August 7, 1999: Betis Sevilla -Lazio 2-2 (6-4 pens)
- Dag Jenkins
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
El Carranza must wait
Lazio go two goals up, miss a penalty, tire, concede two goals to Oli and lose on penalties
Season 1999-00
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had come agonizingly close to winning the title. They were only overtaken by eventual champions Milan in the penultimate game of the season and in controversial circumstances. Lazio were held to a 1-1 draw in Florence with some extremely dubious refereeing decisions by Treossi, including the denial of a clear penalty on Marcelo Salas.
Lazio had however triumphed in Europe winning the last ever Cup Winners Cup in May (2-1 against Mallorca in Birmingham). Goals by Christian Vieri and Pavel Nedved had clinched a hard-fought game against the Balearic "Piratas". Top scorer had been Salas with 24 goals (15 in league)
This season there had been some important changes to the squad. Three more Argentinians were signed: defender Nestor Sensini (Parma), midfielders Diego "El Cholo" Simeone (Inter) and Juan Sebastian Veron "La Brujita" (Parma). Another midfielder Dario Marcolin was back from a loan spell (Blackburn) and striker Simone Inzaghi was added (Piacenza). In the summer big Swedish forward Kennet Andersson had also arrived from Bologna.
Lazio had also lost an important player in striker Christian Vieri who was sold to Inter for a then world record transfer fee of 90 billion Lire (approx 45 million Euros). Spanish midfielder Ivan de la Peña had gone to Olympique Marseille after a disappointing spell at Lazio and Roberto Baronio went to Reggina on loan.
That glorious evening at Villa Park in May however had earned Lazio a shot at the European Super Cup. Their opposition were the Treble winners Manchester United on August 27. This was obviously Lazio's target in these pre-season friendlies, to be ready for the big game in Montecarlo.
So far Lazio had played six friendlies: Göteborg 1-1, Elfsborg 4-1, Helsingborgs 2-1, Atletico Madrid 3-1, Ajax 3-2 and Cádiz 2-0, a draw and then five consecutive wins.
Today's opposition were Real Betis Sevilla. Betis is the Latin name of the Guadalquivir river which flows through Sevilla. They had and still have one league title to their name (1934-35).
The Andalusians had finished 11th the previous season, first under manager Vicente Cantatore and then Javier Clemente. The top scorer was Finidi George with 11 league goals. Other important players were goalkeeper Antonio Prats, defenders Luis Fernández and Tomás Olías, midfielders Denilson and Juan Merino plus forwards Oli and Alfonso Pérez.
This season the manager was Argentine Carlos Timoteo Griguol. The Béticos had so far played one pre-season friendly, a 1-2 defeat to Celta Vigo on July 30.
The Spanish Liga would start on August 21.
Today's game was officially the final of the Ramon de Carranza Trophy. Lazio had beaten Cádiz while Betis had beaten Vasco de Gama from Brazil.
No Italian club had ever won this tournament in its 45-year history.
The match: Saturday, August 7, 1999, Estadio Ramón de Carranza, Cádiz
The final of this pre-season tournament took place in the 20,000-capacity stadium of Cádiz, 120 kilometres from Seville.
Lazio were without several players: midfielders Matias Almeyda, Diego Simeone and Sergio Conceição plus strikers Marcelo Salas and Alen Boksic.
After only a couple of minutes Lazio were forced to take off Beppe Favalli who suffered a twisted ankle. Paolo Negro came on and played on the right while Beppe Pancaro moved to left full-back.
Injury aside Lazio got off to a perfect start and after only three minutes were in front. Attilio Lombardo crossed low into the box where Romanian defender Iulian Filipescu put the ball into his own net, 0-1.
The Spaniards reaction was timid as Lazio's press was constant and they controlled the wings well too. The Verdiblancos had a couple of shots easily blocked by Luca Marchegiani and Alessandro Nesta received applause for an impressive recovery and challenge on the speedy Finidi George.
In the 19th minute Lazio doubled their lead. A flying move involving Dejan Stankovic, Roberto Mancini and Simone Inzaghi ended with Inzaghi being pulled down by the keeper for a penalty. Sinisa Mihajlovic did not miss, 0-2.
Lazio then slowed down and exaggerated with fancy touches going for entertainment over substance.
Betis, with an inspired Denilson, gained ground and had a good chance with Oli but he shot straight at Marchegiani.
Lazio went for spectacular one touch plays and just before halftime Inzaghi was denied by Toni Prats.
For the second half Lazio took off Marchegiani who had a problem with his shoulder and he was replaced by Marco Ballotta. They also introduced Pavel Nedved for Mancini.
In the early stages after the break, it was still Denilson who was the most threatening and the Brazilian shaved the post with a blistering strike.
In the 56th minute Lazio had the chance to close the contest. Mihajlovic teed up Lombardo who was tripped up by David Rivas for the second spot kick of the match. This time however struck his shot just wide.
This was the turning point of the game as Lazio suddenly seemed to run out of steam and Betis, led by an unstoppable Denilson, took advantage.
In the 63rd minute Ballotta failed to hold on to a Miroslav Karhan effort and Oli was there for the close-range tap-in, 1-2.
