December 26, 1943: Lazio M.A.T.E.R. 2-0

Simon Basten
2 days ago
4 min read

Not at all easy

Down to ten men in the second half, Lazio manage to win just the same

The season so far

The previous season Lazio had finished ninth. They won against strong teams but this was balanced with poor performances and defeats with weaker teams. Lots of goals scored but also lots of goals conceded.

For the 1943-44 season Serie A had been suspended due to the Second World War. Instead of a national tournament, local competitions had been organised. In Rome, there was the war championship with ten teams: Lazio, Roma, Tirrenia, M.A.T.E.R., managed by Fulvio Bernardini who also played, Juventus Romana, Vigili del Fuoco (Fire Brigade), Avia, Alba (Orlando Tognotti was the manager), Elettronica (with Attilio Ferraris IV as player-manager) and Trastevere. De facto it was a battle between the first two teams who came from Serie A. Mater had played the previous season in Serie B, the other teams were from third and fourth tiers.

Lazio had Dino Canestri as head coach and some of the players who had stayed in Rome. One must consider that the capital had been occupied by Nazi Germany. Many Lazio players had been stopped by the SS and only managed to avoid deportation thanks to safe-conduct given to players.

Lazio had played three games so far winning all of them.

The match: Sunday, December 26, 1943, Stadio PNF, Rome

The Biancoceleste attack showed all of the current problems in the first half. Completely unable to create anything dangerous against a strong defensive team despite having in midfield two players of the class of Luciano Ramella and Michele Andreolo and despite clearly dominating possession. In the second half at the umpteenth Umberto Lombardini foul, in the 56th minute the referee sent him for an early shower. At this point Mater started to believe they could win but showed all their limits. And Lazio, despite the ten men, scored two goals in two minutes. First Andreolo in the 74th minute then Alessandro Capponi 120 seconds later, both from corner kicks.

All in all, a good win for the Biancocelesti.

Who played for M.A.T.E.R.

Massarelli, Laici, Pieri I, Longobardi, Sforza, Battioni, Pisani, Quaglieri, Pieri III, Lombardi, Bruni

Manager: Bernardini

Who played for Lazio

Gradella, Valenti, Ferrarese, Andreolo, Ramella, Manfré, Mancini, Longhi, Lombardini, Capponi, D’Orazi

Manager: Canestri

Referee: Prandi

Goals: 74’ Andreolo, 76’ Capponi

What happened next

After the first round of games Roma were first and Lazio second. The Biancocelesti overtook the Giallorossi in the 14th match after having beaten Juventus Roma 4-0 and Roma drawing 1-1 against Mater. The single point gap between the two clubs remained until the end and Lazio won the Rome War Championship.

Also played was the “Torneo a quattro di Roma”, in June with the participation of the four top teams of Rome: Lazio, Roma, Mater and Tirrenia. The idea was that each team could also use players from other teams but not all participants agreed. In the end a compromise was reached: four players from the teams not playing could be chosen. All teams took advantage of this rule, except Lazio who were convinced of their superiority. As a consequence, the Biancocelesti lost the semi-final against Tirrenia 4-2. They did win the third place final against Mater.

Edoardo Valenti was the player with most appearances overall (20) whereas top scorer was Lombardini with 23 goals

Let’s talk about Giuseppe Mancini

In July 1932, the Lazio manager Karl Strumer organised a draft for the under 14s. This was something unheard of at the time in Italy. The Microbes, as they were called, kids born in 1920 and 1921, trained twice a week, had tactical and behavioural lessons, and started playing and winning around Italy. They became so famous that they were invited to play in Vienna, on June 11, 1933, for a game against Wacker. The match was played before a 45,000-crowd gathered to watch the national Wunderteam play against Romania. It was a 40-minute game.

The Microbes managed to draw the game and with a bit of luck might have even won it. The small little Biancocelesti against the much bigger Austrian youngsters left the stadium with the crowd enthusiastic. For the Italian media it was a triumph and when the kids arrived in Rome they were overwhelmed by fans, relatives and the entire Lazio first team. Giuseppe Mancini was one of the forwards of that team.

He was born on March 19, 1920. He became part of the first team in 1938-39 making three appearances. After a year on loan at Catania he returned in 1940-41 making two appearances. He then became a regular for the B team but when football stopped for the Second World War, Lazio played the Roman League in 1943-44, winning it, and 1944-45, coming second. Mancini made 43 appearances in those two years with 10 goals.

In 1946-47 he played for Albatrastevere, then two seasons at Latina and one with Chinotto Neri.

Lazio Career

Season	Total games (goals)	Serie A	Coppa Italia	Roman War League	Other competitions
1938-39	3	2	1	-	-
1940-41	2	2	-	-	-
1943-44	19 (5)	-	-	17 (3)	2 (2)
1944-45	24 (5)	-	-	14 (3)	10 (2)
Total	48 (10)	4	1	31 (6)	12 (4)