December 13, 1998: Lazio Sampdoria 5-2

Lazio Stories
2 days ago
11 min read

Mihajlovic freekick hat-trick paves way to victory

A hard-fought game despite final score is decided by Serb specialist, Stankovic and Salas

The season so far

The previous season, under manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, Lazio had won silverware after 24 years, triumphing against Milan 3-2 on aggregate in the Coppa Italia. The Biancocelesti had lost the first leg in Milan 0-1 and had been 0-1 down in Rome too, but then scored three goals in ten minutes to win 3-1 and give some generations the new sweet taste of success. A Cup Winners Cup campaign awaited them.

Over the summer there had been some changes to the squad. Important players arrived: defenders Fernando Couto (Parma), Sinisa Mihajlovic (Sampdoria), midfielders Iván De La Peña (Barcelona), Dejan Stankovic (Red Star Belgrade), Sergio Conceição (Porto) plus strikers Marcelo Salas (River Plate) and Christian Vieri (Atlético Madrid).

Leaving were: keeper Fernando Orsi (retiring), defenders José Chamot (Atlético Madrid) and Alessandro Grandoni (Sampdoria), midfielders Diego Fuser (Parma) and Vladimir Jugovic (Atlético Madrid) plus striker Pierluigi Casiraghi (Chelsea) and, in October, Roberto Rambaudi (Genoa). So quite an upheaval to the squad.

The season had started triumphantly on August 29 when Lazio beat Juventus 2-1 in Turin to lift their first ever Italian Supercoppa.

Lazio were currently joint 6th, on 17 points. After a difficult start to the season Lazio had beaten Juventus 1-0 away the previous week and looked to the present and future with more optimism.

In the Cup Winners Cup, Lazio had knocked out Lausanne on away goals and Partizan Belgrade 3-2. Next up were Greeks Panionios in March.

In the Coppa Italia the Biancocelesti had defeated Cosenza 4-1 and Milan 4-2, both on aggregate, to reach the quarterfinals. On December 3 they had won the first leg 2-1 at home against Inter and the return game would be on January 27 at the Giuseppe Meazza.

Meanwhile Sampdoria were having a difficult season under manager Luciano Spalletti. The Blucerchiati were in 14th place, on 13 points, only one point from the last relegation slot. They had won 3 (including Roma 3-1), drawn 4 and lost 4. The previous week "La Samp" had lost 0-2 at home to Parma.

They had also gone out of the Coppa Italia (Bologna 1-2 on aggregate) in the last 16.

Sampdoria main players were: keeper Fabrizio Ferron, captain Moreno Mannini and forward Vincenzo Montella. They had three Lazio connections: former Alessandro Grandoni (1995-98) and future Guglielmo Stendardo (2005-08, 2009-12) and Emanuele Pesaresi (2000-01).

Lazio hoped to give continuity to their big win in Turin and expected to beat struggling Sampdoria.

The match: Sunday, December 13, 1998, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

A 50,000 crowd was present on a hazy December afternoon. Sven-Goran Eriksson, Sinisa Mihajlovic and Roberto Mancini were playing against their past but Mancini was also celebrating his 500th game in Serie A.

Both sides had absences. Lazio were still without long term injuries Alen Boksic and Christian Vieri plus recent injury Pavel Nedved and Beppe Favalli suspended. Sampdoria had to do without Moreno Mannini and striker Vincenzo Montella. The Genoese were also without three South-Americans, Ariel Ortega, Fernando Cordoba and Catê for internal disciplinary reasons

The first threatening shot was by Lazio on a freekick after four minutes but not by Mihajlovic as expected, he was saving his energy for later, but by Dejan Stankovic. The young Serb fired a low shot from 30 metres out and Fabrizio Ferron did well to dive to his left and save into corner.

In the 12th minute Sergio Conceição cut in from the right wing and drilled a left foot towards goal but it went just wide. Then Ivan De La Peña tried his luck from the edge of the box but his effort was a mix between a shot and a lob and was not dangerous.

