest prize of all, the Scudetto. In total Boksic played six years at Lazio over two spells. He played 115 games for Lazio in Serie A and scored 31 goals, plus 15 appearances in Coppa Italia with 8 goals, 10 in Champions League with one goal, 3 in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup with one goal and finally 14 in the UEFA Cup with 2 goals.
After some problems with Lazio manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, in the summer of 2000 Boksic signed for Middlesbrough, in the English Premier League. He would play in North Yorkshire for three years totalling 68 games with 22 goals. He was said to earn the highest wages in the whole league and this fact, along with his aloof and solitary character, never enabled him to completely fit in. Despite this he did have some highs on the banks of the River Tee. He scored some decisive derby goals and helped Boro stay in the Premier League. He showed flashes of his masterclass but ultimately left a feeling of unfulfilled possibilities in the North-East and in England.
In 2003 Boksic retired from football. Injuries and lack of motivation led him to call it a day at 33. He had been a great player but could have been outstanding.
At International level he earned 40 Caps for Croatia and scored 10 goals. He was unlucky that his only World Cup Finals appearance came in the twilight of his career in 2002, when the Croatian team of that generation were also past their peak.
Boksic was a modern attacker. He was 1.89 metres tall, physically strong and dynamic. He would drop from the box, switch flanks, attract and disorientate defenders with his runs, accelerations and dribbling. Running at defenders at full force he was devastating. He had power and skill enabling him to open up defences and give depth to his team. He was never a 20-plus goal striker (except for his season at Marseille) but all his other attributes made up for his lack of efficiency in front of goal. When he did score however they were often quality, he was no tap-in goal scorer.
There was and always will be a sense that with his talent, technique and physical prowess Boksic could have done more, a lot more. Early in his career he had been compared to Marco Van Basten, in the way he could do it all. Without injuries and perhaps a different mindset Boksic could have been one of the all-time greats.
At Lazio he was called the 'L'Alieno' (The Alien) obviously for his name but also for his aloofness and extra-terrestrial qualities. When I witnessed his debut for Lazio I thought he might well be from another planet, he was that good. In his six years in Rome he scored some memorable goals; lobs, chips, headers, powerful strikes, you name it he scored them. He scored in derbies and a crucial goal in the Cup Winners Cup Semi-final against Lokomotiv Moscow. In Rome too however, he left a feeling of what could have been. He was physically strong (when not injured anyway...) but probably not mentally. He was considered a bit of a rebel and was solitary (he has since bought an island off Croatia), not mixing as well as the others in the squad. He disliked some of the training methods, didn't play with even the most minor niggle and was once even rumoured to have refused to play because his shirt was too tight!
He will however be remembered at Lazio as a superb player. An exceptional talent who, despite not living up to his potential, delighted Lazio fans for many years. He was part of the Cragnotti glory years and will forever belong to the Scudetto winning squad of 2000, in the most successful period in the club's history.
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Cup Winners Cup | UEFA Cup |
Nov 1993-94 | 21 (4) | 21 (4) | - | - | - | - |
1994-95 | 33 (11) | 23 (9) | 4 | - | - | 6 (2) |
1995-96 | 26 (4) | 23 (4) | 1 | - | - | 2 |
1997-98 | 38 (15) | 26 (10) | 6 (5) | - | - | 6 |
1998-99 | 6 (1) | 3 | - | - | 3 (1) | - |
1999-00 | 33 (8) | 19 (4) | 4 (3) | 10 (1) | - | - |
Total | 157 (43) | 115 (31) | 15 (8) | 10 (1) | 3 (1) | 14 (2) |
Sources
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