Lazio celebrate centenary in perfect style
A great victory to celebrate Lazio's 100 years. Far from easy and not without tense moments but knowing Lazio it could not have been any other way.
Also on this day: January 9, 1921, Lazio Roman 6-0. Lazio destroy Roman thanks to Fioranti, Cella, Raffo and Giubertoni. Lazio Legend of the day: Giuseppe Fioranti
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had come agonizingly close to winning the title. They were only overtaken by eventual champions Milan in the penultimate game of the season and in controversial circumstances. Lazio were held to a 1-1 draw in Florence with some extremely dubious refereeing decisions by Treossi, including the denial of a clear penalty on Marcelo Salas.
Lazio had however triumphed in Europe winning the last ever Cup Winners Cup in May (2-1 against Majorca in Birmingham) and then beaten Manchester United 1-0 (Salas) to lift the Supercup in August, in Monte Carlo.
This season there had been some important changes to the squad. Three more Argentinians were signed: defender Nestor Sensini (Parma), midfielders Diego 'El Cholo' Simeone (Inter) and Juan Sebastian Veron 'La Brujita' (Parma). Another player midfielder, Dario Marcolin, was back from a loan spell (Blackburn) and striker Simone Inzaghi was added (Piacenza). In the summer, big Swedish forward Kennet Andersson had arrived from Bologna, but after the winter market session was already back playing for today's opposition. To replace him Lazio had brought in experienced Fabrizio "Silver Fox" Ravanelli (Olympique Marseille).
Lazio had also lost an important player in striker Christian Vieri who was sold to Inter for a then world record transfer fee of 90 billion Lire (approx 45 million Euros). Spanish midfielder Ivan de la Peña had gone to Olympique Marseille, after a disappointing spell at Lazio and Roberto Baronio went to Reggina on loan.
On the field things were going reasonably well (despite a 2-0 defeat in Venice just a week earlier). Apart from the historic win over the Red Devils of Manchester, in the league Lazio had won 9, drawn 4 and lost 2 (one unfortunately being the derby). They were in a good position in the league table on 31 points. In the Champions League they had gone through the first group stage unbeaten (Bayer Leverkusen, Dinamo Kiev and Maribor) and were now in the second group phase (Chelsea, Olympique Marseille and Feyenoord).
Today's match was crucial for the Serie A positions but took on extra importance as Lazio wanted to celebrate their centenary in style.
Today's opposition Bologna were no walkovers. The previous season under Carlo Mazzone the Rossoblu had finished 9th. They also had an excellent run in the UEFA Cup reaching the semi-final (only lost to Olympique Marseille on away goals) and were losing finalists in the Coppa Italia (Fiorentina). Their top scorer had been former Lazio idol Beppe Signori with 15 goals in total.
This season Bologna had made several changes to their player list. Former Italy goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca was signed from Inter. In came two defenders, Giovanni Bia (Udinese) and Pierre Wome (Roma). A midfielder Zé Elias (Inter) and a striker Nicola Ventola (Inter) were also added. Beppe Signori became exclusively owned by Bologna and in the winter market window shortly before today's match Kennet Andersson had returned from Lazio.
To make space for Pagliuca, Bologna had sold keeper Francesco Antonioli to Roma. The two defenders leaving were Stefano Bettarini (Fiorentina) and Amedeo Mangone (Roma). In midfield, Giuseppe Maini had left for Milan.
Another major change had been the appointment of Sergio Buso as manager but he only lasted 7 games and had been replaced by Francesco Guidolin.
The week before today's clash, Bologna had beaten Cagliari 1-0. So far they had won 5 (including Roma and Inter), drawn 5 and lost 5. They currently lay in mid-table on 20 points.
The match: Sunday, January 9, 2000. Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Today was no ordinary date and match for Lazio. It was the 9th of January 2000. It was S.S Lazio's 100th anniversary. The first and oldest club in Rome was celebrating its centenary.
The commemorations and celebrations had started at midnight and continued until shortly before kick-off and there were to be more to follow. A 15,000 strong parade had walked to the stadium from the square where Lazio was founded (Piazza della libertà ). Nearby the Olimpico, in the adjacent Stadio dei Marmi, there had been a parachute display by Lazio's parachute jumping team. The 80 sections of the Lazio sports club also paraded around the track. Lazio is the biggest sports club in Europe with over 10,000 athletes competing in all the various sports teams.
Today Lazio for the first time were wearing their centenary kit, tailored especially for the occasion. There was therefore great excitement and expectation for this Lazio-Bologna clash, but also added pressure and tension. The stadium was packed with a sell out crowd of 76,000 on a cold, cloudy day.
With a win Lazio could honour their history but also go top of the table as Juventus had only drawn at Parma in the earlier lunch time game.