In the 28th minute Saliou Lassissi fouled Mancini at the edge of the box. This time Mihajlovic took the ball and curled it over the wall, it took a slight deflection off Francesco Palmieri's arm and beat Ferron to his left. Lazio 1 Sampdoria 0.

The visitors reacted. First David Balleri had a shot from a favourable postion but it was weak and blocked by Luca Marchegiani. Then in the 37th minute the Blucerchiati were awarded a penalty. Fabrizio Ficini teed up Marco Sgrò in the area, he beat Beppe Pancaro and then was clearly tripped by the Lazio full-back. Palmieri hammered a perfect penalty into the top right hand corner. Lazio 1 Sampdoria 1. It was Doria's first goal for 436 minutes.

Just before halftime De La Peña finally showed flashes of his Barcelona days and went on a good central run, dancing past three defenders before being hacked down by Alessandro Grandoni. Freekick to Mihajlovic… the Serb stepped up and curled the ball into the right corner again. Lazio 2 Sampdoria 1. Half time came with Lazio leading.

The second period started with a chance for Palmieri who ran onto a header and on the right side of the area, challenged by Paolo Negro, blasted a shot over the bar.

In the 52nd minute Lazio had another free kick from 30 metres out and no-one was overly surprised when Mihajlovic again curled the ball into the left hand corner. Lazio 3 Sampdoria 1. A hat-trick of freekicks, not a common occurance.

If anyone thought the game was won they were proved wrong just three minutes later when Collina awarded Sampdoria another penalty. On a freekick from the right, into a crowded area, the man in green saw a push by Stankovic on Fabio Pecchia, a generous decision looking at the replays. Palmieri this time sent a low spotkick to Marchegiani's left. Lazio 3 Sampdoria 2.

In the 60th minute Conceição crossed long for Mancini on the left, he chested it down beating his marker but his curling shot on the far post was just off target.

In the 63rd minute, after an insistent move by Lazio, Mancini headed to Matias Almeyda just outside the small area and the Argentine went for a bicycle kick that Ferron parried.

It was time for some fresh legs as in the 67th minute Giorgio Venturin replaced De La Peña for Lazio and in the 72nd Iacopini came on for Ficini.

In the 74th minute the visitors were dangerous when a Palmieri shot from the heart of the area was blocked by Negro.

Sampdoria then played their last card putting on Hugo for Vergassola in the 81st minute.

Lazio however decided they had risked enough. Stankovic recieved the ball about 30 metres out, went past three defenders and fired a powerful low right foot into the bottom right corner. Great goal and Lazio 4 Sampdoria 2.

The match was virtually won but just in case Eriksson took off Conceição for a more defensive Guerino Gottardi.

Lazio now were enjoying themselves, a brilliant backheel by Mancini through two defenders set up Almeyda but the Argentine volleyed over the bar.

In the 92nd Lazio definitely put the game to rest. Marcelo Salas ran at the Sampdoria defence on the left, dribbled his way into the area and let off a precise diagonal shot on the far post. Lazio 5 Sampdoria 2.

A good win for Lazio but not as easy as the scoreline could lead one to believe. A deserved one however as ultimately they had too much quality for a hard fighting Sampdoria.

Lazio were now still 6th but alone, on 20 points. The Biancocelesti had gained two points on both Roma and Parma who had drawn 1-1 and were now only two points away.

Sampdoria were in trouble, so much that Luciano Spalletti was sacked in the evening and replaced by former player David Platt . The Blucerchiati were still 14th but now tied with Piacenza in the fourth bottom slot (with four relegations)

Who played for Lazio

Marchegiani, Negro, Nesta, Mihajlovic, Pancaro, Conceição (83' Gottardi), Stankovic, Almeyda, De La Peña (67' Venturin), Mancini, Salas

Substitutes: Ballotta, Pinzi, Baronio, Iannuzzi, Lombardi

Manager: Eriksson

Who played for Sampdoria

Ferron, Sakic, Lassissi, Grandoni, Balleri, Pecchia, Ficini (72' Iacopini), Laigle, Vergassola (81' Hugo), Sgrò, Palmieri

Substitutes: Ambrosio, Castellini, Nava, Zivkovic, Aloe

Manager: Spalletti

Referee: Collina

Goals: 29' Mihajlovic, 38' Palmieri (pen), 45' Mihajlovic, 52' Mihajlovic, 55' Palmieri (pen), 83' Stankovic, 92' Salas

What happened next

Lazio went very close to winning the Scudetto. They were top of the table until the penultimate game when they drew in Florence, being denied a blatant penalty and were undeservedly overtaken by Milan.