Lazio were groggy and three minutes later the Béticos equalised. In the 66th minute Oli was left with too much time and space and his cross goal shot beat Ballotta, 2-2.
From then on it was one way traffic as Betis pushed forward looking for a winner. Lazio had little more to give but somehow held on to take the game to penalties.
In the shoot-out the Goldfinches from Seville were more lucid and only missed one while Lazio failed two attempts with Negro and Nestor Sensini. The Ramon de Carranza trophy would remain in Spain.
Lazio had played well for an hour and then according to the manager Sven-Goran Eriksson simply ran out of energy. It was understandable after 20 days on the road, from Sweden to Holland to Spain and ending with two games in 24 hours.
The Swede nevertheless was satisfied and confident that with the return of some key players Lazio would be ready for Manchester United.
The most disappointed were possibly the local Cádiz fans who saw their Andalusian rivals lift the cup.
Lazio now returned home and had three more friendlies to get ready for the big clash against the Red Devils at the Louis II; Fiuggi, Ternana and River Plate.
Who played for Betis
Prats, Otero, Filipescu, Karhan, Rivas, Benjamin, Canas, Alexis, Denilson, Finidi, Oli
Substitutes: Bornes, Merino, Varela, Valerio, Ito, Galvez, Cuellar, Fernando
Manager: Griguol
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani (46' Ballotta), Pancaro, Nesta, Mihajlovic, Favalli (2' Negro), Lombardo, Sensini, Stankovic, Veron, Mancini (46' Nedved), S.Inzaghi
Manager: Eriksson
Referee: Lopez Nieto
Goals: 3' Filipescu (og), 15' Mihajlovic (pen), 63' Oli, 66' Oli
Penalties:
Denilson (B) - goal
Negro (L)- wide
Finidi (B)-goal
Veron (L)- goal
Filipescu(B)- crossbar
Mihajlovic (L)- goal
Oli (B)- goal
Sensini (L)-wide
Prats (B)- goal
What happened next
Lazio triumphed in the UEFA Super Cup defeating Manchester United 1-0 with a goal by Marcelo Salas.
Lazio went on to have the best season in their history. On May 14 the Biancocelesti won their second Scudetto and a few days later clinched the double by defeating Inter 2-1 on aggregate in the Coppa Italia. Celebrations continued all summer in Rome and all over the region.
The top scorer in all competitions was Simone Inzaghi with 19 goals while only in Serie A it was Salas 12.
Betis Sevilla ended up relegated. At the end of January Griguol was sacked and in came Gus Hiddink until May 2 when Faruk Hadžibegić took over. The Verderones finished 18th and went down, in good company though with city rivals Sevilla FC and Atlético Madrid. The top scorer was Alfonso Pérez with 10 goals.
Betis came up again the following year. They were relegated again in 2009 for two years and in 2014 for one. Since 2015 the Heliopolitanos have been in the top flight.
Since today's game they have won the Copa del Rey twice (2005 and 2022). In 2025 they reached the Conference League final but lost 1-4 to Chelsea.
Betis have won the Ramon de Carranza four more times (2000, 2001 2007 and 2018) but in 2024 Lazio finally became the first Italian club to win it by defeating Cádiz 1-0 (Roma, Milan, Juventus, Bologna, Napoli, Fiorentina, Torino, Inter, Sampdoria, Udinese and Lecce all failed). Tottenham are the only English side ever to have been invited but they too lost in 2019 to Athletic Bilbao.
Lazio Jersey 1999-2000
Images Sources: Football Kit Archive except Centenary Jersey (Soccertime) and away Champions League Jersey (Lazio Museum)
This was the season of Lazio's centenary so the Biancocelesti had several different shirts.
Until January 9 the shirts were the same as the previous year with the same sponsor Cirio.
There were three for Serie A. The home shirt was light blue with a horizontal black band stretching across the chest and onto the sleeves. The band was interrupted in the middle for the Puma logo. The light blue collar also had a thin black line on it. The shorts were white with a black stripe down the sides and the socks light blue with a black horizontal stripe a third of the way down.
The away strip was the same design but yellow with a light blue band across the chest. The shorts were also yellow with a light blue stripe on the sides as were the socks.
The third shirt for Serie A was again the same design but black with a light blue band. The shorts were black with a light blue stripe and the socks also black with a light blue stripe.
From January 9 and the Centenary celebrations against Bologna the Biancocelesti wore a special commemorative shirt.
It was white with a light blue band running from the collar and down the sleeves. The band was divided by a thin gold line. The collar was also white, light blue and gold. The Lazio eagle had the number 100 added to it on a golden base with written 1900-2000. The shorts were white with a light blue stripe down the sides. These shirts were very popular and sold 140,000 (40% in the UK and Latin America). They were worn by Lazio until January 20, 2001.
The away Centenary shirt was black with light blue from the collar down the sleeves. The collar was light blue, black and white. The shorts were black with a light blue stripe.
The Champions League home shirt was Lazio 1930s or Argentina style with thick light blue and white vertical stripes. The sponsor was Dal Monte.
The away Champions League shirt was the previous season's Serie A away shirt so yellow with a light blue interrupted band across the chest and down the arms. The sponsor was Dal Monte.
The Coppa Italia version was the same as the home centenary shirt but with Stream as the main sponsor.
Sources
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