January 29, 2006: Treviso-Lazio 0-1
- Dag Jenkins
- 2 hours ago
- 8 min read
Former players Ballotta and Rocchi come back to haunt Treviso
Superb saves by veteran keeper and late goal by striker give Lazio lucky three points
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had flirted with relegation but had managed to escape and ended up 13th. They had then even qualified for the Intertoto Cup, due to Livorno and Messina dropping out for various reasons.
This year saw the arrival of new manager Delio Rossi, who took derby and relegation battle hero Giuseppe Papadopulo's place.
The main players coming in were: defenders Manuel Belleri (Udinese), Guglielmo Stendardo (Perugia) and Emilson Cribari (Udinese on loan), midfielders Valon Behrami (Genoa), Gaby Mudingayi (Torino) and Fabio Firmani (Catania) plus forward Igli Tare (Bologna).
Over twenty players were leaving Lazio, but those worthy of note were Scudetto heroes Fernando Couto (Parma) and Paolo Negro (Siena) plus the Filippini twins (both to Palermo and then Treviso) and Giuliano Giannichedda (Juventus).
In the summer Lazio had taken part in the Intertoto Cup in an attempt to qualify for the UEFA Cup. They had first eliminated Tampere United 4-1 on aggregate but then lost in the semi-final to Olympique Marseille 1-4 on aggregate.
In the first league game of the season, on August 28, Lazio had defeated Messina thanks to a Goran Pandev goal in the first half. An underwhelming performance but a winning start at least.
The atmosphere surrounding the club however was heavy with the fan base unsatisfied with the owner Claudio Lotito's lack of ambition and investment in the transfer market.
Since then however Lazio had done decently, nothing exceptional but better than expected, winning 6 (including Treviso 3-1 at home), drawing 9 (including derby 1-1) and losing 5. The Biancocelesti were 9th on 30 points.
In the Coppa Italia, Lazio had knocked out Cittadella 2-0 on aggregate and had played the first home leg of the quarterfinals drawing 1-1 at home to Inter (former Lazio Dejan Stankovic for the Nerazzurri). The return leg would be on February 2 in Milan.
Treviso were newly promoted. The Veneti had finished 6th in Serie B and lost to Perugia in the playoffs. Then came the surprises. Genoa who had won the league were punished for corruption while 3rd placed and play off winners Torino and Perugia were punished for financial irregularities. Treviso therefore found themselves promoted with Empoli (2nd) and Ascoli (7th). The manager was first Giancarlo D'Astoli and then Giuseppe Pillon. The top scorer was Paulo Vitor Barreto with 12 league goals. One of the squad members was old Lazio connection Marco Ballotta (1997-2000).
This season the manager was initially Ezio Rossi but he had been replaced, after the 11th fixture, by Alberto Cavasin. The main new players were goalkeeper Adriano Zancopè (Siena), defenders Paolo Hernan Dellafiore (Inter - on loan via Spezia), Andrea Dossena (Verona), Alberto Giuliatto (Belluno), Gustavo (Udinese - on loan) William Viali (Fiorentina), midfielders Raffaele De Martino (Udinese - on loan), Antonio and Emanuele Filippini (Palermo via Lazio), Jehad Muntasser (Perugia) and Pinga (Torino) plus forwards Andrea Russotto (Bellinzona - on loan), Robert Acquafresca (up from youth team) and Luigi Beghetto (Piacenza).
They had also recently added goalkeeper Matteo Sereni (Lazio - on loan), midfielders Walter Baseggio (Anderlecht), Blažej Vaščâák (Artmedia Petržalka), Gianni Guigou (Fiorentina), Christian Maggio (Fiorentina - on loan) and forward Marco Borriello (Milan - on loan via Sampdoria). A new team practically from the previous year.
