August 8, 2007: Lazio Panathinaikos 2-1

Simon Basten
Aug 8
5 min read

Pandev show

In the last match before the Champions League playoff a great performance from Pandev secures victory. Are Lazio ready?

Also on this day:

August 8, 2009, Inter Lazio 1-2 Super Coppa. Lazio beat Inter and win their third Super Coppa thanks to Matuzalém, Rocchi and some super Muslera saves.
August 8, 2014, Hamburger SV Lazio 0-2. With two goals by their forwards, Lazio win a prestigious friendly against Hamburger SV.

The season so far

The previous season had been an exceptional one for Lazio, arriving third and obtaining a qualification for the Champions League preliminary round, to be played in mid-August. Manager Delio Rossi had been confirmed.

Since it was still August, Lazio were in full transfer mode. There was the problem of the goalkeeper to solve. Angelo Peruzzi had retired and Lazio were looking for a substitute. Juan Pablo Carrizo was the chosen one but there was a problem with his passport. He had applied for an Italian one but it had not arrived yet. So far Lazio had signed Aleksandar Kolarov, a young Serb left back with a powerful shot, Mourad Meghni from Bologna, Lionel Scaloni and Simone Del Nero on a free transfer. It was hoped that more would come, especially considering that Lazio had a Champions League to play.

Lazio were in preseason training at Kapfenburg in Austria, then they had quite a number of friendlies to prepare for the August Champions League qualification games against Dinamo București. They had beaten West Ham, Southampton, drawn with Stuttgart and lost against Arsenal and Atlético Madrid in the Amsterdam tournament. Today was the last big fixture.

The match: Wednesday, August 8, 2007, Stadio Flaminio, Rome

After having lost the last couple of games, in the Amsterdam tournament, even if they were against Atlético Madrid and Arsenal, Lazio were called to verify their state of fitness just five days before the Champions League playoff against Dinamo București.

The response was mixed. Tommaso Rocchi was not available so Delio Rossi put Simone Inzaghi at the centre of the attack alongside Goran Pandev. And it was the North Macedonian who opened the scoring in the 24th minute. Good cross from Luciano Zauri and Pandev headed the ball in. Prior to that Inzaghi had had a few chances plus a header well saved by Mario Galinovic, but the pace was slow on a very hot August night.

On the half hour the Greeks equalised. Dame N’Doye with a splendid free kick beat Marco Ballotta. The game got edgy and became not that friendly.

In the second half Dimitris Salpingidis was sent off in the 52nd minute for a very rough foul on Guglielmo Stendardo. In the 75th minute Lorenzo De Silvestri with a marvellous play on the right forced the keeper to save into corner. From the latter Cristian Ledesma sent a great ball into the box and Pandev volleyed it in for his brace.

How are Lazio? Some players such as Pandev, Stefano Mauri and Massimo Mutarelli seem to be in decent shape, along with Emilson Cribari and Stendardo look good too. Ledesma and Valon Behrami still have work to do. All in all, a good training match.

Who played for Lazio

Ballotta (84’ Berni), Scaloni (69’ De Silvestri), Stendardo, Cribari, Zauri (85’ Kolarov), Behrami (76’ Mudingayi), Ledesma (79’ Baronio), Mutarelli (88’ Manfredini), Mauri, Inzaghi (77’ Tare), Pandev (81’ Del Nero)

Substitutes: Diakité, Firmani

Manager: Rossi

Who played for Panathinaikos

Galinovic, Nilsson, Vintra, Goumas, Seric (17' Dimoutsos), Tziolis, Mattos, Leontiou (58' Enakarhire), Karagounis, N'Doye (46' Papadopulos), Salpingidis

Manager: Peseiro

Referee: Morganti

Goals: 24’ Pandev, 30’ N’Doye, 77’ Pandev

What happened next

Lazio managed to reach the Champions League group phase by eliminating Dinamo București. At this point it was hoped that Lazio would start to do something as far as transfers were concerned but the only major signing was young goalkeeper Fernando Muslera, temporary replacement for Carrizo forced to stay in Argentina due to the fact that his Italian passport had not arrived in time.

In the Champions League, Lazio were knocked out in the group stage, but put on a brave effort, beating Werder Bremen and drawing at home against Real Madrid.

In Serie A Lazio struggled all year. They did not have the squad depth to face the Champions League, Campionato and Coppa Italia and in the end they finished 12th. The only highlight of the season was a last second winner against Roma in March. President Claudio Lotito made amends in the winter transfer window with the signing of young Romanian defender Stefan Radu, a more experienced defender David Rozenhal, a centre-forward Rolando Bianchi on loan and the return of Ousmane Dabo. But these signings should really have been made six months earlier.

Tommaso Rocchi was the player with most appearances (48) and most goals (19) together with Goran Pandev.

Let’s talk about Anthony Seric

Anthony Seric was born in Sydney, Australia on January 15 1979.

He grew up in Australia but in 1996 joined Hajduk Split and stayed until 1999 when he joined Verona. He played three years in Veneto with 47 appearances and one goal and then was loaned first to Brescia in 2002 and to Parma a year later.

In 2004 Lazio had just changed hands and the new president was desperately looking for players. Seric was offered on loan and Claudio Lotito gave him a contract. He made 17 appearances with the Biancocelesti not leaving much of a trace. Lazio managed to survive and avoid relegation in the last game.

In 2005 he signed for Panathinaikos where he played for three years. In 2008 he moved to Beşiktaş and although they won the League, he only made 3 appearances. He went back to Split in 2009 for a year and then had three years with Karabükspor in Turkey, before closing his career with one final season with Olhanense in Portugal.

Despite being born in Australia he never played for the Aussie National team, choosing Croatia instead. He made 16 appearances and was part of the squad that obtained third place in the 1998 World Cup

Seric was a good left back but at Lazio he was merely considered one of the many last second signings Lotito made in the summer transfer session of 2004.