February 3, 2008: Lazio-Sampdoria 2-1
- Dag Jenkins
- 1 hour ago
- 15 min read
Lazio Rocchi on in the rain
A wonderful goal by the number 18 gives Lazio important win
Season 2007-08
The season so far
Lazio finished an excellent 3rd the previous season under Delio Rossi, despite a three-point handicap due to Calciopoli and qualified for a Champions League preliminary. Lazio's best result was thrashing Roma 3-0.. Top scorer was Tommaso Rocchi with 19 goals (16 in A).
This season Rossi was still in his place. The main changes to the squad were in goal as Angelo Peruzzi had retired, the choice was Juan Pablo Carrizo, but due to bureaucratic problems he would arrive the following year. This meant the new keeper would be young Uruguayan Fernando Muslera (Nacional). Other signings were defenders Alexsandar Kolarov (OFK Belgrade) and Lionel Scaloni (Real Santander), midfielders Simone del Nero (Brescia) and Mourad Meghni (Bologna) and forward Fabio Vignaroli (free agent). Considering Lazio would hopefully play Champions League football the fans were not satisfied.
The fans thought Lazio had not improved the team enough and not taken advantage of the Champions League opportunity to strengthen the squad. It would not be the last time.
In January, Lotito then tried to make amends by signing defenders Stefan Radu (Dinamo Bucharest) and David Rozehnal (Newcastle United), the return of midfielder Ousmane Dabo (Manchester City) and striker Rolando Bianchi (Manchester City - loan) but the Champions League had already gone.
Lazio had obviously lost some players too: keeper Matteo Sereni (Torino), defender Manuel Belleri (Atalanta - on loan), midfielders Pasquale Foggia (Cagliari - loan) and Luís Jimenez (Ternana - end of loan) and striker Simone Inzaghi (Atalanta - loan). In January defenders Lionel Scaloni (Mallorca - on loan), Guglielmo Stendardo (Juventus - on loan) and forward Stephen Makinwa (Reggina - on loan) also left.
In Serie A so far, the fans seemed to be being proved right. Lazio were 14th after 20 games; winning 4, drawing 8 (including Sampdoria 0-0 and recent 0-0 at Torino) and losing 8 (including derby 2-3 and Milan 1-5 at home). The Biancocelesti had 20 points in the table (only 3 above the drop zone, Siena on 17).
On November 11 tragedy struck as Lazio's away game to Inter had been cancelled and postponed to December following the death of a Lazio fan. Gabriele Sandri, on his way to Milan to watch Lazio, had been shot while sleeping in the back seat of a car in a motorway service station. A policeman had shot him from the other side of the motorway mistakenly thinking a robbery or a fight was taking place. The other Serie A games still to play were also called off and there were fan protests all Italy over the police's behaviour.
In the Champions League Lazio got through the preliminary round beating Dinamo Bucharest 4-2 on aggregate. They were then eliminated in the group phase after 1 win (Werder Bremen 2-1 at home), 2 draws (Olympiakos 1-1 away and Real Madrid 2-2 at home) and 3 defeats (Werder Bremen 1-2, Real Madrid 1-3 away and Olympiakos 1-2 at home).
In Coppa Italia, Lazio were through to the semi-finals to be played in April-May. The Biancocelesti had eliminated Napoli 3-2 and Fiorentina 4-2 both on aggregate. Next up would be Inter.
Sampdoria had finished 9th the previous season, under manager Walter Novellino. The Blucerchiati reached the Coppa Italia semi-finals but lost 0-3 to Inter on aggregate. In the league they had beaten Lazio 2-0 at home but lost 0-1 in Rome. The top scorer was Fabio Quagliarella with 14 goals (13 in A).
This season the manager was Walter Mazzarri. The main new players were: goalkeeper Antonio Mirante (Juventus), defenders Hugo Campagnaro (Piacenza), Daniele Gastaldello (Siena) and Stefano Lucchini (Empoli), midfielders Paolo Sammarco (Chievo) and Reto Ziegler (Tottenham) plus forwards Claudio Bellucci (Bologna), Andrea Caracciolo (Palermo, he then left in January for Brescia), Antonio Cassano (Real Madrid) and Vincenzo Montella (Roma - on loan via Fulham).
