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December 24, 1966: Mantova Lazio 0-0

Writer's picture: Simon BastenSimon Basten

Updated: Dec 27, 2024

Good point


Lazio defend well and manage to get a point at a difficult ground



Also on this day:

Source Regione Lombardia
Source Regione Lombardia

The season so far

 

The previous season Lazio arrived 12th. It had been a disappointing season even if there had been a derby win and one in Milan. However, once relegation had been avoided the Biancocelesti stopped playing, getting one point in the last four games.

 

Manager Umberto Mannocci had been confirmed and new entries had been Sergio Castelletti, Rino Marchesi and the return of Giancarlo Morrone, all from Fiorentina, Arrigo Dolso (Udinese), Giuseppe Massa (Internapoli), Romano Bagatti (Varese) and Enrico Burlando (Massese). Leaving the Biancocelesti were Vincenzo Gasperi (Varese), Giampiero Vitali (Fiorentina), Nicola Ciccolo (Vicenza), Antonio Renna (Varese), Orlando Rozzoni (Spal) plus the loan of Nello Governato to Inter. In the autumn Pietro Adorni arrived from Napoli and Governato, who had not fitted in at inter, was loaned to Vicenza.

 

In Coppa Italia Lazio had been eliminated by Lecco in the second round. In the Mitropa Cup the Biancocelesti had eliminated Red Star Belgrade 4-2 on aggregate.

 

In Serie A, the Biancocelesti had been even more disappointing than the previous year. They were 15th, in the relegation zone (four would go down to Serie B due to the decision to reduce the Serie A teams to 16 following the 1966 World Cup debacle against North Korea) and had a long way to go to get out of the troubled waters. They had won only twice, drawn five and lost five, including the derby. Mannocci was sacked in November and replaced by Maino Neri.


The previous Sunday Lazio had surprisingly beaten Inter at home and were now full of enthusiasm.

 

The Match: Sunday December 26, 1966, Stadio Comunale Danilo Martelli, Mantova

 

Lazio, fresh from the extraordinary victory over Inter six days earlier, were full of confidence and wanted to move away from the bottom of the table. Mantova, in good form and in a tranquil position, had to do without three important players such as Gustavo Giagnoni, Biagio Catalano and Torbjorn Jonsson, who had already returned to Sweden for the Christmas holidays.


Sprint start for the home team and Biancocelesti on the defensive. In the 8th minute Gianni Corelli gave a great assist to Gaetano Salvemini who shot directly at Idilio Cei. Six minutes later Carlo Volpi challenged the Lazio keeper who made a difficult save. In the 30th minute there was a clash between Beniamino Di Giacomo and Paolo Carosi. The Mantova forward, from the ground, first kicked the Biancoceleste midfield player and then punched him. Carosi chased his opponent threateningly without being able to take revenge. Red card for the two, certainly excessive for the Lazio midfielder.


In the second half too the teams were unable to create anything dangerous and the match was of a very modest level. Five minutes from time, however, Lazio had a chance. Vito D'Amato finally managed to free himself from Mirco Pavinato's ruthless marking and ran like a train towards Dino Zoff who managed to save the result with a courageous exit. The goalkeeper suffered a bad blow to the head and remained on the ground for three minutes before recovering.


A good draw for the Biancocelesti who could now relax for the Christmas holidays.


Who played for Mantova

 

Zoff, Scesa, Pavinato, Volpi, Spanio, De Paoli, Spelta, Corelli, Di Giacomo, Salvemini, Tomeazzi

Manager: Cadè


Who played for Lazio


Manager: Neri


Referee: Di Tonno


What happened next

 

At the end of the first half of the season Lazio were 14th but the battle to avoid relegation was going to be a long one. With four games to the end, the Biancocelesti were 12th together with Spal and Brescia and one point ahead of Vicenza. Foggia, Venezia and Lecco were already doomed. Lazio played at home to Brescia knowing that a victory would probably get them out of the relegation battle. They lost as they did the next game at Bologna too. With two games to go, Brescia 28 points, Vicenza 27, Spal 26, Lazio 25.


In the last match at home the Biancocelesti managed to beat Foggia while Vicenza and Brescia lost and Spal drew. With one game to go, Spal, Vicenza and Lazio had 27 points and Brescia 28. Final games: Juventus-Lazio, Brescia-Cagliari, Vicenza-Bologna and Spal-Venezia.

 

At the end of the first half Vicenza and Lazio were 0-0, Spal and Brescia were losing. There was still hope, but in the second half Lazio collapsed and Spal turned the game around. The Biancocelesti were relegated by one point.


The worst thing about this season were the 10 goalless draws. Which really showed that the attack in particular was greatly under par.


The players with most appearances were Carosi and Morrone (38), top scorer was Bagatti with 7 goals.


Let's talk about Enrico Burlando


Source Lazio Wiki
Source Lazio Wiki

Enrico Burlando was born on August 5 1944 in La Spezia. He debuted professionally with Pietrasanta in Serie D in 1964 and a year later he signed for Massese in Serie C. Here he played really well scoring 10 goals in 31 appearances. Lazio set their eyes on him and in 1966 he joined the Biancocelesti.


It was not a good year for Lazio, ending in relegation. Burlando played 24 games, 19 in Serie A, one in Coppa Italia and 4 in Mitropa Cup. He often played for the reserves team. In 1967 he joined Varese in Serie A. After a season he left and signed for Monza where he stayed for two years, followed by a season in Pisa, both experiences in Serie B.


In 1971 he signed for Piacenza in Serie C where he played regularly for two seasons and even became captain of the team. His last three years of active football were with Udinese in Serie C where he played from 1973 to 1976.


Once he stopped playing, he became a manager coaching Pordenone between 1979 and 1981 and Pro Gorizia in 1982-83. He was manager for the Udinese Primavera team from 1983 to 1985 and assistant coach for Triestina from 1985 to 1988. His last experience was head coach for Pordenone in 2003.


Lazio Career

Season

Total appearances

Serie A

Coppa Italia

Mitropa Cup

1966-67

24

19

1

4

Sources



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