Lazio massacre Milan
Lazio destroy Milan in the Coppa Italia return match and reach the final
Also on this day: February 11, 1979, Atalanta Lazio 0-0. Lazio defend for 90 minutes and bring home precious point. Player of the day: Massimo De Stefanis
The season so far
Having only just recently spoken about the 2003-2004 season, in this post we will concentrate on the Coppa Italia.
Lazio started the Coppa Italia campaign in December against Modena winning 2-0 away in the first leg and 1-0 at home in the return match. In the quarterfinals in January Lazio had to face Parma, by no means an easy game. 2-0 at home in the first leg and a draw, 1-1, in the return match allowed the Biancocelesti to reach the semi-finals and play Milan. Dejan Stankovic scored in both games against Parma, just before waving goodbye and joining Inter.
On February 5, Lazio played the first semi-final in Milan. After thirty seconds Christian Abbiati in an attempt to clear the box kicked the ball against Stefano Fiore and it ended up in the goal. Milan were in shock and Lazio scored again with Fernando Couto. The Milanese managed to pull one back with Filippo Inzaghi just before half time but went no further than that.
Milan needed to win at least 2-0 to reach the final.
The match: Wednesday, February 11, 2004, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
This was probably one of the best games Lazio have ever played. A magnificent display of strength that destroyed Milan. The game was already over after the first 15 minutes.
Milan arrived in Rome with the need to win but Carlo Ancelotti was not really interested in the Coppa Italia and chose a type of B team to play Lazio’s best men. Andrij Shevchenko was playing however and in the 5th minute he immediately caused Matteo Sereni some concern. It was the only thing Milan managed to do in the entire game.
In the 11th minute Fabio Liverani saw Cesar move towards the goal on the left. Magnificent pass and a magnificent shot by the Brazilian who anticipated Abbiati and scored. 1-0 for Lazio.
Four minutes later Stefano Fiore made a forty metre pass to Cesar on the left. The Brazilian saw Liverani unmarked in the box. Ball to Fabio, 2-0 for Lazio. Game over.
I said game over, but in reality it was game over only for Milan because Lazio continued to push forward. Lazio were playing with a 4-3-3 formation with all the wrong players in the wrong positions, but somehow it worked. In the 35th minute, Beppe Favalli crossed from the left into the box, Bernardo Corradi chested the ball down to Fiore who made it 3-0.
Six minutes later Massimo Oddo crossed from the right into the box, the Milan defenders were static and Fiore scored his second. Apotheosis.
Any comment on the rest of the game would be pointless. Lazio deservedly would face Juventus in the final.
Who played for Lazio
Sereni, Oddo, Stam, Mihajlovic (72’ Muzzi), Favalli, Fiore, Albertini (62’ Zauri), Liverani, Cesar, Corradi (71’ S. Inzaghi), Lopez
Manager: R. Mancini
Who played for Milan
Abbiati, Simic, Laursen, Costacurta, Kaladze, Brocchi, Redondo, Serginho, Rui Costa (46' Seedorf), Shevchenko (46' F.Inzaghi), Borriello (68' Gattuso).
Manager: Ancelotti.
Referee: Collina
Goals: 11’ Cesar, 15’ Liverani, 35’ Fiore, 41’ Fiore
What happened next
The final was against Juventus with the first leg at home. Lazio won 2-0 with a Fiore double but it could have been even better as the Biancocelesti played at a similar level as in the game against Milan and even missed a penalty with Cesar. The return match was complicated and Lazio went 2-0 down, but a splendid header from the worst player on the pitch up to that moment, Corradi, gave Lazio their fourth Coppa Italia. Towards the end of the game Fiore made it 2-2.
The final was the end of an era. Nothing would ever be the same. Claudio Lotito was coming.
Lazio 2003-2004 Coppa Italia
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Coppa Italia | 8 | 6 | 2 | - | 16 |
Top appearances Coppa Italia
Player | Coppa Italia |
Sereni | 8 |
Fiore | 7 |
Liverani | 7 |
Oddo | 7 |
Top goal scorers Coppa Italia
Player | Coppa Italia |
Fiore | 6 |
Liverani | 2 |
Muzzi | 2 |
Stankovic | 2 |
Let's talk about Stefano Fiore
Stefano Fiore was part of that great generation of Italian players who dominated the 1990s and 2000s such as Alessandro Nesta, Alessandro Del Piero and Fabio Cannavaro.
Born in Cosenza on April 17, 1975, he began his football career in the youth teams of Cosenza and in 1994-95 he signed for Parma where he won the UEFA Cup. In 1995-96 he was loaned to Padova and the following year to Chievo Verona. He returned to Parma in 1997-98 and the next year he won the Coppa Italia and a second UEFA Cup. In 1999 he signed for Udinese and in that season he earned his first cap with the Nazionale and was part of the squad that came second in Euro 2000 (where he played all the games and even scored a goal against Belgium). In the summer of 2000 Lazio signed both him and Giuliano Giannichedda but left them for another year on loan at Udine.
In 2001 he actually joined Lazio. His first year was a difficult one and he did not play as well as he had in previous years. This changed under manager Roberto Mancini and Fiore would become one the stars of a Lazio in financial difficulty yes, but strong on the pitch. He was the protagonist of the 2003-04 Coppa Italia win. He scored three goals in the semi-finals and three in the double final against Juventus.
Lazio however still had not finished paying for Gaizka Mendieta, so the club sold Fiore and Bernardo Corradi to Valencia to cover the debt. With the Spanish team he won a UEFA Super Cup in 2004 and in 2005 he was loaned to Fiorentina. The following year he signed for Torino but stayed only half a season, the rest was spent at Livorno. Once he became a free agent, he signed with Mantova in Serie B. He played his last two years of professional football with hometown team Cosenza in Lega Pro.
With Lazio he played 133 games (95 in Serie A, 14 in Coppa Italia, 16 in Champions League and 8 in the UEFA Cup) and scored 30 goals (17 in Serie A, 7 in Coppa Italia, 4 in Champions League and 2 in the UEFA Cup).
He played 38 times for Italy and scored two goals. He participated in Euro 2000 and Euro 2004.
When he stopped football he became Sports Director for Cosenza. He also did some punditry for Mediaset. He then began to collaborate with former teammate Massimo Oddo first at Perugia in 2019 and then at Pescara.
He will forever be remembered by Lazio fans for the wonderful win in Coppa Italia that marked the end of an era.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | UEFA Cup |
2001-02 | 40 (5) | 30 (3) | 2 | 8 (2) | - |
2002-03 | 46 (9) | 33 (6) | 5 (1) | - | 8 (2) |
2003-04 | 47 (16) | 32 (8) | 7 (6) | 8 (2) | - |
Total | 133 (30) | 95 (17) | 14 (7) | 16 (4) | 8 (2) |
Sources
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