Giuseppe Massa was born in Naples, on April 26, 1948.
He started playing football with a small local Neopolitan team, Flegrea, but his first real professional experience was with Internapoli, the second team in Naples, in the 4th division in 1965/66. He became known as "Peppiniello". Here he met and played alongside Pino Wilson who would later be his captain at Lazio.
In 1966 he joined Lazio and after one year in the youth team he was moved up to the first team squad by Roberto Lovati. He made his debut on March 3, 1968, against Catania in Serie B. He made 13 league appearances in his first year and scored 3 goals.
The following year, again in Serie B, he played 30 league games with 6 goals helping Lazio back to Serie A.
In 1969/70 in the top flight, he played 27 times with 5 goals while in 1970/71 he played 29 games with another 5 goals but could not avoid Lazio's relegation.
His most prolific year was 1971/72 when he scored 12 league goals in 38 appearances and Lazio were promoted back to Serie A with Tommaso Maestrelli.
He had a good spell at Lazio in his six years playing 137 league games with 37 goals. Maybe a little unfairly, Massa will be remembered just as much for his transfer to Inter in the summer of 1972 as for his Lazio goals. This was not merely because he was sold to Inter, but more importantly for who came to Lazio in the opposite direction. The deal was Massa to Inter in exchange for Massimo Silva and Mario Frustalupi, plus 300 million Lire (approx 150,000 Euros). The latter, Frustalupi "The Wolf Thrasher", would prove fundamental to Lazio's scudetto glory in 1973/74. So, as well as Massa had served Lazio, his departure turned out to be for the best. Frustalupi was exactly the playmaker Lazio were looking for and joined all the pieces of the puzzle into that perfect fit, the "Banda Maestrelli".
At Inter Massa played two seasons totalling 43 Serie A games with 4 goals.
In 1974/75 he returned to his hometown to play for Napoli. He stayed four seasons playing 102 league games and scoring 24 goals. He won the Coppa Italia with Napoli in 1975/76. In the same season he scored the winner against Lazio (1-0) and a goal in a 2-1 win over Roma. In 1976/77 he again scored a winner against Roma (1-0).
In 1978 he left Napoli but not the region of Campania. He went up the road and joined Avellino in Serie A. He stayed three seasons, playing 65 league games and scored 10 goals (including the equaliser in an epic 3-3 draw against Juve). Avellino did well in those years and were a regular feature in Serie A arriving 10th, 12th and 10th in Massa's stint in Irpinia.
In 1981 he moved down two divisions to play for Campania in C1. Here he played another three seasons for a total of 45 games and 3 goals. He then retired in 1983 at 35 years old.
Massa had an excellent club career playing 417 games and scoring 76 goals.
At International level he earned 4 caps for Italy's Under 23's.
Massa was a diminutive player at 1.68 but he was extremely mobile. He was what you call a traditional number 7 who could play as a right winger in midfield or as a forward. He was particularly quick with excellent dribbling skills. He was skilful with good technique and scored goals as well as setting them up.
At Lazio Massa played for six years, so is an important part of their history. He scored 34 goals and helped Giorgio Chinaglia get countless more. He won two promotions with Lazio and was part of the build up to Maestrelli's scudetto of 1973/74. He served Lazio well and gained eternal gratitude for coming, playing and even leaving…
Giuseppe Massa died on October 17, 2017 in Naples at the age of 69. His daughter Azzurra is also now a top-level football player.
Lazio Career
Season | Total | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia | Mitropa Cup | Fairs Cup | Anglo-Italian Cup | Cup of the Alps |
1967-68 | 13 (3) | - | 13 (3) | - | - | - | - | - |
1968-69 | 33 (7) | - | 30 (6) | 3 (1) | - | - | - | - |
1969-70 | 40 (6) | 27 (5) | - | 3 | 2 | - | 4 | 4 (1) |
1970-71 | 38 (6) | 29 (5) | - | 3 (1) | - | 2 | - | 4 |
1971-72 | 44 (13) | - | 38 (12) | 6 (1) | - | - | - | - |
Total | 168 (35) | 56 (10) | 81 (21) | 15 (3) | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 (1) |
Sources