Sclosa goal gives Lazio deserved win
An incredible shot from Claudio Sclosa gave Lazio a win in a difficult match
Also on this day: February 2, 2020, Lazio Spal 5-1. Lazio destroy Spal thanks to braces from Immobile and Caicedo plus a goal by Adekanye. Player of the day: Denis Vavro
The season so far
The season was heavily influenced by a player who would not play a single minute of the 1991-1992 season. In the summer of 1991 Lazio bought Paul Gascoigne. A massive deal for Dino Zoff’s side, but unfortunately Gazza’s dangerous tackle in his final match for Tottenham inflicted a very serious injury to the English player that would keep him out of the game for over a year.
Lazio had to therefore change plan and in came Thomas Doll, a German midfielder with similar characteristics and who was believed to be able to play well with Lazio’s forwards Karl Heinz Riedle and Ruben Sosa.
Lazio started the season with a draw at home against Parma, and this will be one of the main issues for the 1991-1992 campionato, that is, a difficulty in winning at home. Just two wins out of nine compared to four away wins was just not good enough to hope for a European Cup qualification. Not only. Lazio conceded too many goals in the dying stages of games. It was a physiological problem that needed to be solved as soon as possible. But was untalkative Dino Zoff the right manager to convey calm?
The match: Sunday, February 2, 1992, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
The first half an hour was very boring. Torino held the reins of the game but were never really dangerous, Lazio did even less. All of this until the 28th minute. Thomas Doll cut through the Torino defence, tried to dribble Luca Marchegiani but the goalkeeper fouled him. Penalty. Ruben Sosa made it 1-0 for Lazio.
Lazio took control of the game away from the opposition but it was Torino who scored. In the 39th minute Vincenzo Scifo took a corner, the ball was headed backwards by Roberto Policano towards the far post and Enrico Annoni made it 1-1.
Shock and horror for Lazio!!! But it only lasted a few minutes. Ruben Sosa set up a Claudio Sclosa shot from outside the penalty box. Sclosa gave the ball a massive whack that no goalkeeper in the world could ever have managed to save and Lazio were back in front. This was to be Sclosa’s only goal in his six years at Lazio.
Just before the end of the first half Giorgio Bresciani had a chance to equalise, but Valerio Fiori performed a miracle.
The miracle was not repeated in the 52nd minute when Bresciani yet again found himself in front of Fiori who this time stopped him by touching the ball with his hands outside the penalty box. Free kick for Torino, but more importantly, red card for Fiori. Nando Orsi substituted Ruben Sosa.
In the 59th minute Bresciani scored but for the linesman it was offside even if It certainly did not look like it. From then on, Lazio barricaded themselves in front of goal with Doll occasionally creating havoc in the Torino half and Orsi saving everything humanly possible.
The score did not change and Lazio won.
Who played for Lazio
Fiori, Bergodi, Bacci, Pin, Vertova, Soldà , Melchiori, Doll (80’ Stroppa), Neri, Sclosa, Sosa (53’ Orsi)
Substitutes: Sergio, Verga, Capocchiano
Manager: Zoff
Who played for Torino
L. Marchegiani, Bruno (86' Benedetti), Policano, Fusi, Annoni, Cravero, Scifo, Lentini, Bresciani, Martin Vazquez, Venturin (66' Mussi).
Substitutes: Di Fusco, Sordo, Manni.
Manager: Mondonico.
Referee: Boggi
Goals: 28’ Sosa (pen), 39’ Annoni, 41’ Sclosa
There were three players in the Torino team who would soon join Lazio: Luca Marchegiani arrived just over a year later in the summer of 1993 and joined the number of legendary Lazio goalkeepers, Roberto Cravero arrived in the summer of 1992 and stayed for three seasons, and Giorgio Venturin, who arrived in 1994.
What happened next
Lazio were unable to solve their home performance problems. Only six wins at home were certainly not enough to have any hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Cup. The Lazio fans were also highly frustrated by the team's tendency to concede goals in the last ten minutes of matches.
The main event of the year was however the acquisition of the club by Sergio Cragnotti, who would buy Lazio from Gian Marco Calleri on March 12, 1992. Lazio would gradually become a financial superpower over the next decade and achieve the best results in their history.
Roberto Bacci was the player with most appearances in the 1991-92 season (37) and Ruben Sosa with the most goals (15).
Lazio 1991-92
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals Scored |
Serie A | 34 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 43 |
Coppa Italia | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
Total | 38 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 48 |
Top Five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
Bacci | 37 | 33 | 4 |
Pin | 36 | 32 | 4 |
Doll | 35 | 31 | 4 |
Fiori | 35 | 32 | 3 |
Ruben Sosa | 35 | 31 | 4 |
Top Goal Scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
Ruben Sosa | 15 | 13 | 2 |
Riedle | 13 | 13 | - |
Doll | 8 | 7 | 1 |
Stroppa | 5 | 4 | 1 |
Let's talk about Claudio Sclosa
Claudio Sclosa was born in Latisana on February 28 1961. He began his career with the youth teams of Torino and made it to Serie A. He played for the Granata from 1979 to 1982 when he was signed by Bologna who were playing in Serie B. He stayed there for a year and in 1983 played for Como, again in Serie B.
He returned to Torino in 1984 but was there for only a year before going first to Bari, again for a single season and then a couple of years with Pisa from 1986 to 1987, where he helped the Tuscan team to promotion and also scored seven goals.
He signed for Lazio in 1988 and played for six years with the Biancocelesti, his longest stint in a single club. He was a very strong midfield player, gutsy, always gave 100%. He played 154 games for Lazio (133 in Serie A and 21 in Coppa Italia) and scored a single goal, a big whack from outside the penalty box in Lazio Torino 2-1 in 1992.
His last two years in professional football were first with Cremonese in 1994 in Serie A and then for Pistoiese a year later in Serie B.
Once he quit football he became a sports agent. In 2011 he was head scout for Juventus in Piedmont and in 2017 he became head of the Inter scouts.
Appearances and goals for Lazio
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
1988-89 | 23 | 15 | 8 |
1989-90 | 31 | 29 | 2 |
1990-91 | 32 | 30 | 2 |
1991-92 | 34 (1) | 31 (1) | 3 |
1992-93 | 25 | 21 | 4 |
1993-94 | 8 | 7 | 2 |
Total | 154 (1) | 133 (1) | 21 |
Source