August 30, 1999: Lazio Cagliari 2-1
- Lazio Stories
- Aug 30
- 11 min read
That was not easy
Lazio start the season with a win, but Cagliari played well making it very hard for the Biancocelesti
Also on this day:
The season so far
In the previous season Lazio had gone agonisingly close to winning the scudetto. With eight games to the end of the season they were leading with five points over Fiorentina and seven over Milan. But a single point in the next three games reduced the cushion over Milan to just one point. Lazio then won three consecutive games but so did Milan. In the penultimate match in Florence, the Biancocelesti were held to a draw and denied a clear penalty by a distracted referee. Milan won, overtook them, and maintained the lead in the last game.
In the summer transfer window, Lazio surprisingly sold their centre forward Christian Vieri to Inter in exchange for 90 billion lire (45 million euros) plus Diego Simeone. Other signings were Juan Sebastian Veron and Nestor Sensini from Parma, Simone Inzaghi from Piacenza and Kenneth Andersson from Bologna.
The 1999-00 season opened with the victory against the mighty Manchester United in Monte Carlo for the UEFA Super Cup with a Marcelo Salas goal. Another European triumph after having won the last ever Cup Winners Cup the previous year in Birmingham against Real Mallorca.
Today was the first game of the Campionato.
The match: Monday, August 30, 1999, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
The game had been postponed to Monday because of the UEFA Super Cup.
Five minutes and the Biancocelesti were already ahead. Free kick for a foul on Sergio Conceição, Sinisa Mihajlovic was absent so it was the turn of Juan Sebastian Veron to take it, big whack, deflection, 1-0.
All downhill? Far from it. Cagliari attacked and had three opportunities in two minutes. In the 20th Patrick Mboma shaved the post and a minute later Daniele Berretta found himself in complete solitude in front of Luca Marchegiani but a great save from the keeper denied him the equaliser and then Jason Mayelè shot wide. In the 31st minute Fabian O’Neill hit the top of the crossbar directly from a corner kick. Then a free kick taken by O’Neill was saved again by Marchegiani, Tiziano De Patre tried a tap in but was walled, ball to Diego Lopez, over the crossbar.
Simone Inzaghi was clearly fouled in the box in the 50th minute but the referee was not convinced. Shortly after, Fabio Macellari had a chance but yet again Marchegiani parried a close range shot into corner. After an Inzaghi shot well saved by Alessio Scarpi, in the 63rd minute there was a penalty for Lazio. Pavel Nedved to Marcelo Salas, Scarpi came out to stop him, minimal contact, penalty. Inzaghi took it and it was 2-0 for the Biancocelesti.
Cagliari reduced the deficit in the 77th minute. Beretta crossed form the right, Marchegiani got a hand to it but the ball landed in front of Mboma who passed to O’Neill and it was 2-1.
There was a quarter of an hour left but nothing much happened. Three points for Lazio, but it was certainly not easy.
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Pancaro, Nesta, Negro, Favalli, Conceição, Veron (58’ Simeone), Almeyda, Nedved (79’ Lombardo), Inzaghi (69’ Andersson), Salas
Manager: Eriksson
Who played for Cagliari
Scarpi, Lopez, Grassadonia, Modesto, Mayelè (61' Corradi), Berretta, De Patre (52' Cavezzi), Conti, Macellari, Mboma, O'Neill
Substitutes: Franzone, Diliso, Villa, Sulcis, Melis
Manager: Tabarez
Referee: Farina
Goals: 5’ Veron, 63’ Inzaghi (pen), 77’ O’Neil
What happened next
In the Champions League Lazio were drawn with Bayer Leverkusen, Dynamo Kiev and NK Maribor and won their group thanks to four wins against the Ukrainians and Slovenians plus two draws against the Germans. The second part of the Champions League was another group phase, this time against Chelsea, Olympique Marseille and Feyenoord.
Qualification for the quarterfinals was put in peril by only getting one point against the Dutch, after beating the French twice. In the final game against Chelsea, after having drawn at home, Lazio had to win at Stamford Bridge to clinch the qualification in first place (the top two teams went through) as a bonus, so they could avoid having to play the quarter final against Barcelona, Manchester United or Bayern. They managed to do so, coming from behind in a spectacular game. In the quarterfinals Lazio played against Valencia. Everybody thought that it would be an easy match, but Lazio collapsed in Spain. Without Luca Marchegiani and Alessandro Nesta, Lazio went 2-0 down after four minutes, re-opened the game thanks to an Inzaghi goal half way through the first half, but Valencia netted another two goals and with ten minutes to the end were leading 4-1. Salas scored in the dying minutes to give Lazio a chance of qualification but another defensive blunder with just a few seconds to go, gave Valencia a three goal lead. Fans were hopeful Lazio could recover at the Olimpico, but the Biancocelesti only scored one goal with Veron and went out of the Champions League. A real pity.
