August 17, 2005: Lazio - Al Shabab 4-1
- Dag Jenkins
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
Eagles outclass Falconry experts
A Di Canio brace and goals by Oddo and Keller give Lazio comfortable win against Emirates guests
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had flirted with relegation but had managed to escape and ended up 13th. They had then even qualified for this Intertoto Cup due to Livorno and Messina dropping out for various reasons.
This year saw the arrival of new manager Delio Rossi who took derby and relegation battle hero Giuseppe Papadopulo's place.
The main players coming in were; goalkeeper Marco Ballotta (Treviso but already at Lazio 1997-2000), defenders Manuel Belleri (Udinese), Guglielmo Stendardo (Perugia) and Emílson Cribari (Udinese on loan), midfielders Gaby Mudingayi (Torino) and Fabio Firmani (Catania) plus forward Igli Tare (Bologna).
Over twenty players were leaving Lazio but those worthy of note were; Scudetto heroes Fernando Couto (Parma) and Paolo Negro (Siena) plus the Filippini twins (both to Palermo) and Giuliano Giannichedda (Juventus).
In the Intertoto Cup Lazio had got through the quarter finals eliminating Tampere United from Finland, 3-0 at home and 1-1 away but then lost to Olympique Marseille 1-4 on aggregate in the semifinals.
Lazio had played 12 summer friendlies; Gherdeina 14-0, San Martino 9-1, Havana Club 17-0, Merano 10-0, Rappresentativa Chatillon 23-0, Mappanese 11-0, Chatillon 7-0, Panionios 4-0, Fiuggi 11-0, Alatri 5-0, Cassino 1-0 and Latina 0-0.
Serie A would start on August 28 at home to Messina. The Biancocelesti's Coppa Italia campaign would not start until December 8.
Al Shabab were a club from the Arab Emirates. They were founded in 1970 and had won 3 league titles (1975, 1976 and 1980). The Red Knights had also won 6 Arab Emirates President's Cups (1975, 1977, 1988, 1996, 2002 and 2004). In 2017, the club merged with Dubai CSC to join Al Ahli Dubai, which was rebranded as Shabab Al Ahli Club.
The game had also been organised to try and strike up some sponsorship deals with the Arabs.
The match
The game was played in Fiuggi, a small thermal town 87 kilometres from Rome.
In protest, the Lazio fans came into the ground when the game was already being played. The owner Claudio Lotito was targeted with chants and banners and "invited" to be more ambitious on the transfer market.
Lazio were missing defender Sebastiano Siviglia, midfielders Fabio Liverani Christian Manfredini and new signing Gaby Mudingayi plus forward Goran Pandev.
The difference in quality between the two sides was obvious from the opening minutes.
Lazio scored three first half goals and missed a penalty with Paolo Di Canio. The goals were scored by Massimo Oddo in the 12th, Christian Keller in the 37th and Di Canio in the 45th.
The only bad news was Guglielmo Stendardo being forced off injured after 25 minutes and replaced by Simone Sannibale.
In the second half Lazio relaxed and the Emiratis pulled a goal back with Walid Abbas in the 59th minute.
Lazio then gradually made five substitutions while the Red Knights surprisingly only made one.
With only a minute left on the clock Lazio were awarded another penalty and this time Di Canio made no mistake, 4-1 and the final score.
A good training session for Lazio albeit against inferior quality opposition. Good indications had come from Danish midfielder Keller and Di Canio on his return from injury.
Lazio now only had 24 hours before their next friendly fixture, against Colleferro in nearby Valmontone. They then had one last practice game against Rieti before Serie A started in late August.
Who played for Lazio
Peruzzi, Oddo (63' Belleri), Stendardo (25' Sannibale), Cribari (70' Lequi), Zauri, Keller (75' Melara), Firmani, Baronio (75' Dabo), César, Rocchi (60' S.Inzaghi), Di Canio
Manager: D.Rossi
Who played for Al Shabab
Rabee Juma (65' Rashid Juma), Walid Abbas, Esa Mohd, Khalid Mirza, Eid Ghanim, Nabid Talim Juna, Abdullah Darwish, Adel Abdulla, Saad Mubarak, Mohamed Rashed, Manga
Manager
Referee: Tagliavento
Goals: 12' Oddo, 37' Keller, 45' Di Canio, 59' Walid Abbas, 89' Di Canio (pen)
What happened next
Lazio then strengthened their squad and added midfielders Stefano Mauri (Udinese-loan) and Valon Behrami (Genoa) while César would leave (Inter).
In the league Lazio had a good season finishing 6th but were then demoted to 16th after being docked 30 points due to Calciopoli (betting scandal). Top scorer was Tommaso Rocchi with 17 goals (16 in Serie A).
In the Coppa Italia, Lazio beat Cittadella 2-0 but were then eliminated in the quarterfinals by Inter 1-2 on aggregate.
Keller was not a success. He played 7 league games and the following season moved to Norway (then Turkey and Denmark). Twenty-one years later the fans are still at war with Lotito but the feud has now reached a point of no return.
Shabab Al-Ahli won the 2006 league title and have since won another 5 (2009, 2014, 2016, 2023 and 2025) and another 5 President's Cups (2008, 2013, 2019, 2021 and 2025). They have also won 7 Super Cups and 5 League Cups. Their current manager is Paulo Sousa (former player with Juventus, Inter and Parma in Italy)
Serie A was won by Inter amid a lot of controversy. On the field Juventus had come top with a 15-point advantage but they were stripped of their title and relegated to Serie B due to the Calciopoli scandal.
In the middle of this crisis for Italian football the national team nevertheless managed to win the World Cup in 2006.
Let's talk about Lazio Jersey 2005-06
Images Sources: Classic Football Shirts (first), SS Lazio Museum (second and third), Football Kit Archive (goalkeeper)
The shirts were still Puma while the main sponsor (from October 1) was "Ina Assitalia".
The home shirt was a classic light blue colour. It had a round neck and a white stripe only running down the left shoulder and arm. The shorts and socks were white.
The away shirt was the same as the previous year's just without the Coppa Italia winners badge. It was therefore almost completely white but had a thin black stripe running either side of the v-neck and down the sides of the chest and then fading as they continued down.
The third shirt was also the same as the previous season's. It was therefore the same design as the away shirt but predominantly black with light blue stripes.
The goalkeeper's top was a V-neck. It was usually black with a white line down the side of the chest and then a thicker grey stripe continuing down, very thinly outlined by light blue. The white version was the same but with black and then the grey outlined by yellow.
Sources
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