Mission accomplished without any risks
Lazio easily control lame Austrians and win late on with a Venturin cracker
Also on this day:
The season so far
The previous season had seen Dino Zoff take over from Zdenek Zeman in January and earn a 4th place finish. Giuseppe Signori's 15 goals had helped Lazio conquer a UEFA Cup place and make it a positive season.
This year however, there had been a big change. Lazio had a new manager in Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson, who arrived in the summer from Sampdoria.
There had been other major changes to the squad too. In had come goalkeeper Marco Ballotta (Reggiana), full back Giuseppe Pancaro (Cagliari), midfielders Matias Almeyda (Sevilla) and Vladimir Jugovic (Juventus) plus forwards Alen Boksic (back from Juventus) and Roberto Mancini (Sampdoria).
The players who left were South-African defender Mark Fish (Bolton), midfielders Roberto Baronio (on loan to Vicenza), and Alessandro Iannuzzi (Lecce) plus forwards Marco Di Vaio (Salernitana) and Igor Protti (Napoli-on loan).
Lazio's season in Serie A had started well with a 2-0 home win over Napoli on August 31. It had continued positively with a 1-1 away draw with Milan but then had come a shock 0-1 defeat at Empoli (with a goal by future Lazio assistant manager Giovanni Martusciello). Lazio then had won 3 (including derby 3-1 in ten men), drawn 2 and lost 3 (including the last 2). Lazio were currently 9th on 15 points. Not a great start apart from the epic derby triumph.
In Coppa Italia the Biancocelesti had passed the first obstacle by beating Fidelis Andria 6-2 on aggregate. Then came Napoli home and away in October-November and Lazio won 4-3 on aggregate. Next up was a two-legged derby in January.
In the UEFA Cup Lazio had started in the round of 64 and comfortably won 6-1 on aggregate against Vitória Guimarāes. Then came the Russians Rotor who Lazio defeated 3-0. In the last 16, on November 25, Lazio had then won 2-0 in Vienna against Rapid with goals by Casiraghi and Mancini.
This evening was the return leg and Lazio were fairly relaxed with their two-goal lead.
Rapid Vienna had finished 2nd in the Austrian Bundesliga the previous season. The manager was Ernst Dokupil and he was still in his place this season.
In this year's UEFA Cup, the "Grün-Weiße" had entered the competition in the second preliminary round, eliminating Czechs Boby Brno 6-3 on aggregate. They then got the better of Israelis Hapoel Petah Tikva 2-1 and Germans Monaco 1860 4-2 both on aggregate.
In the last 16 the Rapidler had lost the first leg to Lazio 0-2 at home. It would take a major turnaround for the Viennese to get through to the quarterfinals.
The match: Tuesday, December 9, 1997, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
A sparse crowd of about 15,000 turned up on a cold, humid evening. Lazio's recent negative league results and the qualification already more or less assured oriented people to hold onto their money.
Lazio were without Roberto Mancini, Beppe Favalli, Giovanni Lopez and Vladimir Jugovic while Beppe Signori after the game in Vienna had totally fallen out with Sven-Goran Eriksson and had left for Sampdoria.
Rapid Vienna compared to the home defeat were without defender Peter Schoettel and midfielder Oliver Freund replaced by Martin Hiden and Martin Braun.
Lazio immediately took control of the midfield. The Austrians had great difficulty in proposing anything remotely threatening. Even they possibly did not really believe they had it in them to overturn the two-goal deficit. Their only tactic was the long ball over the Lazio midfield to Samuel Ipoua and Christian Stumpf but Alessandro Nesta, Paolo Negro and José Antonio Chamot were dominant in the air.
Lazio were in no rush to attack but had the better chances anyway.
In the 14th minute Gigi Casiraghi scored but it was disallowed for a foul on the keeper. Krzysztof Ratajczyk then risked an own goal trying to anticipate Casiraghi, from an Alen Boksic cross. Pavel Nedved and Diego Fuser also had shots but Raimund Hedl was safe. Towards the end of the first half the visitors had a shot by Michael Wagner but it flew about ten metres over the bar.
The game reached halftime with not much having happened. Lazio by choice, Rapid for incapacity.
At the beginning of the second half the Viennese at least had a shot on target but it was a tame effort by Cameroon striker Ipoua.
Lazio lazily controlled and had a few more chances. Boksic mishit from an inviting position and Casiraghi had a couple of strikes go wide.
The game changer or boredom breaker proved to be Giorgio Venturin. The former Torino midfielder replaced fellow Piedmontese Fuser in the 82nd minute and turned out to be the match winner.
A few minutes later, in the 86th minute, Casiraghi flicked him the ball and Venturin did not think twice and blasted a low shot into the left-hand corner from about twenty metres out. Lazio 1 Rapid Vienna 0.
