August 11 1991: Rimini-Lazio 0-2
- Dag Jenkins
- 7 hours ago
- 6 min read
Lazio win on Riviera but lose Riedle
A routine win in humid conditions but German goalscorer hobbles off in first half
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had finished 11th in Serie A under manager Dino Zoff. The Biancocelesti won 8, drew 17 and lost 7. Lazio’s best result was defeating Juventus 1-0 at home while both derbies were draws.
Zoff had been confirmed but this new season was largely influenced by a player who would not even be involved, English star Paul Gascoigne. Lazio had made a deal with Tottenham for Gazza but the Geordie midfielder had ruptured the cruciate ligaments in his right knee with his infamous tackle in the FA Cup Final. His official arrival at Lazio would therefore be for the successive 1992-1993 season.
In the meantime, Lazio had mitigated the setback by signing rated German midfielder Thomas Doll from Hamburger SV. In had also come defender Gigi Corino (Triestina), midfielder Giovanni Stroppa (Milan) and striker Berardino Capocchiano (TSV Havelse).
Leaving Lazio were midfielders Sergio Domini (Brescia) and Pedro Troglio (Ascoli). The Argentinian had to make space for Doll, as there was still a three foreign player limit. Striker Alessandro Bertoni also left after two years (back home to Reggiana).
This was Lazio's sixth summer friendly: TSV 1958 Dasing 3-0, Seefeld 11-0, Hamburger SV 1-0, Czechoslovakia 1-1 and Genoa 1-1.
Serie A would start on September 1 and the Coppa Italia on August 29.
Rimini were in Serie C2. The previous season the Biancorossi had finished 7th under Vittorio Spimi. The top scorer was Daniele Tani with 8 league goals. An interesting player in the squad was former Lazio, Dario Sanguin (1980-82).
This season Spimi was staying on but the squad had been revolutionised. The main new players were: goalkeeper Marco Cerioni, defenders Cristian Cecchi, Giulio Cotecchia, Mirco Fantini, Luca Cristioni and Vincenzo Prochilo, midfielders Stefano Argilli, Andrea Bonacini, Dario Coppola, Daniele Simeoni, Andrea Pinelli plus forwards Mirco Casadei Parlanti, Renato Lo Masto and Michele Gentile.
Leaving were: defenders Marco Brinoni, Fabio Castellani, Marco Cericola, Giuseppe Pecorelli and Piero Turci, midfielders Claudio Leonardi, Dario Sanguin (Trento), Cristian Protti, Onelio Tavolieri and Franco Zanchi plus forwards Gabriele Baldassari, Alessandro Del Fattore, Nicola Gennaretti, Andrea Telesio and Ettore Turchi.
The Serie C2 for Rimini would start on September 8 against Castel di Sangro.
The match: Sunday, August 11, 1991, Stadio Romeo Neri, Rimini
It was a hot and sticky evening on the Riviera Romagnola.
Lazio tampered with their starting line-up and left out goalkeeper Valerio Fiori, defenders Angelo Gregucci and Cristiano Bergodi plus midfielder Claudio Sclosa. There were therefore chances for Fernando Orsi (then Giovanni Cascione), Rufo Emiliano Verga, Davide Lampugnani and Stefano Melchiori. The Biancocelesti were also still without defenders Raffaele Sergio and Roberto Soldà.
The hosts started with energy and desire and pegged Lazio back. The forwards Renato Lo Masto and Luca Paganelli were lively albeit without causing any major dangers.
Lazio slowly stirred, led by their Germanic duo. In the 14th minute Thomas Doll conquered the ball in midfield, dribbled past three opponents and fed Karl-Heinz Riedle who went round the keeper and scored, 0-1.
Three minutes later the former Werder Bremen forward was the assist man as he set up Gabriele Pin who volleyed in for Lazio's second, 0-2.
For the whole first half it was Doll who stole the show with class and intelligence.
In the 37th minute Lazio suffered a setback as Riedle limped off with a muscular strain. His place was taken by Berardino Capocchiano.
For the second half Lazio made four changes: off went Fernando Orsi, Roberto Bacci, Pin and Doll and on came Giovanni Cascione, Claudio Vertova, Claudio Sclosa and Maurizio Neri. Rimini made one and on came Roma captain Giuseppe Giannini's brother Corrado and they had already made another one towards the end of the first half.