In the early phases of the game Lazio seemed, perhaps understandably, somewhat overwhelmed by the occasion and Bologna were the more confident and threatening. The first chance fell to Beppe Signori, teed up by former Roma defender Wome, but his left footed strike came back off the crossbar (maybe even the gods thought it too cruel if he of all people should open the scoreline today).
In the 22nd minute Bologna's manager Guidolin was sent off for going over the top in his protests as Lazio gradually grew into the game.
Lazio's first opportunity came with a Nedved shot just over the bar followed in the 23rd minute by a Sinisa Mihajlovic freekick which was saved well by Pagliuca. In the 27th minute Lazio had a colossal chance to take the lead when Sergio Conceição was fouled in the area for a penalty. Mihajlovic stepped up to take it but slipped just as he struck the ball and it flew high over the bar.
The game continued to be evenly balanced and Bologna's Ingesson, Marocchi and Wome held their own in midfield. Signori had a shot saved by Luca Marchegiani but the deadlock was broken just before halftime. In the 42nd minute it was again Pavel Nedved who threatened. His powerful strike came off the crossbar and fell perfectly for Marcelo Salas "El Matador'' to nod in the easiest of headers. A difficult and tense first 45 minutes but Lazio 1 Bologna 0.
The second half got underway with the teams unchanged. Bologna immediately surged forward looking for the equaliser and they were soon rewarded. Two former Lazio players combined well with a perfect cross by Signori headed in by Kennet Andersson for 1-1.
From that point on it was all Lazio. They attacked constantly and ferociously, determined to celebrate history in style. Things were not looking good though as Salas limped off injured and Roberto Mancini wasted a huge goal scoring chance, with only the keeper to beat he was undecided between a lob and a low strike and, as is often the case when in two minds, ended up doing neither.
Everything changed with 15 minutes to go. Sergio Conceição put in a cross from the right and Pavel Nedved rose above the Bologna defenders and put a crashing header past Pagliuca for 2-1. Wild celebrations and Lazio were ahead on their special day. Bologna were weary, Lazio galvanized and things seemed under control. Lazio’s history however should have taught us that there's always another twist in the story and more doses of suffering.
With seven minutes remaining Nedved got a second yellow card and was sent off and, with Nestor Sensini limping and all the replacements having been made, Lazio were in trouble. Sensini battled on but Lazio practically had to resist the last minutes plus injury time in 9 men.
Bologna pushed Lazio back but without creating any real chances just understandable anxiety and tension everytime they attacked.
In the 90th minute Bologna were reduced to 10 men when defender Paramatti received a red card. A psychological boost to Lazio who felt the win getting closer. In the 94th minute the party could finally and definitely get under way. Fabrizio Ravanelli entered the area and while preparing a shot stumbled but still made contact with the ball. What came out was a shot which caught Pagliuca off guard and slowly trickled into the net, 3-1 and game over. Ravanelli's subsequent tears and him getting down on his knees in front of the fans (apparently for his ailing father) made it even more emotional.
Lazio went top of the table and made sure an already memorable day was a perfect one. The night was young and a whole evening of organized celebrations awaited the Lazio faithful inside the Olimpico.
The evening that followed was in essence what being Laziale is all about; style, sportsmanship, passion, romance and class. There was nothing overboard, exaggerated or tacky about it. There were of course speeches, goals on the megascreens, songs and chants but there was a celebration of history. The founders were remembered and the images of all the greats in Lazio's history were displayed on banners by the crowd. Players of the past and present were driven around the track in vintage cars for a lap of honour accompanied by Louis Amstrong's ' What a Wonderful World' soundtrack. There were some theatrical reenactments of moments connected with Lazio's origins and history with some harmless digs at city rivals Roma. There were more parachute jumps and fireworks plus endless singing by the fans. There was even a football match between the 1974 scudetto heroes and a mixed all stars team. On one side Felice Pulici, Vincenzo D’Amico, Renzo Garlaschelli, Giorgio Chinaglia and others against Gabriele Podavini, Giuliano FIorini and Fabio Poli and many others. A wonderful day and night to celebrate a century of "Lazialità ".
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Pancaro, Nesta, Mihajlovic, Favalli, Conceição, Stankovic (73' Simeone), Sensini, Veron (65' Ravanelli), Nedved, Salas (57' Mancini)
Manager: Eriksson
Who played for Bologna
Pagliuca, Paramatti, Gamberini, Boselli, M. Tarantino, Nervo (81' Zé Elias), Ingesson, Marocchi (81' Kolyvanov), Wome, K.Andersson, Signori
Substitutes: Roccati, Fontolan, Mensah, Foschini, Falcone
Manager: Guidolin
Referee: Racalbuto
Goals: 42' Salas, 51' K.Andersson, 76' Nedved, 90'+4 Ravanelli
What happened next
Lazio's season ended in glory winning the second scudetto in their history.
