August 4, 1991: Hamburger SV Lazio 0-1

Simon Basten
Aug 4
4 min read

Updated: Sep 8

Capocchiano day

A Capocchiano goal gives Lazio a prestigious victory in Germany

Player of the day: Berardino Capocchiano

Player of the day: August 4, 2013: Panathinaikos Lazio 0-0. Lazio struggle and still have work to do if they want to be in decent form for the Supercoppa

The season so far

The season was influenced by a player who would not play a single minute of the 1991-92 season. In the summer of 1991 Lazio bought Paul Gascoigne. A massive deal for Dino Zoff’s side, but unfortunately Gazza's reckless tackle in his final match for Tottenham inflicted a very serious injury on the English player that would keep him out of the game for over a year.

Lazio had to therefore change their plans and in came Thomas Doll, a German midfielder with similar characteristics who was believed to be able to combine well with Lazio’s forwards Karl-Heinz Riedle and Ruben Sosa. Other signings were defenders Luigi Corino (Triestina) and Rufo Emiliano Verga (Bologna), midfielders Stefano Melchiori (Reggina) and Giovanni Stroppa (Milan) plus forwards Maurizio Neri (Pisa) and Berardino Capocchiano (TSV Havelse). Leaving Lazio were Sergio Domini (Brescia), Pedro Troglio (Ascoli), Alessandro Bertoni (Reggiana), Franco Marchegiani (Pisa) and Giampaolo Saurini (Brescia).

Lazio were in their pre-season training which was taking place at Seefeld in Austria. They had already played a couple of friendlies but today against Hamburger SV was the first real test.

The match: Sunday, August 4, 1991, Volksparkstadion, Hamburg

A goal from Berardino Capocchiano two minutes from time gave Lazio a prestigious victory in their third preseason friendly.

In front of just 4,000 spectators, the Biancocelesti took on a side that had already made their Bundesliga debut with a draw away to newly promoted Schalke 04.

The first chances of the match fell to the home side, with a penalty denied for a Giovanni Stroppa push on Thomas Van Heesen and a shot from Nando that went just wide. Lazio struggled with their new defensive setup, with Roberto Bacci moved to the right, Cristiano Bergodi man-marking and Claudio Sclosa moved to left back, but they gradually gained ground. Stroppa shaved the crossbar, and the home goalkeeper made a superb save to deny Ruben Sosa, who was beautifully played on goal by Thomas Doll. A golden opportunity then followed at the end of the half, with Stroppa missing the target all alone in front of Richard Golz.

In the second half, affected by numerous substitutions, the Germans hit the post with a header from Carsten Kober, a fine effort from Doll was saved by the goalkeeper, and Valerio Fiori made a smart save on a Dietmar Beiersdorfer shot. It was a lively match with chances at both ends, but the score was finally broken in the last minute. Capocchiano converted a Maurizio Neri cross with his right foot.

Good win, excellent training match.

Who played for Hamburger SV

Golz, Sporl, Rohde (25’ st Stratos), Kober, Beiersdorfer, Matysik, Eck (16’ Dammeir), Hartmann, Furtok (16’ Emerson), Von Heesen, Nando

Substitutes: Bode

Manager: Schock

Who played for Lazio

Fiori, Bergodi (65’ Corino), Bacci, Pin, Gregucci (61’ Vertova), Verga, Stroppa, Doll (70’ Neri), Riedle (65’ Marchegiani), Sclosa (65’ Melchiori), Ruben Sosa (54’ Capocchiano)

Substitutes: Orsi, Lampugnani

Manager: Zoff

Referee: Wiesel

Goal: 88’ Capocchiano

What happened next

Lazio’s main issue for the 1991-1992 campionato was the difficulty in winning at home. Not only. They conceded too many goals in the dying stages of games. It was a psychological problem that was not solved. For seven times this season Lazio threw away a win in the final 10 minutes.

In the end the Biancocelesti arrived 10th, one place better than the previous season, but with one point less. Let’s face it, the problems had been clear right from the beginning. Only six wins at home were certainly not enough to have any hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Cup.

The main event of the year was however the acquisition of the club by Sergio Cragnotti, who would buy Lazio from Gian Marco Calleri on March 12, 1992. Lazio then gradually became a financial superpower over the next decade and achieved the best results in their history.

Roberto Bacci was the player with most appearances in the 1991-92 season (37) and Ruben Sosa scored the most goals (15).

Let’s talk about Berardino Capocchiano

Berardino Capocchiano was born on August 16, 1965, in Zapponeta near Foggia.

After starting his football career in the youth teams of Pro Sesto and his first games with the amateur club Carugatese, in 1987 he moved to Germany for family reasons.

Here he started playing with TSV Havelse and in 1989 signed with Arminia Bielefeld. Back at Havelse in 1990 in the German second tier, he scored 14 league goals in 35 appearances attracting Lazio's attention.

He signed for the good side of the Tiber in the summer of 1991 but was limited to play only in friendlies until November due to a complaint made by 1860 Munich with whom he had also signed before coming to Rome. He had told the German club that he had to go to Italy to look after his mother and sister. 1860 Munich raised a complaint with FIFA and Lazio were forced to pay the German club a fee.

At Lazio he was supposed to be third forward but rarely played, just three appearances. He just was not Serie A material. In 1992 he signed for Bari who had just been relegated from Serie A. He played more, 27 appearances and 4 goals in two seasons, but his stay in Apulia was a failure. In the summer of 1994 he signed for Avellino but in the winter, he left for Chieti in Serie C1 where he stayed until 1996. His last two seasons were played at Latina and Rondinella.

When he stopped playing he became an entrepreneur