The drought continues
Despite bringing back a point, the Biancocelesti continue their goal scoring drought.
Also on this day: January 10, 2021, Parma Lazio 0-2. Lazio beat Parma but it was not as easy as it seemed. Player of the day: Pepe Reina
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had managed to avoid relegation to Serie C in a playoff with Campobasso and Taranto. They had been given an unjust 9-point docking, a very heavy burden with only two points for a victory, due to an alleged involvement in match fixing. Lazio did so well at the beginning that by early 1987 they were closer to promotion than relegation. Then the stress took its toll and the team collapsed physically and mentally. Before the last game of the season, Lazio were second from bottom on 31 points together with Taranto, on 32 there were Campobasso, Vicenza, Sambenedettese and Catania, with Modena on 33. With Cagliari already relegated, there were three places left. The last game was Lazio-Vicenza on June 21. With seven minutes to go, it was still 0-0. Gabriele Podavini got the ball and shot. It was more out of desperation than an actual goal scoring attempt. He miskicked it but the ball reached Giuliano Fiorini who turned on himself and scored.
Final verdict: Lazio, Campobasso and Taranto needed a playoff to determine who would join Cagliari, Catania and Vicenza in Serie C. In Naples on June 27 Lazio played their first game against Taranto and lost due to a goal in blatant offside. Then Taranto and Campobasso drew 1-1 on July 1. This meant that Lazio had to beat Campobasso to stay in Serie B. They did thanks to a Fabio Poli goal. The Biancocelesti were safe.
The new Presidency of the Calleri brothers with Renato Bocchi were obviously aiming for a return to Serie A in the 1987-88 season and certainly had this in mind when it came down to the summer transfer window. There was a revolution. Lazio said goodbye to goalkeepers Mario Ielpo and Giuliano Terraneo, defenders Ernesto Calisti and Daniele FIlisetti, but in particular to Lazio legends Podavini, Fiorini and Poli. The new signings were experienced goalkeeper Silvano Martina and defender Paolo Beruatto both from Torino, Diego Maradona’s reserve Ciro Muro from Napoli, Gabriele Savino from Vicenza, Paolo Monelli from Fiorentina and Giuseppe Galderisi on loan from Milan. Only a year earlier Galderisi had played for Italy in the 1986 World Cup.
There was a lot of expectation, especially because the slots for promotion were increased to four as Serie A was going to expand the number of teams from 16 to 18, but Lazio started slowly. After the first 10 games Lazio were 12th, not too far away from the promotion zone, but still not in a good position. A couple of wins pushed them back up but then four consecutive draws, three of which goalless, did not give them the boost that was needed. They were currently fourth together with Cremonese, Padova and Lecce, one point behind Catanzaro and two from the leaders Atalanta and Bologna.
The match: Sunday, January 10, 1988, Stadio Mario Rigamonti, Brescia
The two teams used the entire first half to study each other. Lazio, thanks to the defensive block of Raimondo Marino, Angelo Gregucci and Massimo Piscedda, did not allow the Rondinelle to approach the Biancoceleste area despite numerous attempts. Lazio were content with just keeping the match goalless.
Things livened up in the second half. In the 46th minute freekick for the hosts. Franco Turchetta crossed a ball into the box for Evaristo Beccalossi positioned on the far left. The former Inter player hammered a volley that Silvano Martina managed to parry into corner. In the 51st minute perfect pass from Beccalossi to Maurizio Iorio. The former Roma player was unmarked but his shot went wide.
At this point Lazio woke up and a Muro-Savino one-two in the 65th minute allowed the latter to shoot but Ivano Bordon saved. Three minutes later Savino had another chance but his shot went wide. Having shown that Lazio could be potentially dangerous, time to move back to defence. In the 72nd minute Brescia appealed for a penalty when Savino fouled Mario Manzo in the box, but the referee was not convinced. That finished the match. Vincenzo Esposito got a second yellow card in the 82nd minute but Brescia no longer had any gas left in the tank.
A good draw for Lazio, but it was the fifth consecutive one and the Biancocelesti had not scored a goal since the beginning of December. Time to step up a notch.
Who played for Brescia
Bordon, Testoni, M.Manzo (78' Piovani), Bonometti, Chiodini, Occhipinti, Turchetta, Corini, Iorio, Beccalossi, P.Mariani.
Substitutes: Marchegiani, Bortolotti, Caliari, Luzardi
Manager: Giorgi
Who played for Lazio
Martina, Marino, Esposito, Pin, Gregucci, Piscedda, Savino, Acerbis, Galderisi, Muro (78’ Brunetti), Camolese.