Lazio finished 2nd in Serie A but triumphed in Europe winning the last ever Cup Winners Cup. They then knocked out Panionios 7-0 and Lokomotiv Moscow on away goals to reach the final. In the last ever Cup Winners Cup final the Biancocelesti beat Mallorca 2-1 at Villa Park in Birmingham with goals by Vieri and Nedved.

In Coppa Italia, Lazio collapsed in the last minutes conceding two goals and losing 2-5.

Top scorer was Marcelo Salas with 24 (15 in league) but Vieri had a good season too, when he finally returned in January, with 12 league goals.

Sampdoria finished 16th and were relegated. Platt lasted six games (D3 and L3) and was replaced by Spalletti again but the Blucerchiati then won 6 (including Inter 4-0), drew 3 and lost 6 (including Lazio 0-1) and went down to Serie B with Salernitana, Vicenza and Empoli. The top scorer was Montella with 16 goals (12 in A).

Sampdoria would not be back in A until 2003-04. They are currently in Serie B again.

Let's talk about Sinisa Mihajlovic

Sinisa Mihajlovic was born in Vukovar in former Yugoslavia on February 20, 1969, he started his footballing career in the youth teams of Borovo where he grew up. He was particularly well known for his ability on free kicks. In 1986 he signed for Vojvodina where he played for two years before the big move to Red Star Belgrade.

Red Star had been keeping an eye on him for years and had failed to sign him when he was a teenager. Now at 21, Sinisa joined a club that had a number of interesting players such as Dejan Savicevic, Robert Prosinečki, Vladimir Jugovic and Darko Pancev. In his first season he won the European Cup and scored two decisive goals in the semi final against Bayern Munich. In his second year he won the Intercontinental Cup in the final against Colo Colo.

In the summer of 1992, he was about to go to Juventus but new Roma manager Vujadin Boskov convinced him to join the Giallorossi. It was not a good year for Roma, Mihajlovic was forced to play left back and did not play as well as he could. Boskov left after a season and in came Carletto Mazzone who continued to play Sinisa as left back. Another bad year.

An unhappy Mihajlovic was glad to join Sampdoria in 1994. Under manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, he started playing in central defence. Eriksson wanted to exploit Sinisa’s ability to build and organise play from the back. His long and precise passes to the forwards, especially to Roberto Mancini, from his own half were a trademark that Sampdoria often used. Furthermore, Sinisa was great at free kicks and corners, other tools that Sampdoria used in abundance. He played for 4 seasons in Genoa, 128 total appearances and 15 goals.

After a year at Lazio, Eriksson and Mancini asked President Sergio Cragnotti to sign Mihajlovic, and Sinisa from being a great player turned into a legendary one. Pairing up with Alessandro Nesta at the centre of Lazio’s defence, allowed him a freedom of movement that became lethal at times. Goals and assists from spot kicks were trademarks of Eriksson’s Lazio. Every time there was a free kick or a corner, there was a scoring opportunity, which got even better with the arrival of Juan Sebastian Veron in 1999.

In his six years at Lazio, Sinisa played 193 games (126 in Serie A, 22 in Coppa Italia, 27 in Champions League, 9 in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup, 6 in the UEFA Cup, two in the Super Coppa finals and one UEFA Super Cup) and scored 33 goals (20 in Serie A, 6 in Coppa Italia, 6 in Champions League and one in the Super Coppa).

He won a scudetto, the Coppa Italia twice, an Italian SuperCoppa, a UEFA Cup Winners Cup and a UEFA Super Cup.