Leaving were goalkeeper Marco Ballotta (Lazio again), defenders Mavillo Gheller (Pistoiese), Giovanni Marchese (Chievo - end of loan) and Massimo Carrera (Pro Vercelli), midfielders Daniele Bellotto (Portogruaro - Summaga), Giovanni Fietta (Pizzighettone), Antonino D'Agostino (Atalanta), Riccardo Gissi (Catanzaro - on loan), Luis Fernando Centi (Livorno) and Fabio Di Venanzio (Triestina) plus forwards Andrea Capone (Cagliari - end of loan) and Barreto (Udinese)
In the recent winter market other players had gone: defenders Francesco Galeotto (Arezzo) and Stefano Lorenzi (Pescara), midfielders Fabio Gallo (Torino) and Roberto Chiappara (Modena) plus forward Stefano Dall'Acqua (Catania - on loan) while goalkeeper Samir Handanovič would leave in a few days (Lazio - on loan). A lot of comings and goings, probably too many.
Treviso were currently joint bottom with Lecce on 13 points (5 from safety, Parma and Messina on 18). The Trevigiani had won 2 (Reggina 2-1 away and Lecce 2-1 at home), drawn 7 (including recent 1-1 at Livorno) and lost 12 (8 times by a single goal margin).
In the Coppa Italia, Treviso had crashed out in August losing 0-1 at home to 3rd tier Manfredonia.
A game today that Lazio really had to win if they wanted to push for the European slots.
The match: Sunday, January 29, 2006, Stadio Omobono Tenni, Treviso
A cold but dry day attracted a little over 5,000 spectators to the small stadium just north-east of the city centre. Traditionally Treviso is more of a rugby, volleyball and basketball town than football.
Lazio had to do without goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi, defender Sebastiano Siviglia, midfielders Valon Behrami, Christian Manfredini and Fabio Liverani plus forward Paolo Di Canio.
Treviso were missing defenders Andrea Dossena and Gustavo, midfielders Emanuele and Antonio Filippini plus forward Dino Fava Passaro.
Both sides started cautiously. Lazio sat deep while Treviso were careful not to be caught on the break.
The first chance was for the hosts as André Pinga threatened with a curling freekick but Marco Ballotta dived to his left and blocked.
Lazio who were missing their playmaker Liverani, had difficulty in constructing decent moves. In the 20th minute former Treviso Tommaso Rocchi had Lazio's first shot at goal but it did not worry Adriano Zancopė. In the 28th minute Rocchi was more dangerous with a shot-cum-cross that went slightly off target.
A minute later Treviso responded with a Francesco Parravicini left-footed effort just over the bar. The hosts then had the biggest chance of the half. Former Roma Gianni Gigou crossed and Marco Borriello headed towards goal but Ballotta stretched out and with the help of the post put the ball out for a corner. Halftime Treviso 0 Lazio 0.
A blocked first half but with the Trevigiani just about on top on points.
There were no changes during the interval.
The second half continued in the same pattern. Ballotta saved on Pinga, there was a penalty appeal by the hosts for a possible foul by Luciano Zauri on Reginaldo and for Lazio Ousmane Dabo tried a crack on a freekick but it was central and low so Zancopè gathered.
In the 57th minute Alberto Cavasin decided to go for it more and replaced defender Carlos Valdez for midfielder Blažej Vaščák while Paolo Hernan Dellafiore then dropped back into defence.
Delio Rossi responded five minutes later, putting on big Albanian striker Igli Tare for Danish midfielder Christian Keller. Lazio however very rarely got the ball into shooting positions let alone into the opponents' area.
Treviso on the other hand pushed forward. Ballotta was kept busy by a Gigou freekick and by a Parravicini right-footed attempt.
The home side now were dominating. In the 69th minute Pinga took a seemingly winning freekick but veteran Ballotta somehow got a hand to it again and pushed it onto the post.
At this point Rossi decided to cover up and took off an out of sorts Goran Pandev and threw on defender Manuel Belleri.
Still the Veneti looked for the breakthrough as Ballotta was forced to work overtime on a William Viali strike.
Treviso piled players forward as Lazio gave the impression they lacked the strength to even try anything on the counterattack.
A school boy error as in the 87th minute the Romans struck out of the blue. Massimo Oddo got in a good cross and Rocchi beat a badly organised offside movement, rose up and headed, Zancopè touched it but was unable to keep it out, 0-1.
Lazio then buttoned up even more and took off the Venetian match winner and put on midfielder Domenico Giallombardo.
