Viking Bredesen explores new territory with double and steers Lazio to victory
A goal by Norwegian midfielder Bredesen leads Lazio to comfortable win over Sampdoria.
Also on this day: January 17, 1943, Lazio Triestina 3-1. Two goals by the Yugoslav and one by Argentine Flamini are well protected by the Italian keeper. Player of the day: Petar Manola
The season so far
The previous year Lazio had finished 10th in Serie A, firstly under manager Giuseppe Bigogno for the first 25 games and then Alfredo Notti to the end of the season. Lazio had won both derbies against Roma.
This season Lazio had a new manager Mario Sperone. Lazio had reshuffled the squad slightly with a few changes especially up front. Three new forwards had arrived: Renzo Burini (Milan), Alberto Fontanesi (SPAL) and Pasquale Vivolo (Juventus). Well serving Enrique Flamini was back (Reggiana) but he was approaching the end of his career and would not feature at all.
Leaving Lazio were Norwegian midfielder Ragnar Nikolay Larsen after two successful seasons (Genoa) plus forwards Lelio Antoniotti (Torino) and Şükrü Gülesin (Galatasaray - after a loan period at Palermo).
This season, after 16 games Lazio had 15 points. They had beaten Juventus, drawn the derby and so far had won 5, drawn 5 and lost 6. Their goals had been evenly divided between Vivolo and Per Bredesen on four and Aldo Puccinelli and Burini on three. A week earlier Lazio had been beaten 1-0 away in Bergamo by Atalanta.
Sampdoria had finished 12th the previous season (also changing manager from Gipo Poggi to Ivo Fiorentini after 8 games). This season their manager was Paolo Tabanelli. The Blucerchiati were currently on 18 points. They had won the derby against Genoa, defeated Milan and Roma and in total had won 7, drawn 4 and lost 5. Their top scorer was Oliviero Conti on five. The week before today's visit to Rome they had drawn 2-2 at home with Bologna.
Today's clash had no clear favourite. Lazio had home advantage but Sampdoria were three points above in the table.
The match: Sunday, January 17, 1954, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
The game was played on a mild January day in Rome in front of 30,000 spectators.
Lazio had several absences. Fontanesi, Serafino Montanari and Luigi Fuin were all missing but the main worry was not having Sentimenti (IV) to defend the goal. His place was taken by Aldo De Fazio. On the other hand, defender Zeffiro Furliassi was back after being dropped for several matches.
Lazio immediately started on the front foot and for the first 35 minutes there was only one team on the field. Sampdoria seemed poorly organized, leaving far too much space for Lazio, while their in form striker Conti was kept quiet by Furiassi.
Lazio went close to the lead after 13 minutes with a shot by an already lively Bredesen. The goal would come only a minute later. Burini and Aldo Puccinelli started the move with the latter at first pretending to shoot but then instead pulling the ball back to Bredesen, who from about 15 metres out hammered the ball into the top hand corner. 1-0 Lazio.
Sampdoria's response was all in a shot by Conti stopped with a double handed save by De Fazio. In the 35th minute Lazio scored again. A free kick by Primo Sentimenti V found Bredesen in the box. The Norwegian looked a bit too far forward but with a brilliant acrobatic bicycle kick beat Antonio Pin for his second of the afternoon. 2-0 Lazio.
In the 41st minute Sampdoria had a colossal chance to reopen the contest. The Genoese were awarded a penalty for a joint foul by Furiassi and Stefano Malacarne on Conti. Danish Karl Aage Hansen stepped up and despite a dummy his spot kick was superbly saved by De Fazio, who dived to his left to deny the former Juventus striker. That was the last excitement of the first half, Lazio 2 Sampdoria 0.
The second half saw Lazio continue to go forward. A Burini shot in the 53rd minute was well saved by Pin. The game was put out of the visitors reach only four minutes later. In the 57th minute it was Bredesen yet again who provided the assist for Vivolo's powerful strike making it 3-0.
With a three-goal advantage Lazio slowed down and administered the game without running any ulterior risks. Even Bredesen adapted to Lazio's tactic of concentrating on ball possession and control while Sampdoria seemed almost to prefer limiting the score line than further provoking the unstoppable Norwegian.
Lazio, in red shirts as hosts for the day, cruised to the final whistle. A good 3-0 win and an outstanding performance by Bredesen.