His stay at Lazio was at times difficult. He was booed by the fans for a while and got an 8-match ban for having spat at Adrian Mutu (the Romanian has never been a friend of Lazio’s and is well known to be as pleasant as sand in your underpants). He however won the fans back and became immensely popular, fans rising to their feet every time he took a corner. Lazio fans will also never forget that he scored Lazio’s first goal in Champions League (vs Bayern Leverkusen on September 14 1999), scored a hat trick on free kick (vs Sampdoria on December 13 1998) and a memorable winning goal at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea on March 22 2000.

He was strong, had a great sense of position and was able to read the game like no other. What he lacked in defensive abilities, he made up for by being a playmaker who built Lazio’s game from the back. Often journalists used to ask him “who is better at free kicks, you or Roberto Carlos?” “He was good, very good, but I was better” he would always reply.

With the crumbling of Cragnotti’s financial empire, Mihajlovic left Lazio and joined Mancini at Inter. President Claudio Lotito had asked him to stay but Lazio could not afford to keep him. He played two years at Inter, though his contribution in the last season was minimal, after which he quit football.

He played 63 times for his country with ten goals, 4 times for Yugoslavia before the civil war, 58 times for the Yugoslavian Federation and once for Serbia. He participated in the World Cup of 1998 and Euro 2000.

He started his managerial career as assistant coach to Mancini at Inter where he won two scudetti and a Super Coppa. He then went on to be head coach at Bologna in 2008 replacing Daniele Arrigoni. He was sacked in April 2009. In December 2009 he was called to Catania and was able to keep them in Serie A the first year and get the club’s point record in the second.

He was chosen by Fiorentina in 2010. His first year was not a good one but he was confirmed, only to be sacked in November 2011. In 2012 he was the new head coach of Serbia but he failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup and came back to Italy to manage Sampdoria. He stayed for two years before joining Milan in 2015. With Milan he did not do too badly and reached the final of the Coppa Italia but then following a string of bad results, he was sacked in April 2016.

In 2016 he managed Torino, doing very well in the first half of the season and not so well in the second half but was confirmed for the 2017-18 season only to be sacked in January. In July 2018 he became manager at Sporting Lisbon but was fired after just 9 days.

In January 2019 he substituted Pippo Inzaghi at Bologna and guided the club to safety. After being confirmed as manager he announced that he had leukaemia but he continued to manage the team. Bologna never reached exceptional heights but always had a safe journey in Serie A. After a bad start to the 2022-23 season and the return of the illness, the Bologna management decided to give the reins of the squad to Thiago Motta.

Sinisa died in Rome on December 15, 2022. A very sad day for all Lazio fans.

“A great Laziale, a warrior on the pitch and in life. His courage on the field was second only to what he showed in facing this serious illness”, said Claudio Lotito in a statement. “This warrior with a great heart will remain in the history of Lazio not only for having been Italian Champion, but for the message of hope in facing difficulty that he represented up until his last moments”.

Mihajlovic always remained a Lazio fan as he often stated in interviews. The last time he came to play Lazio as Bologna manager in August 2022, after the 2-1 defeat he was asked how upset he was and he replied that as a Lazio fan he was never as upset as losing against other teams.

Sinisa is now guiding Lazio’s defence in heaven alongside Giuseppe Wilson and under the guidance of Tommaso Maestrelli. Giorgio Chinaglia and Silvio Piola will be sure to benefit.

Lazio Career

Season	Total games (goals)	Serie A	Coppa Italia	Champions League	Cup Winners Cup	UEFA Cup	UEFA Super Cup	Super Coppa
1998-99	44 (9)	30 (8)	4 (1)	-	9	-	-	1
1999-00	46 (13)	26 (6)	7 (4)	12 (3)	-	-	1	-
2000-01	29 (8)	18 (4)	2 (1)	8 (2)	-	-	-	1 (1)
2001-02	10	6	2	2	-	-	-	-
2002-03	28 (1)	21 (1)	1	-	-	6	-	-
2003-04	36 (2)	25 (1)	6	5	-	-	-	-
Total	193 (33)	126 (20)	22 (6)	29 (6)	9	6	1	2 (1)