Leaving Samp were: goalkeeper Gianluca Berti (Cesena), defender Giulio Falcone (Parma), midfielders Ruben Oliveira (Juventus - end of loan) and Andrea Parola (Cagliari) plus forwards Fabio Bazzani (Livorno) and Fabio Quagliarella (Udinese).
So far in Serie A Sampdoria were 6th on 28 points, after 8 wins (including recent 1-0 at home to Siena), 4 draws (including Lazio at home, Juventus away and derby all 0-0) and 8 defeats (including Milan 0-5 at home and 7 out of 10 away).
In Coppa Italia they had been eliminated in the quarter finals a few days earlier by Roma, 1-2 on aggregate. The Blucerchiati had previously beaten Cagliari 4-1 on aggregate.
In the UEFA Cup, which they had accessed through the Intertoto, they went out in the 1st round to Aalborg from Denmark on away goals.
A difficult game for struggling Lazio since Sampdoria, at least in the league, were doing well. The good news for Lazio was their negative away record.
The Biancocelesti had not won for two months in the league and could not afford to drop more points if they did not want to plummet into the thick of the relegation battle.
The match: Sunday, February 3, 2008, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
A grey and rainy day in Rome only attracted about 20,000 to the Olimpico.
Lazio were missing defenders Lorenzo De Silvestri, Aleksandar Kolarov and Luciano Zauri plus midfielder Massimo Mutarelli. Stefan Radu was making his league debut for Lazio.
Sampdoria had to do without defender Stefano Lucchini, midfielder Paolo Sammarco and veteran forward Vincenzo Montella. The latter, "Aeroplanino" would not be missed by the Lazio fans seeing he had once scored four goals in a single derby while playing for Roma.
The game was balanced from the word go. There was not much action however as the players tried to get used to the pouring rain. The only thing to note was Sergio Volpi going off injured in the 16th minute and being replaced by Gennaro Delvecchio (so fortunately not the former Roma player).
Of the two teams however, it was Sampdoria who seemed to adapt better to the conditions and used the drier wings more efficiently.
Lazio however thought they had got the breakthrough in the 19th minute as Stefano Mauri deflected a Cristian Ledesma shot into the net but the Lombard was judged to be offside
The next chance was for the visitors and it was a huge one. In the 22nd minute Sebastiano Siviglia messed up the offside trap allowing Claudio Bellucci to charge forward on the right and square into the middle but Antonio Cassano with time and space managed to hit a seemingly easy finish into the Curva Nord (much to the delight of the home fans).
A miss which was later punished as in the 38th minute Lazio scored. Mauri took advantage of a moment of confusion in the Doria area and fired a low left footed shot past Luca Castellazzi, 1-0.
The Blucerchiati however reacted well to the setback and equalised just before halftime. In the 46th a similar move to the previous miss was finished off perfectly by Cassano who fired it into the roof of the net, 1-1.
In the second half started with a clever assist by Cassano for Bellucci but the Roman-born forward hit it straight at Marco Ballotta.
The game then went quiet for a while especially as Sampdoria's high press started to fade.
In the 51st minute Lazio took off a more geometrical midfielder, Ousmane Dabo, and put on a quicker and more creative one, Christian Manfredini.
Sampdoria continued to tire and Lazio started to push forward more.
In the 54th minute a Radu effort hit the side netting.
The deadlock was broken in the 77th minute. An excellent Tommaso Rocchi-Goran Pandev one-two was cleverly brought down by the Venetian who then turned on himself and placed a brilliant left-footed strike in at the far post, 2-1. A good move and brilliantly taken by Rocchi.
In the 80th minute Sampdoria tried to increase their attacking power by taking off former Lazio, Daniele Franceschini and putting on forward Emiliano Bonazzoli. Five minutes later they also fielded Reto Ziegler instead of Mirko Pieri. Lazio had responded a minute earlier by introducing defender David Rozehnal for Mauri.
Sampdoria however were exhausted and it was Lazio who went closer to scoring again. In the 88th minute Pandev was all alone with a one-on-one with Castellazzi but put it wide.
The referee gave three minutes of added time and in the last, just to break things up a bit or give Rocchi a round of applause, the match-winner was replaced by Igli Tare. Final score Lazio 2 Sampdoria 1.