They drew their next two games 0-0 (away to Reggina and Cagliari) but kept up their title challenge. Then on March 19 all seemed lost when by losing 1-0 in Verona the Biancazzurri fell 9 points behind leaders Juventus.
What happened next was an incredible turnaround but not without ulterior twists in the story.
A week after the Verona defeat Lazio won the derby 2-1(Nedved, Veron) and then beat Juventus 1-0 in Turin (Simeone). Lazio were now only 3 points behind the Bianconeri. Then a 3-3 away draw in Florence pushed Lazio back to 5 points behind in a deja- vu situation similar to the previous unlucky year.
Then the unexpected happened. With three games remaining Juve lost 2-0 in Verona (a Cammarata brace- I can still see his name on the Olimpico scoreboard) and Lazio beating Venezia 3-2 at home were suddenly only two points behind.
The week later was full of controversy as Juventus beat Parma 1-0 at home but the visitors had a goal inexplicably disallowed. To this day not even the most ardent Juve fan can tell you why it was ruled out. Fabio Cannavaro had headed in from a corner but there was no offside, no fouls, the ball had not gone out of play...a mystery. Lazio meanwhile won 3-2 away at Bologna to maintain a slither of hope.
Then came the drama to end all dramas. In the last match of the season Lazio were at home to Reggina and Juve away to Perugia (both teams were already safe). The most optimistic scenario was maybe forcing a playoff with Juventus if they drew in Perugia and then may the best team win. In Rome it was a gloriously sunny day but up the road in Umbria the weather was different.
At half time Lazio were cruising 2-0 while Juve were still 0-0. Then the heavens opened in Perugia and the pitch became so flooded the game had to be postponed for 75 minutes. Lazio meanwhile cruised to a 3-0 win and what followed was surreal. The players went back to the changing rooms while the game in Perugia restarted despite a waterlogged pitch. The 70,000 Lazio fans stayed in their seats, a few listening to their transistor radios and the others scrutinizing their reactions.
At first it was rumoured the game would be shown on the scoreboard but that never materialized. In the 49th minute came the first explosion of joy and thousands invaded the pitch when Calori (initially former Roma player Cappioli was attributed the goal) scored for Perugia. The next 40 minutes were agony and became worse when suddenly the stadium tannoy started booming out the final minutes of the game. People reacted in different ways to the metallic echo of the commentary; some prayed, others blocked their ears, others held on to friends, family or even complete strangers meanwhile the transistor radio owners were no longer treated like Hollywood stars.
After an interminable wait and 5 minutes of injury time at 18.04 of the 14 th May 2000 Lazio were declared to be champions of Italy for the second time in their history. Twenty six years after Maestrelli, Chinaglia & co. Lazio were" Campioni d'Italia" !! Absolute mayhem broke out in the stadium and in the streets of Rome. A well deserved title albeit won in unique and unexpected circumstances. The celebrations were unforgettable and went on for weeks.
A few days later, still smelling of champagne and sporting celebratory blonde and tricolour hairstyles, Lazio also won the Coppa Italia. Having beaten Inter 2-1 in the first leg of the final in Rome, a 0-0 draw in Milan proved enough to win a historic double. A season to remember and tell future generations about.
In the Champions League Lazio reached the quarter final but were knocked out by Valencia (5-3 on aggregate).
Lazio's top scorer in the league was Marcelo Salas with 12 goals while Simone Inzaghi got 19 in all competitions.
Bologna finished 11th with 9 wins,13 draws and 12 defeats. Their top scorer was Beppe Signori with15 league goals and 19 in total.
The four teams relegated were Piacenza, Cagliari, Venezia and Torino.
Lazio 1999-2000
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 34 | 21 | 9 | 4 | 64 |
Coppa Italia | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 18 |
Champions League | 14 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 26 |
UEFA Super Cup | 1 | 1 | - | - | 1 |
Total | 57 | 32 | 18 | 7 | 109 |
Top five appearances
Players | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | UEFA Super Cup |
Nedved | 47 | 28 | 6 | 12 | 1 |
Simeone | 47 | 28 | 7 | 11 | 1 |
Veron | 47 | 31 | 4 | 11 | 1 |
Mihajlovic | 46 | 26 | 7 | 12 | 1 |
Pancaro | 45 | 28 | 5 | 11 | 1 |
Top five goal scorers
Players | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | UEFA Super Cup |
Inzaghi | 19 | 7 | 3 | 9 | - |
Salas | 17 | 12 | - | 4 | 1 |
Mihajlovic | 13 | 6 | 4 | 3 | - |
Veron | 10 | 8 | - | 2 | - |
Boksic | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | - |
Let's talk about Fabrizio Ravanelli
Fabrizio Ravanelli was born in Perugia, on December 11, 1968.