Lazio were practically already qualified but better to win matches for European prestige and for the fans.
An evening which would not be remembered as a classic, far from it, but the Austrians had proved to be so innocuous so the game soon became a formality.
Lazio through to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup.
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Pancaro, Nesta, Negro, Chamot, Fuser (82' Venturin), Marcolin, Almeyda, Nedved, Casiraghi, Boksic
Substitutes: Ballotta, Grandoni, Gottardi, Rambaudi, Di Lello, Laurentini
Manager: Eriksson
Who played for Rapid Vienna
Hedl, Hiden, Jerkan, Ratajczyk, Prosenik, Braun, Wagner (73' Gruener), Zingler, Wimmer (82' Jovanovic), Stumpf (60' Penska), Ipoua
Substitutes: Koch, Briza, Hirsch, Pfeiffer
Manager: Dokupil
Referee: Wojcik
Goal: 86' Venturin
What happened next
Lazio had an excellent European campaign. They reached the UEFA Cup Final in Paris. On the way they then eliminated Auxerre 3-2 and Atlético Madrid 1-0. Then, however, a tired Lazio were well beaten 0-3 by Ronaldo's Inter at the Parc des Princes.
In Serie A Lazio really hit form after today's game. In the next 16 games they won 12 (including Milan 2-1 and the second derby 2-0) and drew 4 and challenged for the title until a precise date, April 5. They played leaders Juventus, got beaten 1-0 and never recovered. In the last 6 matches they managed to muster only one point and ended up in a disappointing 7th place. Top scorers were Pavel Nedvěd and Alen Boksic with 15 goals (Nedved 11 in A and Boksic 10). Alas, previous years goal machine Beppe Signori had left in late November due to contrasts with Eriksson over lack of playing time.
Strange but true, it turned out to be a season to remember. They beat hated city rivals 4 times! Twice in the league (3-1 in ten men and 2-0) and twice in the Coppa Italia (4-1 and 2-1), a record which has yet to be rivalled.
It was in the domestic cup, the Coppa Italia, that they lived their finest hour. They knocked out Napoli (4-0, 0-3), Roma (4-1, 2-1) and in the semi-final Juventus (1-0, 2-2).
The final against Milan was also still played over two legs, home and away. The first went to Milan 1-0 with an 89th minute George Weah winner. The return match in Rome seemed to be heading in Milan's favour too when a Demetrio Albertini freekick put the Rossoneri 1-0 up just before half time. A stirring second half performance however turned the final around. Goals by Gottardi, Jugovic (pen) and captain Nesta gave Lazio a dramatic 3-1 victory and after 30 years gave the Biancocelesti long awaited silverware.
So, a European Final, 4 derby wins and a domestic cup after thirty years definitely made it a season to cherish.
Rapid Vienna finished 2nd again in the Austrian league behind Sturm Graz. The Viennese would have to wait until 2004-05 to win their 31st title.
So final verdicts; Inter UEFA Cup champions, Juventus Serie A champions while Serie B awaited Brescia, Atalanta, Lecce and Napoli.
Let’s talk about Mirko Laurentini
Mirko Laurentini was born in Rome on August 27, 1978.
He went through all the Lazio youth sector age groups before being added to the first team squad in 1997-98.
The manager was Sven-Goran Eriksson in his first year as Lazio manager. It was a positive season as Lazio won silverware after 24 years by winning the Coppa Italia (Milan 3-2 on aggregate). Lazio reached the UEFA Cup final too but lost 0-3 to Inter. In Serie A Lazio were second as late as early April but then tired and finished 7th. The other main success apart from the Coppa Italia triumph was defeating Roma a record four times out of four! Laurentini remained on the fringes and only played 1 league game, coming on for Guerino Gottardi in the 87th minute in an away game at Bologna on May 16 and was an unused substitute five times.
In 1998 he went to Siena for two seasons. The Bianconeri were in Serie C1. The Robur finished 15th and 1st (promoted to B under Antonio Sala). Laurentini however did not make his breakthrough.
His career then took him to Novara in C2 and then lower level Terracina, Albalonga, Spes Mentana, L'Aquila, Ciampino, San Cesareo, Villanova, Settebagni, Monterotondo and Riano.
After retiring he coached various lower-level local Roman teams such as Settebagni and Monterotondo.
Laurentini was a midfielder. He never made it at top level and spent most of his career in and around Rome at amateur level.
His peak was obviously at Lazio. He made his debut making one appearance and was in the squad that won the Coppa. He was coached by Eriksson and trained alongside some Lazio legends.
Lazio Career
Season | Serie A Appearances |
1997-98 | 1 |
Source
Comments