The referee only gave two minutes of added time but Treviso had nothing more to give, in fact it was Lazio who almost grabbed another but Tare, charging forward on the left, was denied on a one-on-one with the keeper, it would have been too much. Final score Treviso 0 Lazio 1.
An undeserved win for Lazio who had been second best for almost the whole game. Too many absences but also a negative and excessively defensive approach.
Treviso were unlucky. Two posts, brilliant saves by a former keeper of 42 years of age and finally a late winner by another former player...things could not have gone much worse.
Lazio were now solitary 8th, on 33 points and four from Europe.
Treviso were still joint bottom, on 13 points with Lecce but now six points from safety (Cagliari on 19, as Parma and Messina had both won).
Who played for Treviso
Zancopè, Valdez (57' Vascak), Viali, Cottafava, Maggio, Parravicini, Dellafiore, Pinga, Guigou, Borriello, Reginaldo
Substitutes: Handanovic, Giuliatto, Baseggio, De Martino, Anderson, Acquafresca
Manager: Cavasin
Who played for Lazio
Ballotta, Oddo, Stendardo, Cribari, Zauri, Keller (62' Tare), Mudingayi, Dabo, Mauri, Rocchi (89' Giallombardo), Pandev (75' Belleri)
Substitutes: Santarelli, Zaccardi, De Silvestri, Torroni
Manager: Rossi
Referee: Tagliavento
Goal: 87' Rocchi
What happened next
Lazio had a good season, at least on the pitch. In the next games they won 8, drew 5 (including Juventus 1-1 away) and lost 3 (including the derby).
They would have come 6th and qualified for the UEFA Cup had it not been for off field issues. Lazio were accused of being involved in the "Calciopoli" scandal and docked 30 points (initially the sentence was relegation), so ended up 16th. The scandal was basically alleged lobbying by certain clubs on the choice of referees. A pity as Lazio had performed well and had a surprisingly positive Serie A campaign.
In the Coppa Italia the Biancocelesti were then defeated by Inter 0-1 (Dejan Stankovic scored again) and so lost 1-2 on aggregate in the quarterfinals. Top scorer was Tommaso Rocchi with 17 goals (16 in A).
Treviso were relegated. After the 26th fixture Cavasin was sacked too and in came Diego Bortoluzzi. The Veneti finished 19th on 21 points (10 from safety). In the remaining games they only won 1 (Udinese 2-1 at home in the last game), drew 5 and lost 10 (including another 7 by a single goal margin). The top scorers were Marco Borriello and Reginaldo with 5 league goals each (Treviso only scored 24 in A all season).
Juventus came top but were stripped of their title due to the Calciopoli scandal and relegated to Serie B. The Scudetto was then handed to 3rd placed Inter while Juventus and Treviso went down with Lecce. Treviso have never been back and are now in the 4th tier.
Lets talk about Fabio Zaccardi
Fabio Zaccardi was born in Rome, on November 28 1986.
He joined Lazio at a young age and in 2000-01 won the Giovanissimi Nazionali Scudetto (U14s). The squad included Fabrizio Melara and Alfonso Delgado who would later make appearances for Lazio's first team.
In 2004-05 Zaccardi was added to the first team squad while continuing to play for the Primavera (U19s). He was an unused substitute in one Serie A game and the same the following season, in an away win at Treviso. His managers at Lazio were Domenico Caso, Giuseppe Papadopulo and Delio Rossi.
In 2006 he joined Paganese (Pagani-Salerno) on loan in Serie C2. He stayed one season making 3 appearances. The Azzurrostellati finished 4th but won promotion via the playoffs. The manager was Giuseppe Palumbo.
In 2008 he moved to Abruzzo and signed for Celano olimpia in Lega Pro Seconda Divisione (4th tier). He stayed four seasons but only played in the first two, making 41 appearances with 1 goal. The Marsicani finished 11th, 10th, 13th and 21st (relegated). His teammates included; Sebastien De Maio (later Brescia, Genoa, Anderlecht, Fiorentina, Bologna, Udinese and more) and Federico Dionisi (later Livorno, Salernitana, Ascoli and more). His manager was Giacomo Modica.
He then retired at 26.
Zaccardi was a defender. He had satisfactions at youth level but despite coming close to the big time never made it at high level football.
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