He started playing for his hometown team's youth sector in 1983 and made his debut for the Grifoni first team in 1986. He played for Perugia until 1989 making 90 appearances and scoring 41 goals (between C2 and C1).
In 1989 he moved to Avellino in Serie B but only played 7 games before being loaned to Casertana (C1) where he scored 12 goals.
In 1990 he signed for Reggiana in Serie B and had two positive seasons playing 66 games with 24 goals.
In 1992 he made the big move to Juventus in Serie A for 3 billion Lire (approx 1.5 million Euros). It was a great step professionally but also the team he supported as a child. He would stay 4 seasons playing 111 league games (41 goals), 16 in Coppa Italia (8 goals) and 32 in Europe (19 goals).
At Juventus he won a scudetto (1994-95), a Coppa Italia (1994-95), a Supercoppa Italiana (1995), a UEFA Cup (1993) and a UEFA Champions League (1996). In the Champions League final in Rome against Ajax Ravanelli scored Juve's goal from an impossible angle ( the game ended 1-1 and Juve won on penalties). At Juventus he formed attacking partnerships with greats such as Alex Del Piero, Roberto Baggio, Gianluca Vialli, Gigi Casiraghi and Andreas Mölller.
In 1996-97 he spent a season at Middlesbrough where from "Penna Bianca" (White Feather) he became "Silver Fox" (due to his premature white hair). He performed well in the North-East making 35 appearances and scoring 17 times.
From England he then moved down to France and Ligue 1. In 1997 he signed for Olympique Marseille. He stayed two years playing 64 games with 28 goals.
In the winter market session of 1999-2000 he came back to Italy and joined Lazio. The Romans were looking for a replacement for Kennet Andersson who had not fitted in and was returning to Bologna. Lazio already had Salas, Alen Boksic, Inzaghi and Mancini but between injuries and the relentless frequency of games there was the need for a proven, reliable and quality forward...enter Mr.Silver Fox.
From January until May Ravanelli played 16 league games (2 goals) and 5 in Coppa Italia (2 goals). He scored his first league goal in the centenary celebration match against Bologna and his second in a 4-2 away win at Torino. He gave a good contribution as a supporting striker to Salas or Inzaghi and played a major role in Lazio's Scudetto triumph.
In his second year in Rome, with the arrival of Hernan Crespo, he would play less regularly with 11 league appearances and 2 goals, 4 in Coppa Italia with 2 goals and 6 in Champions League with another 2 goals. His two league goals came in away victories in Naples (4-2) and at Bari (2-1). In the Champions League he scored the winner away at Sparta Prague (0-1) and in a thrilling 3-3 draw at Elland Road against Leeds United. Lazio challenged for the title but ultimately fell short and consoled themselves with 3rd place and a Champions League qualification.
In total at Lazio he played 42 games with 10 goals. He won a scudetto (2000), a Coppa Italia (2000) and a Supercoppa Italiana (2000).
After Lazio his career took him back to England to Derby County 2001-2003 (50 games and 14 goals), to Scotland to Dundee 2003-2004 (only 5 games) and finally back to Perugia in Italy 2004-2005 (39 games and 9 goals).
At International level Ravanelli earned 22 caps with Italy scoring 8 goals and took part at the UEFA Euro 1996 finals.
At 37 "Silver Fox " called it a day and retired. He has since had coaching experiences with Juventus youth team (2011-2013) followed by two unsuccessful spells as a manager abroad (Ajaccio in France for 5 games in 2013 and Arsenal Kiev in Ukraine again only for a few months in 2018).
Following his retirement Ravanelli also worked as a football pundit for Sky Italia, Fox Sports and Mediaset.
Fabrizio Ravanelli will be remembered as a dynamic, physically strong player. A hard working left footed striker who also gave a good defensive contribution. He was not a naturally talented player but over the years he was able to improve his technique and become a top striker. He possessed a powerful and accurate left foot which combined with his link up play (he often played as second striker), ability in the air and temperament, all made him a complete forward.
He had a very personal and particular way of celebrating his goals as he would pull the front of his shirt over his head (like a backwards hood) while still running. He was obviously not an advocate of the new FIFA regulation impeding players from removing their shirts after scoring.
At Lazio although his spell was short he is remembered positively. He was a true professional and fitted in immediately giving everything he had to the cause. He will forever be part of the Scudetto heroes of 2000 and his crazy celebrations in the changing rooms (especially after taking the title away from his beloved "zebras") will never be forgotten.
Lazio Career
Season | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League |
Dec 1999-Jun 2000 | 21 (4) | 16 (2) | 5 (2) | - |
2000-21 | 21 (6) | 11 (2) | 4 (2) | 6 (2) |
Total | 42 (10) | 27 (4) | 9 (4) | 6 (2) |
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