All in all, a deserved win for Lazio even if just for the quality of the winner. Sampdoria had played well for an hour but had not paced themselves and in the last half hour Lazio had looked harder for the three points and ultimately clinched them.
A useful three points for Lazio who were now joint 12th, on 23 points with Catania (+5 on B, Reggina on 18).
Sampdoria were joint 8th, on 28 points with Palermo and Genoa.
Who played for Lazio
Ballotta, Behrami, Siviglia, Cribari, Radu, Mudingayi, Ledesma, Dabo (51' Manfredini), Mauri (85' Rozehnal), Pandev, Rocchi (93' Tare)
Manager: Rossi
Who played for Sampdoria
Castellazzi, Campagnaro, Gastaldello, Accardi, Maggio, Franceschini (80' Bonazzoli), Volpi (16' Delvecchio), Palombo, Pieri (86' Ziegler), Cassano, Bellucci
Substitutes: Mirante, Sala, Poli, Zenoni
Manager: Mazzarri
Referee: Orsato
Goals: 38' Mauri, 46' Cassano, 77' Rocchi
What happened next
Lazio had a mediocre season finishing 12th. In the remaining games they won 6, drew 5 and lost 6. The highlight came in March when they beat Roma 3-2 with a last-gasp Valon Behrami winner. In total Lazio won 11, drew 13 and lost 14. Top scorers were Tommaso Rocchi and Goran Pandev with 19 (both 14 in A).
Stefan Radu who made his debut today would go on to play 427 games for Lazio.
In Coppa Italia the Biancocelesti then lost to Inter 0-2 on aggregate in the semi-final.
A disappointing season for Lazio.
Sampdoria finished 6th and qualified for the UEFA Cup. They then won 9 (including derby 1-0 and Milan 2-1 away), drew 5 (including Juventus 3-3 at home) and lost 3. The top scorer was Claudio Bellucci with 13 goals (12 in A).
Inter won their 16th Scudetto and 3rd in a row. Roma won the Coppa Italia while Serie B was waiting for Livorno, Parma and Empoli.
Let's talk about Stefano Mauri
Stefano Mauri was born in Monza (Lombardy), on 8 January, 1980.
He grew up in the Monza youth sector where he remained until the age of 16. He then went to Brugherio (Eccellenza - 5th tier) before joining Meda (C2) in 1998. He played for Meda for 3 years (81 appearances, 12 goals).
In 2001 he was loaned to Modena (Serie B) and made his debut against Ternana, while his first goal came on 6 May against Cittadella. He did not play much (9 appearances, 1 goal) but did help the “Canarini” to get promoted to Serie A. He made his top-flight debut against Milan on 14 September and got his first goal on 6 November against Atalanta.
In 2003 he was loaned to Brescia where he played alongside the great Roberto Baggio. His first Serie A brace came on 6 January against Siena.
In 2004 he moved to Friuli to play for Udinese where he also made his European debut in a UEFA Cup game against Greek side Panionios. He played 40 games that season with 7 goals helping Udinese qualify for the Champions League. His debut in the most prestigious Cup came against Sporting Lisbon in 2005. Mauri however did not repeat his positive previous season and in the winter market session was loaned to Lazio.
Mauri's first game for the “Eagles” came against Treviso on 29 January 2006 and he scored his first goal as a “Laziale” on the 5th of March, away at Chievo Verona.
In the summer of 2006 Lazio put their faith in Mauri and bought him to play behind the forwards for coach Delio Rossi. He also got his first call up for the national team. He and Lazio qualified for the Champions League at the end of a highly successful campaign.
In the 2010-11 season he started to take on captaincy duties as Tommaso Rocchi was frequently injured.
From 2011 however a black cloud hovered over Mauri's career as he was accused of being involved in match fixing.
2011 match fixing scandal
The 2011 match fixing and betting scandal started in December when Carlo Gervasoni, who admitted fixing a few Serie B games, mentioned that Stefano Mauri had fixed matches together with his friend Alessandro Zamperini. The latter would later admit match fixing for the team he played for (Modena) but would then be declared unreliable by the National Court of Arbitration for Sport in January 2013.