Lazio, like many of the big teams, started the Coppa Italia in the fourth round games and had to play against Ravenna, who had won their group in August. Lazio, with a few Primavera players in the starting eleven, plus more on the bench, drew the first leg away 1-1 (Alen Boksic the scorer for the Biancocelesti) and won the return match 4-1 at home thanks to a Sinisa Mihajlovic free kick double and goals by Simone Inzaghi and Boksic.
The quarter finals were much more difficult as Lazio had to face Juventus. At the end of the first half in Turin the Biancocelesti were losing 3-0 and were virtually out of the competition. But in the second half first a penalty scored by Fabrizio Ravanelli and then a goal by Roberto Mancini with ten minutes to go re-opened the contest. In the return match at the Olimpico Lazio scored in the second half with Boksic. Alessandro Del Piero equalised but Diego Simeone put Lazio ahead in the 81st minute and the Biancocelesti were able to hold onto the precious victory.
Whereas on the one side there were two big clashes in the quarter finals (Lazio vs Juve and the Milanese derby), the other two games should have been more one-sided: Cagliari-Roma and Fiorentina-Venezia. But the islanders eliminated the Giallorossi and an away goal by Venezia gave them a historic semi-final against Lazio.
In the first leg, Lazio destroyed Venezia 5-0 with doubles from Mancini and Mihajlovic (with two penalties) plus a Ravanelli goal. Silver Fox had also missed a penalty. The return was just a formality and Lazio drew 2-2 with an Inzaghi double.
Inter brushed off Cagliari and so met Lazio in the final. The first leg was in Rome on April 12. Inter scored immediately with Clarence Seedorf but Lazio managed to equalise with Pavel Nedved at the end of the first half. In the beginning of the second, Simeone put Lazio ahead so Marcelo Lippi put Ronaldo on the pitch, his first game in five months. Five minutes later the Brazilian broke his patellar tendon. The scene was dramatic and very sad. The game basically ended there.
In the campionato the Biancocelesti started well and by the sixth game they took the solitary lead. Juventus caught up with Lazio in the 10th game after the Biancocelesti lost the derby. A trio of teams (Lazio, Roma and Juve) then led the Serie A for a few matches until Lazio sprinted off in the 14th. It did not last long. A loss on a frozen Venice evening on January 5 gave Juventus the lead again. Roma had fallen behind. Lazio regained the top of the table after beating Bologna in their Centenary game, but two goalless draws in the next two games gave Juve a three-point lead. By the 26th game the deficit increased to nine points and it looked as if it was all over for the scudetto. But on March 25 Lazio won the derby and Juve lost at Milan. The Biancocelesti were at -6 but the next match was in Turin against Juventus. Thanks to a goal from Diego Simeone, the Juventus lead was reduced to three points. However Florence looked as if it would be fatal again as Lazio drew 3-3 and Juventus won in Milan against Inter.
There were four games to go. Everybody thought it was all over but manager Sven Goran Eriksson tried to get the team to believe in the impossible. In the 32nd game of the season Lazio beat Venezia and Juventus lost at Verona. Two games to go, two points difference. Lazio beat Bologna away and Juventus were winning 1-0 against Parma. Towards the end of the match there was a corner for Parma. Mario Amoroso crossed and Fabio Cannavaro equalised but the referee inexplicably disallowed it.
This was the talking point in Italy for the entire week. Juve had already won a controversial scudetto a couple of years back when a clear penalty on Ronaldo was not given to Inter in Turin. So there was massive media pressure on the last two games of the season: Lazio-Reggina and Perugia-Juventus.
Perugia President Luciano Gaucci, ashamed of the lack of fighting spirit his team had shown against Milan in the last game of the previous season, stated that it would not be a walkover for Juventus. Lazio fans hoped in a draw and then to go to a playoff. And this is what was happening at the end of the first half. Lazio were winning 2-0 and it was still goalless in Perugia. But a massive storm had erupted over the Umbrian capital and the pitch was waterlogged. Referee Pierluigi Collina tried a number of times to see if the ball would bounce on the waterlogged pitch, but no. There was a problem. If the game had been abandoned they would have to start from scratch the next day. With what had happened in the previous match when Cannavaro’s goal was disallowed for no reason at all, the Italian referee felt that the repetition of the game would have been unfair. So he insisted. When they were about to give up, the rain stopped. The pitch was not in ideal condition, but playable. The second half could recommence, an hour later than it should have. In the 50th minute Alessandro Calori scored for Perugia. Juve did not manage to equalise and Lazio won their second scudetto.
Still smelling of champagne and without any training whatsoever since the Sunday match, Lazio faced Inter for the second leg of the Coppa Italia final. There were chances for both sides, particularly for Inter in the dying seconds of the match, when Alvaro Recoba hit the woodwork, but the game was goalless and the Biancocelesti won the double.
An amazing season.
Let’s talk about Juan Sebastian Veron
Juan Sebastián Verón was born in La Plata, Argentina, on March 9, 1975.
Verón left school in 1993 and signed for Estudiantes. His father Juan Ramón Verón had also played for " Los Pincharratas" (The Rat Catchers) and was nicknamed " La Bruja" (The Witch). Veron senior scored a goal against England in Argentina's 2-1 world cup at Old Trafford in 1966. Juan Sebastian became known as "La Brujita" (The Little Witch) after his father.