Who played for Lazio
De Fazio, Antonazzi, Furiassi, Sentimenti V, Malacarne, Bergamo, Burini, Bredesen, Vivolo, Lofgren, Puccinelli
Manager: Sperone
Who played for Sampdoria
Pin, Gratton, Elia, Podestà , Mari, Mialich, Agostinelli, Conti, K. Hansen, Testa, Tortul, Sabbatella
Manager: Tabanelli
Referee: De Leo
Goals: 14' Bredesen, 35' Bredesen, 57' Vivolo
What happened next
Lazio finished 11th. After 25 games, manager Mario Sperone was sacked. A 2-0 defeat at Palermo was fatal for the Piedmontese and he was replaced by Federico Allasio. Lazio ended up on 29 points after 10 wins, 9 draws and 15 defeats. Top joint goal scorers were Fontanesi and Vivolo with 9 in the league.
Sampdoria improved to end up in 8th place on 34 points. They won 11, drew 12 and lost 11. Top goal scorers were Conti and Giuseppe Baldini with 8 each.
The scudetto was won by Inter (7th title) while Palermo and Legnano were relegated.
Lazio 1953-54
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 40 |
Top five appearances
Player | Serie A |
Antonazzi | 33 |
Bredesen | 32 |
Burini | 32 |
Sentimenti V | 30 |
Viviolo | 30 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Serie A |
Viviolo | 9 |
Fontanesi | 9 |
Bredesen | 6 |
Burini | 6 |
Puccinelli | 3 |
Let's talk about Per Bredesen
Per Bredesen was born in Horten, Norway, on December 22, 1930.
Bredesen started his career with his local team Ørn- Horten in 1948. He played four seasons for the Oslo fjord team. He made 49 appearances and scored 16 goals.
In 1952 came the big jump to Serie A in Italy. Lazio were looking for younger players to freshen up their aging squad and signed the 22-year- old Norwegian midfielder.
In his first year in Rome he played 32 Serie A games and scored 6 goals. He made a positive impact in his debut season and impressed for speed and technique.
In his second year he repeated himself playing 32 times and again scoring 6 goals.
In his third and final year at Lazio he made 29 appearances with 7 goals (including a winner against Napoli and a brace in a 3-1 triumph over Juventus). He scored goals but also set them up helping Danish John Hansen to 15 league goals.
In the season of 1955-56 Lazio signed Arne Selmosson from Udinese, but unfortunately the Friulani wanted 80 million Lire plus Bredesen to close the deal. Lazio reluctantly let Per Bredesen go and he left Rome after three very positive years. He totalled 93 league games and scored 19 goals at Lazio.
At Udinese he found himself playing in Serie B (a relegation due to attempted corruption charges). He played 34 times and scored 15 goals. Udinese were promoted back to Serie A but Bredesen had been signed by A.C Milan.
In 1956-57 he joined the Rossoneri and was one of the three foreign players alongside Swede Nils Liedholm and Italo-Uruguayan Juan Alberto Schiaffino. He made 27 appearances and scored 6 goals helping Milan to the league title. His goals included one in a derby draw, a winner away at Juventus and another in a 4-1 home win against Juventus. To this day he is still the only Norwegian to have won a Serie A scudetto. No small feat.
He left Milan after only one season and following a year of inactivity he joined Bari in Serie A in 1958. He played 21 games and scored 5 goals (including draws against Lazio and Juventus). Bari reached their objective of staying in the top flight with an 11th place. Bredesen however would move down a division and travelled further south to Messina.
He stayed in Sicily two seasons in Serie B totalling 39 games and scoring 5 goals. At 31 it was time to head home to Norway. He played one more year for Ørn-Horten playing 13 times and scoring 9 goals.
At International level he earned 18 caps for Norway and scored 7 goals. His debut and first goal both came against Yugoslavia on June 19, 1949. His national appearances were cut short by a Norwegian Federation ruling forbidding professional players from representing their country. When Bredesen signed for Lazio he said goodbye to his Norwegian national side.
Bredesen is one of the best football players to have come out of Norway. He was exceptionally quick and technically gifted. He could use both feet and had an extremely accurate shot. He provided quantity and quality to his teams and scored goals.
At Lazio he was very popular. He was nicknamed "Varechina" (bleach) for his blonde hair and also " Tocco Magico" (Magic Touch) for his skills. If you mention Norway at Lazio the first players who come to mind are Ragnar Larsen and Per Bredesen.
Bredesen passed away on October 3, 2022 and Lazio gave their condolences to his family and remembered his feats for Lazio in the days gone by.
Appearances and goals for Lazio
Season | Appearances Serie A | Goals Serie A |
1952-53 | 32 | 6 |
1953-54 | 32 | 6 |
1954-55 | 29 | 7 |
Total | 93 | 19 |
Sources