On May 28, 2012, Mauri was arrested by order of the Cremona magistrates with the accusation of having fixed Lazio vs Genoa (played on May 14, 2011) and Lecce vs Lazio (played on May 22, 2011). On June 4 he was given house arrest and ten days later set free because “there were no conditions for applying a cautionary measure”. Basically, Mauri was arrested in the hope that he would confess to something and give a few more names. He maintained his innocence, so he was sent home.
In October he was interrogated by the Berne magistrates in Switzerland due to the opening of a Swiss bank account, thought to have been set up for the money from the bets. Mauri explained that the account was opened to help with his Dad’s medical expenses, common practice by residents in Lombardy. Mauri’s father died a few months later.
On July 10, the Sports Tribunal formally sent the Lazio captain to trial and the sports prosecutor asked for Mauri to be suspended for 4 years and six months: three years for Lazio vs Genoa, 6 months for the repetition of the offence in Lecce vs Lazio, six months for the fact that the match fixing was actually successful and six months for having betted.
The first sentence suspended the player for six months for failure to report the illicit for Lazio vs Genoa but he was acquitted for Lecce vs Lazio due to lack of evidence. The Sports Tribunal called for more enquiries and on October 2, 2013 he was suspended for nine months (extra three for Lecce vs Lazio). The National Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced the sentence back to six months on January 10, 2014. This sentence was final.
Meanwhile, the Cremona magistrates on July 7, 2015 sent Mauri to trial. In July 2019, the Bologna court dismissed the charge.
The “proof”
According to the Cremona magistrates, Mauri met his friend Zamperini and Hristiyan Ilievski, a Macedonian citizen in charge of a group who organized the heist, at Formello where Lazio train near Rome, before Lazio vs Genoa. Here they allegedly decided to fix the upcoming match. This was proven simply by the fact that the tracing on the phone cards located the three at Formello at the same time. Omar Milanetto, who was playing for Genoa at the time, later met the two in the hotel where Genoa were staying (also proven by the phone card tracing).
Mauri had a phone card registered to the business partner of Luca Aureli, manager of a Rome betting shop and friend of the Lazio captain. This phone card was only used during the two weeks prior to the two games. And since football players can bet on events not linked to football, there was no reason for Mauri to have this phone card if he was doing something he could do legally anyway.
Later on Milanetto, who was also arrested, went to a meeting, at the Milan hotel Una Tocq, where he was paid.
As far as Lecce vs Lazio is concerned, there is only the story told by Gervasoni.
Gervasoni explained that Amir Gegic invested 400 thousand euros for the fixing of Lecce vs Lazio. He claimed that players from both teams were involved: according to Gervasoni, "two or three from Lazio and three or four from Lecce". The game was fixed by Zamperini who had contacted Mauri.
Zamperini later admitted to having tried to bribe Lecce's Stefano Ferrario for Lecce vs Lazio but the player, who was injured, said he was not interested.
That is it. Nothing more.
Was Mauri innocent?
The online forum Lazio.net immediately started to look into the matter. Among the many thousands of people registered to the forum (including Simon), there were legal experts and lawyers, who came together to examine all of the acts and documents of the case. The effort put in by these Lazio supporters was absolutely incredible, and the results can be summed up as follows.
There was no trace of the money, nor of the bets. There was no proof of which players took part (impossible to change the outcome of a game with only one player), where the money was and where the bets were placed.
Mauri and Zamperini did actually meet in Formello. Zamperini stated that he met Mauri at the gates of the Lazio training centre and the captain gave him some tickets for the match. He was there for five minutes and Ilievski stayed in the car. The mobile phones indicate that Zamperini was at Formello for three minutes and that he actually did go to see the game on the Sunday.
There is no proof that Mauri met Ilievsky. Gervasoni had asked Zamperini to favour meetings between Ilievski and football players because the Macedonian group wanted to make large amounts of money on match fixing. But Zamperini stated that he stayed in the car and there are no witnesses to the contrary.
Illogical reconstructions: the suspects used dozens of text messages but then moved from Formello to the hotel where Genoa were staying at 110 km/h to meet for just over a minute. According to the Prosecutor, after Mauri and Zamparini decided on the heist (in three minutes), Zamparini then left Formello to go to the hotel where Genoa were staying and in one minute got Milanetto to agree. Why organize a physical meeting to arrange a match rather than an SMS, the use of which was massive in those days? Why did Zamperini have to risk an accident or a fine to cover 17.5 kilometers in 12 minutes when he could have informed Milanetto with an SMS?