Substitutes: Salafia, Foschi, Biagioni, Rizzolo
Manager: Fascetti
What happened next
In the next game Lazio had another goalless draw at home against Parma. The situation was getting desperate and it got even worse in the next game at Taranto. They were trailing 3-1 after the end of the first half but then managed to equalise and from then on Lazio lost only three more games. But it was tough. With six games to the end, seven teams were involved in the fight for Serie A. Bologna and Atalanta were slightly ahead of the others, Lecce were one point above Lazio who in turn were a point ahead of Catanzaro, Cremonese and Bari.
The most important game of the season was Catanzaro-Lazio. Catanzaro by winning could have overtaken Lazio and it was 1-0 for the Calabrian Giallorossi when the referee indicated three minutes of injury time. With just seconds to go Monelli equalised and Lazio kept fourth place. Catanzaro managed to catch up with Lazio anyway with three games to go but it only lasted one game.
Lazio-Taranto was the last game of the season. Bologna and Lecce were already promoted, Lazio and Atalanta had a one-point lead over Catanzaro. The other two matches of interest were Atalanta-Messina and Piacenza-Catanzaro. The Biancocelesti won 3-1 and secured promotion to Serie A . Finally.
Paolo Monelli was the player with most appearances this season (42) and the most goals (14).
Lazio 1987-88
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie B | 38 | 15 | 17 | 6 | 42 |
Coppa Italia | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
Total | 43 | 17 | 19 | 7 | 46 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
Monelli | 42 | 37 | 5 |
Marino | 41 | 36 | 5 |
Martina | 41 | 36 | 5 |
Pin | 41 | 36 | 5 |
Beruatto | 40 | 35 | 5 |
Savino | 40 | 35 | 5 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
Monelli | 14 | 13 | 1 |
Savino | 10 | 8 | 2 |
Muro | 4 | 4 | - |
Gregucci | 3 | 3 | - |
Rizzolo | 3 | 3 | - |
Let's talk about Silvano Martina
Silvano Martina was born in Sarajevo from an Italian family. At the age of one his family left Yugoslavia and went back to Italy and he began playing football.
Between 1972-74 he was Inter’s third goalkeeper and he debuted in Serie A on May 6, 1973 in the match won against Palermo 3-1. In order to get some playing time he was loaned to Sambenedettese in Serie B where he made 12 appearances. The next year he was at Varese, still in Serie B and he played the whole season. The team missed out on promotion by just one point. In 1976-77 he went back to Inter as back up goalkeeper for Ivano Bordon but played just one game for the Nerazzurri in Coppa Italia. In 1977-78 he was loaned to Brescia but even here he was the number 12 and played very little. The year after he signed for Genoa in Serie B but never played, so for the next season he was loaned to Varese in Serie C1. Here he played the entire year and contributed to Varese’s return to Serie B. Back at Genoa for 1980-81 he finally became the team’s main goalkeeper and in four years made 125 appearances, achieving a promotion to Serie A in his first year.
On November 22, 1981, he was the protagonist of the Giancarlo Antognoni accident. Playing in Florence, there was a long cross into the box for the Fiorentina captain. As he was going for the ball, Martina came out of his goal to face him and tried to get to the ball first but de facto kneed Antognoni in the head. He fractured his skull in two places and his heart stopped beating for about 30 seconds. Fortunately, the Genoa team doctor was able to untwist Antognoni’s tongue and give him CPR via chest compression and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. He was in a coma for two days and then gradually recovered.
In 1984 Martina signed for Torino. He stayed three seasons in Turin. In his first Torino arrived second but in the next manager Gigi Radice preferred Renato Copparoni and in his third he was relegated to third goalkeeper.
In 1987 he signed for Lazio. The Biancocelesti had just survived the -9 season and were confident that promotion was the next step. Martina was reunited with his old manager from the Varese years, Eugenio Fascetti. Lazio conquered promotion in the last game, after three very dramatic years. In Serie A Lazio then managed to avoid relegation in the last game. Martina was the main goalkeeper for most of the season but towards the end he was substituted by Valerio Fiori.
He went back to Torino in 1989 and was second goalkeeper behind Luca Marchegiani. Torino won the Serie B Championship and Martina hence reached the fourth promotion of his career. The fifth came a year later with Verona in Serie B but he only played one game in Coppa Italia. He then retired.
Once he stopped playing, he became a sports agent and among his clients are Gianluigi Buffon and Edin Dzeko. Back in his Yugoslavian days he was best friends with Dzeko’s father.
Martina was a very reliable goalkeeper and despite the fact that he is remembered for the Antognoni accident, he gave a good contribution to the Lazio cause and helped clinch Serie A after three long, tough years.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
1987-88 | 41 | - | 36 | 5 |
1988-89 | 30 | 22 | - | 8 |
Total | 71 | 22 | 36 | 13 |
Sources