Veron played three seasons for the Platense club, with 60 appearances and 7 goals. In 1996 he moved to Buenos Aires and played one season for Boca Juniors with 17 games and 4 goals.
In the summer of 1996 he moved to Europe. He signed for ambitious Sampdoria in Serie A. He played two seasons in Liguria, the first under manager Sven-Goran Eriksson and the second under César Luis Menotti and then Vujadin Boskov. He made 68 appearances with 7 goals.
In 1998 he signed for Parma, at the time one of the best teams in Italy. He stayed in Emilia only one year but he won the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Cup. He made 42 appearances with 4 goals.
In 1999 he was reunited with manager Eriksson when he joined Lazio. In his first year he won the UEFA Super Cup (Manchester United 1-0), the Scudetto and the Coppa Italia (Inter 2-1, 0-0). He played 47 games (31 in the league) with 10 goals.
In his second year he played less due to a few injuries, he made 32 total appearances (22 in Serie A) with 4 goals and Lazio won the Italian Supercoppa (Inter 4-3).
After only two years and much to Lazio fans sadness he left for Manchester United for 80 billion Lire (approx 40 million Euros). Under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson he won the Premier League In 2003. In his two seasons for the Red Devils he played 82 games and scored 11 goals. His time in Manchester however was not a roaring success and he moved down to London.
In 2003 he joined Chelsea, managed by Italian Claudio Ranieri. Veron scored on his debut against Liverpool but never repeated his Lazio days, also due to a serious injury. He only played 14 times (7 in the Premier League) and scored 1 goal.
In 2004 he returned to Serie A and joined Inter. In two seasons he played 74 games (49 in Serie A) and scored 4 goals. With the Nerazzurri he won a Scudetto (2006), 2 Coppa Italia (2005, 2006) and a Supercoppa Italiana (2005) under Roberto Mancini, his former Sampdoria and Lazio teammate.
In 2006 he returned to Argentina and Estudiantes. He won the Torneo Apertura 2006 and in 2008 reached the final of the Copa Sudamericana (lost to Brazilians Internacional). In 2008 he won the South-American Player of the Year Award. In 2009 he won the Copa Libertadores and was again voted Player of the Year. In 2010 he won the Torneo de Apertura. In this period he played 189 games and scored 24 goals.
He then announced his retirement but decided to continue. He played a season for Coronel Brandsen at amateur level (28 games-7 goals) and then returned to Estudiantes in 2013 and played a further 22 times. He then played 8 games for amateur Estrella de Berisso (where he was already manager) and then in 2016-17 one final game for Estudiantes (where he was already President) in a Copa Libertadores tie against Ecuadorian Barcelona Guayaquil. At 41 that was La Btujita's last ever match.
At International level he played 72 times for the Albiceleste, scoring 9 goals. He played in three world cups and in one Copa América. He won an Olympic Silver medal at Atlanta 1996.
After retiring between 2014 and 2021 he was President of Estudiantes and is currently Vice-President.
Veron was a fantastic player. He was a midfielder who played behind the forwards. He was capable however of playing anywhere on the field and even organizing the game from the back. He had exceptional vision and would not hesitate in taking risks to open up opposition defences. He possessed good athleticism and could cover large areas of the pitch. His technical skills and his right-footed passes put many a forward in front of goal. He had an excellent use of the outside of his feet and also an accurate long-range pass. With his long legs he was able to dispossess opponents and immediately create dangerous opportunities for his teammates. He was also skilled at corners and free kicks. He was an all-round creative midfielder.
At Lazio he was adored. In two years, he played 53 Serie A games with 11 goals, 7 games in Coppa Italia, 19 in Champions League with 3 goals, a UEFA Super Cup final and a Supercoppa. He is considered one of the best players ever for Lazio. In his two years he mesmerized the Lazio faithful with his performances. He became known as "La Luce" (The Light) as he lit up and illuminated Lazio’s games. Some of his assists, such as for Crespo in the 4-1 destruction of Juventus, and his derby winning free kick against Roma are legendary.
Despite only playing two seasons for the Biancocelesti he will always be revered in Rome. He was a likable character, cheerful and down to earth and at the time known for his Che Guevara tattoo. On the field he was class, quality, entertainment and won trophies. In Rome he won the Scudetto, a UEFA Supercup, an Italian Supercoppa and a Coppa Italia. Apart from having his name in Lazio history for the victories he will always be remembered as an outstanding player, one of the all-time greats. Gracias de todo y Hasta Siempre Brujita.
Lazio career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | UEFA Super Cup | Super Coppa |
1999-00 | 47 (10) | 31 (8) | 4 | 11 (2) | 1 | - |
2000-01 | 32 (4) | 22 (3) | 2 | 7 (1) | - | 1 |
Total | 79 (14) | 53 (11) | 6 | 18 (3) | 1 | 1 |
Sources
Comments