Without the Germans and Pin the Biancocelesti lost quality and it was only Giovanni Stroppa who looked interested.
In the 55th even Ruben Sosa went off and was replaced by Franco Marchegiani. The hosts also made three more substitutions.
In the first twenty minutes of the second half it was the Biancorossi from Romagna who attacked more and seriously threatened a couple of times. Young keeper Cascione had to dive low to stop a Daniele Tani header and some minutes later was reactive on a Mirko Parlanti effort.
Rimini then took off Cristian Cecchi and Tani and lost vigor. One of the replacements was called Nanni but no relation to the great Scudetto hero Franco Nanni.
In the last quarter of the game Lazio took control again. Stroppa hit a crossbar and then Capocchiano tried to imitate Riedle by going round the keeper but was fouled just outside the area. Sclosa took the free kick but hit Vincenzo Prochilo and on the rebound Sclosa forced Mirco Marinelli into a miraculous save. Final score Rimini 0 Lazio 2.
A game with both positives and negatives. A decent result (Roma had only won 1-0 two weeks before) and despite the heat some good moves and attacking movements. On the down side there was Riedle's injury and the fact that Lazio had long periods when they seemed apathetic and were forced on the backfoot by a C2 team.
Rimini came out head high and could presumably have a better season than the previous one.
Lazio now had three more friendlies before things got serious; Perugia, Milan and Real Madrid.
Fortunately Riedle's twinge turned out to be nothing too serious and he would be back on August 19.
Who played for Rimini
Marinelli, Simeoni (57' Cristioni), Prochilo, Pinelli (40' Dominici), La Scala (55' Valentini), Cecchi (67' Coccia), Parlanti, Cangini, Lo Masto (55' Gennari), Tani (61' Nanni), Paganelli (46' Giannini)
Manager: Spimi
Who played for Lazio
Orsi (46' Cascione), Corino, Bacci (46' Vertova), Pin (46' Sclosa), Lampugnani, Verga, Stroppa, Doll (46' Neri), Riedle (37' Capocchiano), Melchiori, Sosa (55' Marchegiani)
Manager: Zoff
Referee: Masulli
Goals: 14' Riedle, 17' Pin
What happened next
Lazio finished 11th in Serie A. The Biancocelesti won 8, drew 17 and lost 7. Lazio’s best result was defeating Juventus 1-0 at home while both derbies were draws. The top scorer was Ruben Sosa with 15 goals (13 in A as Karl-Heinz Riedle).
In the Coppa Italia Lazio reached the last 16. The Biancocelesti beat Fidelis Andria 5-2 but then lost 0-2 to Torino, both on aggregate.
Rimini finished 4th in C2 and their top scorer was Lo Masto with 8 league goals.
Rimini went bust in December 2025 while in Serie C and despite having won their first ever Serie C Coppa Italia in April 2025. The council is trying to find a new group of owners who could start a new club from the amateur divisions.
The 1991-92 Scudetto was won by Milan while Parma lifted their historic first Coppa Italia.
Lazio Jersey 1991-92
Image Sources: SS Lazio Museum (top three), Football Kit Archive (bottom three)
The home shirt was similar to the previous year. It was still light blue but slightly darker. There were now different and less visible patterns embroidered into the polyester material, the white collar had a thin light blue and a dark blue line, the material along the buttons was dark blue (instead of light blue) and the numbers on the back were now larger. The shorts were white with a dark blue and light blue pattern down the sides and the socks were also white.
The away shirts were yellow with similar patterns to the home strip and were even more similar to the previous year's. Only the collar was dark blue while the shorts were yellow with dark blue and white on the sides and the socks were also yellow.
The goalkeeper' jerseys were usually green with a V-shaped pattern from the chest up to the shoulders made of green and black triangles with a red outline or yellow with black and yellow triangles. The shirts were large, thick and bulky and not particularly comfortable according to the keepers.
For the third year running the shirts were Umbro while the main sponsor changed from Cassa di Risparmio di Roma to Banco di Santo Spirito (the same banking institution however).
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