Mauri claimed he used his friend’s girlfriend’s phone card to bet on tennis and basketball. This was actually proven.
Mauri was arrested with the aim of obtaining a confession regarding the matches or, better still, SS Lazio's involvement. When asked to have the decision reviewed by third party judges, the Cremona magistrates let him go because if the judgement had then been negative, the entire castle of sand would have been swept away.
As a consequence, the only thing the Cremona magistrates had was Gervasoni’s confession but Gervasoni was considered to be unreliable by the Sports Arbitration and hence de facto there was no case.
Since there was no case, Mauri should never have been given a six-month suspension for not having reported the attempted bribery. But he was. The presence of Ilievsky at Formello according to the Sports Court indicated that there must have been attempted bribery, so, even if there was no proof, Mauri should have denounced his friend for having attempted to change the result of a game.. What?
An explanation here is needed. Since Mauri was arrested there must have been something. But the Sports Court found no proof, so, just in case Mauri could eventually be proven guilty of something in the court of law, they suspended him for six months to save face. The face had to saved. The Italian media had already condemned Mauri, and Lazio, to hell for eternity, so the Sport Authorities risked being slapped in the face by the papers. Better to say, “well we did give him six months after all”. Furthermore, they claimed that, since Zamperini and Mauri were friends, the Lazio captain must have known his mate was up to something.
Mauri therefore after a 6 months ban returned to action on February 9 2014, in a derby game against Roma (0-0).
Mauri played one more full season for Lazio, the 2015-16 being his last for the “Biancocelesti”.
In January 2017 he re-joined Brescia in Serie B and played his last half season for the “Rondinelle” before hanging up his boots.
Mauri's career will be remembered for his days at Udinese but especially for his time at Lazio. He was captain on 26 May when Lazio beat arch rivals Roma in the Italian Cup Final. The image of Mauri lifting the Cup is one of the most cherished memories for any Lazio fan. With Lazio Mauri won 2 Italian Cups (against Sampdoria in 2009 and 2013) and one Italian Super Cup (against Jose Mourinho's Inter 2009). He played 303 times for Lazio (253 in Serie A, 24 in Coppa Italia, 4 in Champions League, 15 In Europa League and one in Super Coppa) and scored 47 goals (42 in Serie A, 3 in Coppa Italia and 2 in Europa League).
Mauri was an attacking midfielder. He was versatile, had good feet, vision and at 1.84 metres was strong in the air. He had excellent positioning and found the net frequently. He scored a derby winning goal and many of his acrobatic gems such as the bicycle kick against Napoli will never be forgotten by Lazio fans.
At International level he won 11 caps for Italy.
Mauri will be remembered as a talented, skilful player and has his name forever engraved in Lazio history for lifting “la coppa in faccia” (the Cup in the face) of the hated enemy Roma.
Today Mauri continues to show off his skills around the world having joined the Football League, set up for retired players.
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Europa League | Super Coppa |
Jan -Jun 2006 | 17 (2) | 15 (2) | 2 | - | - | - |
2006-07 | 31 (6) | 29 (6) | 2 | - | - | - |
2007-08 | 33 (3) | 24 (3) | 5 | 4 | - | - |
2008-09 | 31 (3) | 26 (1) | 5 (2) | - | - | - |
2009-10 | 44 (4) | 35 (3) | 2 | - | 6 (1) | 1 |
2010-11 | 30 (6) | 29 (6) | 1 | - | - | - |
2011-12 | 19 (5) | 16 (4) | - | - | 3 (1) | - |
2012-13 | 36 (4) | 26 (3) | 4 (1) | - | 6 | - |
2013-14 | 12 (4) | 12 (4) | - | - | - | - |
2014-15 | 31 (9) | 29 (9) | 2 | - | - | - |
2015-16 | 19 (1) | 12 (1) | 1 | - | 6 | - |
Totals | 303 (47) | 253 (42) | 24 (3) | 4 | 21 (2) | 1 |
Sources
Comments