August 31, 1980: Lazio -Varese 2-1, Coppa Italia
- Dag Jenkins
- 20 hours ago
- 5 min read
Unimpressive but victorious
Lazio make it two on two in Cup but have plenty of room for improvement
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had been relegated to Serie B, not on the field but in the Sports Justice Courts. Lazio paid for four of their players' alleged involvement in the Totonero match fixing scandal. Lazio were therefore in Serie B without Bruno Giordano, Lionello Manfredonia, Pino Wilson and Massimo Cacciatori.
The new manager was Ilario Castagner who had done well at Perugia. The Biancocelesti also had several new players to try and bounce straight back up to the top flight. Arriving were goalkeeper Maurizio Moscatelli (Pistoiese), defenders Giorgio Mastropasqua (Bologna), Arcadio Spinozzi (Bologna), midfielders Alberto Bigon (Milan), Giuseppe Greco (Torino) and Dario Sanguin (Vicenza) and forward Stefano Chiodi (Milan).
Leaving were defender Mauro Tassotti (Milan), midfielders Vincenzo D'Amico (Torino-luckily he would be back), Antonio Lopez (Palermo) and Vincenzo Zucchini (Vicenza) plus forward Enrico Todesco (Genoa).
Today was Lazio's second Coppa Italia game. In their first the Biancocelesti had defeated Pescara 2-0 away. The group then included today's opponents Varese plus Verona and Ascoli.
Lazio's league debut would be on September 14 at home to Palermo.
Varese were also in Serie B. The previous season the Biancorossi had won Serie C1 under manager Eugenio Fascetti. The top scorer was Tiziano Ascagni with 10 league goals. The squad included Lazio connections, Antonio Elia Acerbis (1986-89) and Silvano Martina (1987-89). Another squad member Luca Pellegrini would win several trophies with Sampdoria including a Scudetto in 1991.
This season Fascetti was still in charge. The main new arrivals were; goalkeepers Michelangelo Rampulla (Pattese) and Antonio Rigamonti (Milan), defenders Giuliano Vincenzi (Monza) and Marco Cecilli (Pietrasanta- back from loan), midfielders Franco Baldini (Sangiovannese), Dario Donà (Treviso), Giorgio Morini (Milan) and Giampiero Scaglia (up from youth team) plus forward Carlo Tresoldi (Grosseto but with Varese 1974-78).
Leaving Varese were; goalkeeper Silvano Martina (Genoa), defenders Antonio Elia Acerbis (Udinese) Luca Pellegrini (Sampdoria) and Rosolo Vailati (Palermo), midfielders Bruno Limido (Avellino) and Giancarlo Salvi plus forward Tiziano Ascagni (Cremonese).
In the Coppa Italia the Biancorossi had so far played two games; a 0-0 draw at Verona and a 0-1 home defeat to Serie A side Ascoli.
With only one team qualifying, the table read; Lazio 2 (1 game), Ascoli 2 (1), Pescara 2 (2), Verona 1 (2), Varese 1 (2).
Today the other game was Verona vs Ascoli.
The match: Sunday, August 31, 1980, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
A sunny but breezy day with a 5.30 pm kick-off brought about 15,000 to the Olimpico.
Lazio were without midfielder Dario Sanguin and forward Stefano Chiodi but he would only be available from November.
The visitors had several absences; goalkeeper Michelangelo Rampulla, defenders Giuliano Vincenzi and Maurizio Braghin, midfielders Franco Baldini and Luciano Facchini.
Varese looked intimidated in the early stages and Lazio took an early lead. In the 8th minute Nando Viola put in a good free kick from the left, Giorgio Mastropasqua dummied and left the ball to Alberto Bigon who wrong footed Antonino Trapani, 1-0.
If anyone thought it was the beginning of a rout they were wrong. Lazio went flat and Varese gradually took courage.
The equalised on the half hour mark. Massimo Mauti hit a clever through ball to Vincenzo Di Giovanni who easily glided past Dario Pighin and Carlo Perrone before beating a rooted Maurizio Moscatelli, 1-1.
The goal scorer must have had a physical problem while scoring the goal as he went off immediately after and was replaced by Umberto Formoso.
