July 19, 2004: Vegalta Lazio 2-2, friendly

Simon Basten

Jul 19, 2025

5 min read

Lazio Impress in Entertaining Season Opener

A lively attacking display and goals from Manfredini and Delgado offered plenty of positives as Lazio were held 2-2 by Vegalta in their opening friendly

Player of the day: Simone Sannibale

The season so far

On July 19, 2004 Claudio Lotito became President. The situation was critical from a financial point of view. Many of their best players such as Sinisa Mihajlovic, Beppe Favalli and Jaap Stam did not renew their contracts and went elsewhere. Manager Roberto Mancini signed for Inter despite being under contract with Lazio. But Lazio had no means to keep him and he knew it. From what is known, his contacts with Inter started in the autumn and he tried to convince many of his players to follow him to Inter. Some did, some refused (for example Stam).

Stefano Fiore and Bernardo Corradi were sold to Valencia to cover the debt remaining with the Spanish club for the signing of Gaizka Mendieta. Demetrio Albertini was sold to Atalanta as payment for the other halves of Luciano Zauri and Ousmane Dabo. Claudio Lopez was about to be loaned to America Mexico so Lazio could save paying his wages.

Two players not under contract decided to stay: Angelo Peruzzi and Fernando Couto.

Lotito therefore inherited a team with no manager and just a few players. The team was temporarily given to Mimmo Caso, the primavera manager and hero of the -9 season, for the pre-season training in Japan. Lazio had to fulfil a contract so off they went. He only had 13 players from the first team so a lot of space was given to the Primavera. Today was the first pre season friendly.

The match: Monday, July 19, 2004, Yertec Stadium Sendai, Sendai

Good football, plenty of goalscoring opportunities and smooth passing play were the first positive signs from Lazio's opening pre-season friendly, which ended in a 2-2 draw against Vegalta Sendai, a side recently relegated to Japan's J2 League.

The standout performer for the Biancocelesti was César, whose lively display and skilful runs earned warm applause from the crowd, although he also missed a number of straightforward chances. There were encouraging performances too from Fabio Liverani, Dino Baggio and Goran Pandev, with the North Macedonian forward being named Man of the Match.

Lazio took the lead after 10 minutes when Christian Manfredini scored with a shot from the edge of the penalty area. Alfonso Delgado doubled the advantage 18 minutes later, heading home to make it 2-0.

After the break, however, Vegalta came into the game, benefiting from superior fitness. The Japanese side reduced the deficit in the 70th minute through Sato, before Ryan struck one minute from full time to secure a 2-2 draw.

Who played for Vegalta

Kobari, Kobara, Sedloski, Nebiki, Sivinho (46' Nishitani), Kumagai (46' Ishii), Zaizen (46' Ryan), Murakzmi, Oshiba (75' Nishi), Sato, Fabio Nunes (46' Nakahara)

Substitutes: Nagihara

Manager: Verdenik

Who played for Lazio

Sereni (46' Casazza), Oddo, Negro (70' Sannibale), Baggio, Zauri, Manfredini (60' Melara), Liverani (46' Giannichedda), Dabo (55' Corsi), Cesar (46' Angeletti), Delgado, Pandev

Manager: Caso

Referee: Katayama

Goals: 10’ Manfredini, 28’ Delgado, 70' Sato, 89' Ryan

What happened next

In Japan Caso got on well with the players (and he was also cheap), so Lotito confirmed him.

Lotito, then to get fans on his side secured the return of Paolo Di Canio, an unforgotten hero of the tifosi. Di Canio managed to get released from his contract and came back home.

On the last day of the summer transfer window Lotito signed seven players. These included some forgettable signings, but also two players that would become the backbone of the early Lotito years: Tommaso Rocchi and Sebastiano Siviglia.

The first game of the season was the Super Coppa final against Milan. Lazio did not have the strength to put up much of a fight and lost 3-0.

In Serie A things did not go well. In the first 16 games Lazio won four, drew five and lost seven. They had 17 points, just four clear of relegation zone. They were clearly in difficulty: badly organised, no game plan, problems between Caso and Di Canio and poor quality of some of the players. Furthermore, the Biancocelesti were eliminated in the UEFA Cup group stage without winning a match.

So, just before Christmas, Lotito called another former player, Giuseppe Papadopulo, to manage Lazio. He was seen as more apt to guide the Biancocelesti to safety. The task was immediately uphill since the first game of the season was the derby, but Lazio amazingly won 3-1 and won in Florence in the next match, but that was followed by just one point in the next five games.

The Biancocelesti won three in a row, then one point in three games, and then two wins and a draw. As one can see the story of the season was two steps forward, three steps back. With six games from the end of the season Lazio were 7th and relatively safe but then they lost three in a row and things got worrying. Lazio then drew the last three matches and managed to stay in Serie A. Papadopulo was able to add a greater fighting spirit to the side, but little else. Lotito had a lot of work to do if he wanted to improve the side.

In the UEFA Cup Lazio managed to reach the group stage by beating Metalurh Donetsk 6-0 on aggregate but were eliminated after losing one and drawing three. In Coppa Italia they were eliminated by Cagliari in the Round of 16.

Oddo was the player with the most appearances (42) and Rocchi the most goals with 17.

Let’s talk about Simone Sannibale

Simone Sannibale (born 10 March 1986 in Albano Laziale, Italy) is an Italian former footballer who played as a defender.

Sannibale began his career in the youth system of Lazio, progressing through the club's academy before moving into senior football. He debuted in the Super Coppa against Milan in the summer of 2004 and played three games in the Intertoto Cup the following year.

Although he did not establish himself in Lazio's first team, he went on to build his career in the Italian lower divisions, representing a number of clubs, primarily in Serie C and Serie D: Salernitana, Juve Stabia, Torres, Scafatese, Isola Liri and Nocerina before playing for six seasons with Astrea before retiring.

A defender by trade, Sannibale spent much of his career with clubs in central Italy, gaining experience across the professional and semi-professional levels of the Italian football pyramid. While he never played in Serie A, he enjoyed a lengthy career in the lower leagues, where he was a dependable presence in defence.

Sannibale's career reflects that of many academy graduates who, after developing at one of Italy's leading clubs, went on to forge solid careers outside the top flight.