Amarildo double crushes Napoli
Napoli fell for the first time this season against an outstanding Lazio who dominated throughout the match.
Also on this day: December 30, 1973, Lazio Milan 1-0. Lazio score in the dying seconds with a magnificent Re Cecconi goal. Lazio Legend of the day: Luciano Re Cecconi
The season so far
The summer transfer window of 1989 saw the sale of the players that had been chosen by Eugenio Fascetti the previous year, just before his shock firing from Lazio. Manager Giuseppe Materazzi was therefore able to choose his own players, or at least propose them.
So in came Pedro Troglio, Amarildo, Roberto Soldà , Raffaele Sergio and the return of Nando Orsi and out went Gustavo Dezotti, Nelson Gutierrez, Silvano Martina, Ciro Muro, Raimondo Marino and Antonio Acerbis.
Lazio were forced to play in the small Flaminio stadium because the Olimpico was undergoing a heavy restructuring for the 1990 World Cup.
After the first home defeat against a much stronger Sampdoria, Lazio then surprisingly won in Milan against the invincible team of Manager Arrigo Sacchi thanks to a Paolo Maldini own-goal and lots of defending. It would take Lazio 30 years to repeat the feat.
In Coppa Italia Lazio had passed the first round but lost in extra time against Bologna in the second.
Lazio were playing with dignity, but lacking the spark that could ignite hopes and fans. Lazio Napoli was the final game of the first half of the season and Lazio so far had won 4, drawn 8 and lost 4. Lots of draws …
The match: Saturday, December 30, 1989, Stadio Flaminio, Rome
Napoli were yet to lose this season but had lost every post Christmas match in the last three years, so where on one side there was obvious worry over having to face Diego Armando Maradona, on the other there was optimism from a superstitious point of view.
The problem for Lazio was that Ruben Sosa was unavailable. But at the end of the day it was the only problem that Lazio had to face.
Lazio were no match for a Napoli team that was obviously still on holiday. Lazio had already had a couple of chances that had been wide by a whisker with Gabriele Pin and Alessandro Bertoni, when Cristiano Bergodi’s shot put Raffaele Di Fusco in trouble and Amarildo was ready for the tap in. It was the 36th minute and Lazio were 1-0. It could have been two before the break but Paolo Di Canio’s lob hit the crossbar.
And Napoli? A couple of free kicks and not much else.
Everybody was expecting Maradona’s team to wake up in the second half, but Lazio were in complete control and missed the 2-0 with Troglio. But it was just a matter of time. In the 77th minute Paolo Di Canio went on the counter attack. Ball to Gabriele Pin who beat the Napoli goalkeeper for the 2-0.
Four minutes later Lazio made it three. Amarildo, unmarked, dribbled the goalkeeper and put the ball in the net. Troglio hit the woodwork in the final minutes.
Lazio showed that they could do a lot better than demonstrated so far.
Who played for Lazio
Fiori, Bergodi, Sergio, (84′ Beruatto), Icardi, Gregucci, Soldà , Di Canio, Troglio, Amarildo, Pin, Bertoni, (87′ Piscedda)
Substitutes: Orsi, Nardecchia, Monti
Manager: Materazzi
Who played for Napoli
Di Fusco, Ferrara (46' Carnevale), Francini, Crippa, Alemao, Baroni, Fusi, De Napoli, Careca, Maradona, Mauro.
Substitutes: Giuliani, Corradini, Renica, Zola
Manager: Bigon
Referee: Agnolin
Goals: 36′ Amarildo, 77′ Pin, 81′ Amarildo
What happened next
Lazio continued with the same pace in the second half of the season as they had in the first. There were so many goalless draws (7!!!) that Materazzi started being called Mr. 0-0. And it was a shame because Lazio ended up just three points behind Bologna who, due to Milan winning the European Cup and Sampdoria winning the Cup Winners Cup, were able to qualify for the 1990-91 UEFA Cup. A real missed opportunity that cost Materazzi his job at the end of the season.
Soldà was the player with most appearances (33 in Serie A and 2 in Coppa Italia) whereas the top goal scorer was Amarildo with 9 goals (8 in Serie A and one in Coppa Italia).
Napoli would recover from today's collapse and go on to win their second scudetto.
Lazio 1989-90
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 34 | 8 | 15 | 11 | 34 |
Coppa Italia | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 2 |
Total | 36 | 9 | 15 | 12 | 36 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
Soldà | 35 | 33 | 2 |
Bergodi | 34 | 32 | 2 |
Pin | 33 | 31 | 2 |
Amarildo | 31 | 29 | 2 |
Sclosa | 31 | 29 | 2 |
Sergio | 31 | 31 | - |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
Amarildo | 9 | 8 | 1 |
Ruben Sosa | 8 | 8 | - |
Pin | 6 | 6 | - |
Di Canio | 4 | 3 | 1 |
Bertoni | 2 | 2 | - |
Let’s talk about Amarildo
Souza do Amaral Amarildo, born in Curitiba on October 2 1964, was a decent centre forward. Not exactly great with his feet, he was an exceptional header of the ball and his classic goal was the headed lob from one post to the other.
He had a very long career and played in lots of clubs. Grown up in Pinheros, from 1984 he played in quite a number of Brazilian teams (Botafogo, Operario-MS, Inter de Limeira, XV de Piracicaba) before ending up with Internacional at Porto Alegre where he played from 1986 to 1988.
In 1989 he was spotted by Celta Vigo and had a European chance. He played well in the Liga and scored 16 goals that season. Lazio, not pleased with how Dezotti had played the previous season, were looking for a real centre forward and thought Amarildo would do a good job.
He did. Thanks to Di Canio on the right wing and Sergio on the left, plus his attacking companion Ruben Sosa, he was put in a position to score a lot. But, probably due to Materazzi’s over cautious approach to games, he scored just 9 goals in his first and only season with Lazio.
He was sold to Cesena at the end of the season and replaced by Karl Heinz Riedle.
He stayed in Italy until 1992 and won the Mitropa Cup with Torino (he was loaned by Cesena just for the tournament). He then played in the Liga for the 1992-93 season with Logrones before going back to Brazil.
Back at home he played for Famalicao, Uniao Sao Joao, Sao Paolo, Bahia and Ribeirao and quit football in 1999.
Amarildo was part of the Athletes of Christ, a Brazilian Association of Evangelical Christian sportspeople and used to give bibles to his opponents.
He played 31 games for Lazio, 29 in Serie A and 2 in Coppa Italia, and scored 9 goals.
Appearances and goals for Lazio
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
1989-90 | 31 (9) | 29 (8) | 2 (1) |
Sources