Varese then closed all gaps well. They did not create much but neither did Lazio. The visitors however had the most dangerous attack when in the 42nd minute Mauti surged past Perrone on the break but was blocked before shooting by a last ditch Pighin tackle. Halftime 1-1.
The second half was tactically blocked too but in the 54th minute came the key moment. Viola worked the ball well on the left before setting up Filippo Citterio who beat Trapani with a cracking left-footed strike, 2-1.
Not much happened from then on. Mauti went off for defender Paolo Tomasoni and Varese lost shape. Lazio were able to control the situation.
The Biancocelesti made two more changes themselves, in the 65th minute Mauro Manzoni came on for Claudio Simoni and in the 79th Riccardo Cenci for an exhausted Bigon.
A win is a win but Lazio had not impressed. The defence had looked insecure and the two attackers had not had a single shot at goal. The midfield on the other hand had been authoritative and organised albeit with the necessity to try and protect the defence more. Bigon at the moment was having to do too much defensively thus losing efficacy up front.
Ascoli won at Verona so the table now read; Lazio 4 (2), Ascoli 4 (2), Pescara 2 (2), Verona 1 (3), Varese 1 (3).
Who played for Lazio
Moscatelli, Spinozzi, Citterio, Perrone, Pighin, Simoni (65' Manzoni), Viola, Mastropasqua, Garlaschelli, Bigon (79' Cenci), Greco
Manager: Castagner
Who played for Varese
Trapani, Arrighi, Salvadè, Brambilla, Cecilli, Cerantola, Di Giovanni (31' Formoso), Donà, Mauti (57' Tomasoni), Doto, Turchetta
Substitutes: Nieri, Vitillo, Tresoldi
Manager: Fascetti
Referee: Falzier
Goals: 8' Bigon, 30' Di Giovanni, 54' Citterio
What happened next
Lazio then won the group. The Biancocelesti beat Verona 3-0 and Ascoli surprisingly lost 1-2 at home to Pescara. Lazio then drew 0-0 at Ascoli and qualified for the quarterfinals. They played Serie A side Bologna and lost 0-2 both home and away. The cup was eventually won by Roma who beat Torino on penalties.
In Serie B Lazio went very close to promotion but just fell short and finished 4th. Lazio battled all season with the frontrunners and seemed on course to go up. Then came the June 14 home game against Vicenza. The table read Milan 48, Genoa 44, Cesena 44, Lazio 44 for three places in A.
With the score on 1-1, Lazio were awarded a penalty in the 87th minute. Stefano Chiodi, the specialist who had never missed a penalty, stepped up and missed obviously...hitting the post. Cesena and Genoa won and a demoralised Lazio then only drew the last away game at Taranto and so came 4th. A huge disappointment. The top scorer was Alberto Bigon with 10 goals (9 in B).
Varese finished 15th in Serie B. The games against Lazio ended 2-1 to Lazio in Rome and 3-2 to Varese in Lombardy. The top scorer was Luciano Facchini with 8 league goals.
In the Coppa Italia they finished 4th in the group. The Bosini then beat Pescara 2-0 at home.
Apart from the previously mentioned Acerbis and Martina, the Varese manager would also join Lazio and become a club legend. Eugenio Fascetti first kept Lazio up in Serie B in 1986-87 despite a 9-point handicap and then won promotion to Serie A in 1987-88. Lazio have never been back in Serie B since.
Of today's squad, Rampulla would go on to have a good career playing 99 games for Juventus.
Varese are currently in Serie D.
Let's talk about Lazio Jersey 1980-81
Sources: SS Lazio Museum except Addidas sky-blue and white which were recreated using Grok Images
The main shirt was made by Adidas rather than Pouchain and was surprisingly electric blue rather than light blue. The shots were also blue while the socks were white. They had the classic Adidas three stripes in white down the sleeves and shorts.
The dark blue was not popular with the fans and from the 10th game onwards Adidas provided a light blue version of the shirt.
For some games however Lazio played with the previous year's shirts. Classic light blue with white V-neck. They were not Adidas but Ennerre.
The goalkeeper shirt was yellow and black. The upper part and sleeves were black while the lower part was yellow. The Adidas stripes down the sleeves were yellow as was the collar.
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