August 29, 1984: Lazio -Pistoiese 3-1, Coppa Italia
- Dag Jenkins
- 14 hours ago
- 7 min read
The three tenors shine
Three goals by their most quality players put Lazio top of Coppa Italia group
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had narrowly escaped relegation. It took a 2-2 away draw at Pisa in the last fixture to avoid Giorgio Chinaglia's first year as president ending in disaster.
This season Chinaglia had planned to sell stars Bruno Giordano and Lionello Manfredonia and rebuild the team. For various reasons however the deals fell through including players refusal to come to Lazio and disagreements over salaries at Juventus.
Chinaglia's American financial partners never materialised either so Lazio were in difficulty
A few players were signed but they were not all that great: forward Oliviero Garlini (Cesena), defenders Massimo Storgato (Verona) and Arturo Vianello (Pisa) and midfielder Fortunato Torrisi (Catania). Defender Ernesto Calisti had returned from his loan to Cavese.
Leaving Lazio were Angelo Cupini (Bari), Mauro Meluso (Cremonese), Mario Piga (Palermo), Rinaldo Piraccini (Pistoiese) and Massimo Piscedda (Taranto - on loan).
Lazio started the season with Paolo Carosi as manager (he had taken over from Juan Carlos Morrone halfway through the previous season).
Lazio's first games were in August in the Coppa Italia. Lazio had so far beaten Padova 2-0 at home and drawn 1-1 at Genoa.
Serie A would start on September 16 at home to Fiorentina.
Today's opponents Pistoiese were in Serie C. The Tuscans had finished 18th in Serie B under Enzo Riccomini the previous season and been relegated. The top scorer was Salvatore Garritano with 6 league goals. There were two Lazio connections in the squad; Sergio Borgo (1973-74, 1975-76), Michele De Nadai (1981-83).
This season the manager was Mario Caciagli. The main new signings were; former Lazio goalkeeper Maurizio Moscatelli (Cavese) and Carlo Riccetelli (Trento), defender Luigi Apolloni (Lodigiani), midfielders Mario Ansaldi (up from youth sector), Pier Paolo Bisoli (Porretta), Gian Piero Gasperini (Cavese), Andrea Mitri (Cavese), Rinaldo Piraccini (Lazio) and Fulvio Zuccheri (Cremonese) plus forward Marco Calonaci (Rondinella but originally from Pistoiese academy).
Leaving were; goalkeepers Guido Bistazzoni (Triestina) and Marcello Grassi (Rapallo), defenders Roberto Chiti (Pisa) and Davide Lucarelli (Avellino), midfielders Daniele Bernazzani (Inter - end of loan then Pisa), Michele De Nadai (Salernitana), Pier Luigi Giani (Barletta), Agostino Iacobelli (Catanzaro), Tiziano Manfrin (Sambenedettese) and Roberto Onorati (Fiorentina) plus forward Roberto Russo (Cesena).
In the Coppa Italia so far Pistoiese had lost 0-1 at home to Roma and drawn 0-0 at home against Varese.
Serie C would begin on September 23.
A must win for Lazio if they wanted to qualify from this group. Two teams went through and the table read: Roma 3, Lazio 3, Genoa 2, Varese 2, Padova 1, Pistoiese 1
The match: Wednesday, August 29, 1984, Stadio Flaminio, Rome
A sticky, humid night in Rome attracted a capacity 25,000 crowd to the small Flaminio stadium.
Lazio were only missing a few fringe players such as defender Massimo Storgato, midfielders Fortunato Torrisi and Francesco Dell'Anno. The Biancocelesti therefore fielded a strong line-up.
The "Orange" visitors were without former Lazio midfielder Rinaldo Piraccini and their top striker Salvatore Garritano.
Lazio started well and went close to scoring in the 6th minute. Gabriele Podavini crossed high from the left and it went over a defender's head to Bruno Giordano who brought it down neatly, skipped past his marker but then pulled his shot wide from close range.
In the 8th minute an excellent João Batista-Michael Laudrup one-two put the Brazilian in front of the keeper but he then slipped while shooting.
The goal came in the 12th minute. A long cross by Batista was volleyed in by Giordano with the inside of his foot, 1-0.
Lazio were in complete control. Their next really big chance was in the 35th minute when from a Giancarlo Marini corner Arturo Vianello had a free header but it went just wide of the left post.
The first half ended with Pistoiese hardly having passed the halfway line.
After only three minutes of the second half the Arancioni suddenly threatened. Future Roma manager Gian Piero Gasperini unleashed a long range shot which Fernando Orsi did well to slap behind for a corner. On the subsequent corner Andrea Mitri tried a header but it was comfortably punched away by Orsi, it then reached Roberto Parlanti whose low shot went a couple of metres wide. Signs of life by Pistoiese.
Lazio responded a few minutes later with Laudrup who dispossessed Sergio Borgo, weaved his way into the area but then hit the post.
Lazio then slowed things down but dominated territory and possession.
In the 68th minute the visitors made their first change, bringing on Giulio Iozzelli for Giannino Giannini.
In the 71st minute Lazio doubled the score. It was again a moment of brilliance by Laudrup. The young Dane raced in from the left, burst into the area beating several defenders and blasted a left footed shot past Maurizio Moscatelli, 2-0.
A minute later Lazio took of Batista and Marini and introduced Francesco Fonte and Vincenzo D'Amico
Laudrup and Moscatelli then had a clash and both were forced off with knocks. On came Carlo Riccitelli and Oliviero Garlini.
In the 81st minute Gasperini tried his luck again from the distance and this time his shot was even better but came back off the crossbar.
Three minutes later "Gasp" was again the protagonist. He entered the box where he was tripped by Gabriele Podavini for a clear penalty. Parlanti sent Orsi the wrong way to give the "Olandesina" some hope, 2-1.
The hope lasted exactly two minutes as Lazio closed the game with a wonderful move. A flying combination by Giordano and D'Amico was brought down by the former Golden Boy who then flicked it past a defender and hammered it in with his right foot, 3-1.
A satisfying win for Lazio with three excellent goals by their most talented players. If Giordano and Laudrup could always play like this even against higher quality opponents then Lazio could be optimistic.
Pistoiese had done what they could. A couple of long range shots and a penalty had kept the result slightly in doubt until the final minutes.
The Coppa Italia table now read: Lazio 5, Roma 4, Genoa 4 Varese 3, Padova 1, Pistoiese 1.
Next up for Lazio was a trip to Varese.
Who played for Lazio
Orsi, Calisti, Filisetti, Vianello, Batista (72' Fonte), Podavini, Vinazzani, Manfredonia, Giordano, Laudrup (75' Garlini), Marini (72' D'Amico)
Substitutes: Cacciatori, Frezzolini
Manager: Carosi
Who played for Pistoiese
Moscatelli (75' Riccetelli), Casella, Tendi, Borgo, Berni, Parlanti, Giannini (68' Iozzelli), Gasperini, Guerra, Mitri, Calonaci
Substitutes: Bellomo, Bisoli, Leoni
Manager: Caciagli
Referee: Pellicanò
Goals: 12' Giordano, 71' Laudrup, 84' Parlanti (pen), 86' D'Amico
What happened next
In Coppa Italia, Lazio then drew 2-2 at Varese and with a game to go were almost through to the second stage. The last game was against Roma. A point each would have meant that they would both go through but a ridiculous penalty awarded to Roma and an Antonio Di Carlo goal gave Roma the win. Lazio could still have got to the round of 16 anyway on goal difference. Genoa had to beat Pistoiese 5-0 to overtake Lazio and unfortunately that is exactly what happened with three goals in the last eight minutes. The Biancocelesti were out and Chinaglia was furious.
The beginning of the league did not improve "Long John's" mood. Lazio lost their first two games (Fiorentina 0-1 at home and Udinese 0-5 away). At this point Chinaglia made a controversial decision, he sacked Carosi and brought in Juan Carlos Lorenzo. The Argentine had coached Lazio in the early 1960s and again from 1968-71, winning two promotions to Serie A but he was now considered past it and there were even doubts over his mental well-being.
The fact is "Toto" took over and did not do too badly. A 1-1 home draw to Inter, 0-0 at Ascoli, 1-1 at home to Napoli, a 0-1 defeat away at Torino, a 2-1 home win against Cremonese, a point in a 0-0 derby , 0-1 away defeat to Atalanta, a 3-2 home win against Como and a 2-2 away draw at Sampdoria. Up and down but still an improvement.
Then things went downhill. In the next nine games Lazio only earned one point..
In early March Lorenzo was sacked and the Lovati-Oddi duo took over. They drew the first four games including the derby. Things however were beyond redemption and the Biancocelesti then lost five in a row. They were relegated but at least finished off with a spectacular 3-3 home draw against Juventus.
Pistoiese finished 16th and relegated to Serie C2 (in 1980-81 they were still in A). During the season they changed managers to Antonio Gianmarinaro and then to Giuseppe Malvasi but to no avail. The top scorer was Garritano with 9 league goals.
In the Coppa Italia, Pistoiese then lost 0-1 at Padova and 0-5 at Genoa. They later reached the quarter-finals of the separate Serie C Coppa Italia.
Luigi Apolloni (in the squad today) would win 15 caps for Italy and be runner-up in USA 1994 while Gian Piero Gasperini would become a top manager (Genoa, Inter, Atalanta, Roma).
Pistoiese are currently in Serie D for the 2026-27 season.
The final verdicts for the 1984-85 season were; Scudetto to Verona, Coppa Italia to Sampdoria and Serie B for Lazio, Ascoli and Cremonese.
Let's talk about Fabrizio Frezzolini
Fabrizio Frezzolini was born in Rome , on November 21, 1965.
He started his football with Adriatica and Almas before joining Lazio's academy at a young age.
In the 1984-85 season he took part in the pre-season training camp with the first team squad. He was then an unused substitute four times in Coppa Italia under Paolo Carosi.
In the autumn of 1984 he was loaned to Asti in Serie C1. The Biancorossi from Piedmont were relegated to C2 under Ezio Volpi.
In the summer of 1985 he again took part in Lazio's pre-season training retreat but did not stay with the Biancocelesti.
His career then took him to Latina, Foligno, Civitavecchia, Rieti and Vis Sezze.
In 1987 while with Foligno in the 5th tier he played 5 times for the Italy Amateur team.
He retired in 1992.
Fabrizio Frezzolini was a defender. His biggest satisfactions were being part of the Lazio squad and winning a promotion to C2 with Latina.
His brother Giorgio, born in 1976, would also come through the Lazio academy and briefly be part of the first team squad in 1993. Like his brother however he would never make his debut. He would nevertheless later win a Scudetto with Milan in 1999 albeit without ever playing.
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