July 22, 2017: Lazio Spal 2-0, Friendly
- Simon Basten
- Jul 22
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 23
First real test
Lazio beat Spal in a Serie A appetiser
Also on this day: July 22, 1999: Göteborg Lazio 1-1, Friendly. Despite very limited training, Lazio play well in Göteborg. The future looks promising.
The season so far
The previous Lazio had arrived fifth and qualified for the Europa League. They had also reached the final of the Coppa Italia but lost to Juve.
The summer transfer window had seen the arrivals of Adam Marusic, Liverpool legend Lucas Leiva and Davide Di Gennaro. Lucas Biglia had left for Milan. The Biancocelesti still needed to solve the issue of Keita Balde who had asked to leave and refused to sign a new contract with the club. It was hoped more players would arrive.
Lazio were in their pre-season training period at Auronzo di Cadore. They had already played three friendlies and today was the fourth against Spal who were newly promoted to Serie A.
The match: Saturday, July 22, 2017, Stadio Rodolfo Zandegiacomo, Auronzo di Cadore
Ciro Immobile seemed to be in great form already. He scored the first goal and had other chances including a spectacular acrobatic volley saved into corner by Alfred Gomis in the 6th minute. Another shot shortly after, following a great pass from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, was again saved into corner by the keeper. Luis Alberto too also seemed in good shape, passing the ball around and inventing. A shot of his went very close to the post. Immobile again had a sitter in the 30th minute after a great assist from Alessandro Murgia but the ball was struck over towards the mountains. Then in the 44th minute he finally scored. Felipe Anderson on the counter attack, classic ball to King Ciro who went around the keeper and deposited the ball into the net.
Massive turnover in the second half and Alberto Paloschi had a chance but Ivan Vargic came out of the goal blocking any space and all the Spal forward could do was to shoot straight at him. Luiz Felipe had a chance on a Davide Di Gennaro freekick but could not get a good connection. Simone Palombi also had a chance after a Luca Crecco shot but his header went too high. In the 88th minute Luiz Felipe went down the left from his own half and like lightning ended up in the Spal box. Fouled from behind, hence penalty to Lazio. Keita Balde made it 2-0.
That closed the match and it all seemed good, but Simone Inzaghi was not happy, complaining about the lack of transfers.
Who played for Lazio
Vargic, Wallace (46’ Bastos), Hoedt (71’ Luiz Felipe), Radu (46’ de Vrij), Marusic (60’ Basta), Murgia (46’ Leiva), Luis Alberto (71’ Crecco), Milinkovic-Savic (60 Di Gennaro), Lulic (60’ Patric), Felipe Anderson (46’ Keita), Immobile (60’ Palombi)
Substitutes: Strakosha, Guerrieri, Mohamed, Parolo, Oikonomidis, Kishna, Lombardi, Djordjevic, Rossi
Manager: Inzaghi
Who played for Spal
Gomis, Oikonomou (55' Gasparetto), Cremonesi, Vicari (63' Polvani), Lazzari, Schiattarella (77' Bellemo), Viviani (46' Rizzo), Mora (66' Schiavon), Costa (dal 70′ Mattiello), Antenucci (dal 74′ Finotto), Floccari (46' Paloschi)
Substitutes: Marchegiani, Boccafoglia, Arini, Poluzzi, Artioli
Manager: Semplici
Referee: Marinelli
Goals: 44’ Immobile, 80’ Keita (pen)
What happened next
Further transfers arrived: forward Felipe Caicedo and former Manchester United legend Nani. Keita Balde went to Monaco and Wesley Hoedt to Southampton.
The season kicked off to a good start. Lazio managed to beat Juventus 3-2 in the Italian Supercoppa with a goal in the dying seconds from youngster Alessandro Murgia. Doubles from Ciro Immobile and Paolo Dybala had made the game 2-2.
In Coppa Italia the Biancocelesti were eliminated by Milan on penalties in the semi-final and in Europa League they reached the quarter finals but were eliminated by Red Bull Salzburg 6-5 on aggregate.
At the end of the first half of the season Lazio were 4th. They stayed fourth for a while and even reached 3rd at the end of February but it lasted just one game as they lost at home against Juventus in injury time. In mid-March they slipped to fifth but again moved up to third in early April and stayed there until three games to the end of the season. The first four qualified for the Champions League. They were tied with Roma and had a four-point lead over Inter.
But with Immobile injured they drew the first game at home and Inter reduced the deficit to two points. In the penultimate game Lazio had to win against struggling Crotone but only managed to draw. So did Inter, and the final game at the Olimpico against the Nerazzurri was decisive.
With 12 minutes to go Lazio were winning 2-1, but Inter managed to score two goals in 4 minutes and Lazio had to settle for Europa League. A big blow.
Let’s talk about Sergio Floccari
Sergio Floccari was a big, strong, but modern centre forward. Skilful with his feet, good header, not a goal scorer like Ciro Immobile, but a good team player.
Born in Vibo Valentia on November 12 1981, he started his football career in Nicotera before his formative youth training with Catanzaro. After not much luck playing for Avezzano, Montebelluna and Mestre, he started to show promise in 2001-02 with Faenza in Serie C2. Genoa noticed him and he moved to Liguria to play in Serie B. However, in January 2003 he was sold to Rimini, again in Serie C2. The seaside team in three years climbed to Serie B and Floccari made a good contribution of goals.
In January 2006 he made his debut in Serie A with Messina against Lazio. He would stay in Sicily for a year and a half before being signed by Atalanta. After two years he was back at Genoa but for the second time his spell in Liguria only lasted six months.
In January 2010 he started his adventure with Lazio. He scored two goals in his first match for the Biancocelesti and 8 goals in total in his first half season. He however missed a decisive penalty in the derby, something which is not done!
In 2010-2011 he was Edy Reja’s centre forward and played 30 games. The next year he was sent out on loan to Parma. He returned to Lazio in 2012-2013 and was back-up for Miroslav Klose, so he did not play so regularly, but he was often used in Europa League where he scored 4 goals.
A winning header in injury time in the Coppa Italia semi-final against Juventus, sent Lazio to the final which would see the Biancocelesti triumph against Roma.
He continued to play for Lazio until January 2014 when he was sold to Sassuolo. In Emilia-Romagna he played more for the team and started scoring less. He stayed there for two half-seasons and a full one before being sold to Bologna in January 2016. A year later he moved to Spal in Serie B and helped them to a historic promotion to Serie A. He played in Ferrara until the end of the 2020-2021 season when he quit football.
Sergio Floccari is now a commentator for DAZN.
He played 106 games for Lazio (83 in Serie A, 6 in Coppa Italia, 16 in Europa League and one in the Supercoppa) and scored 31 goals (21 in Serie A, 2 in Coppa Italia and 8 in Europa League).
He will be forever remembered for the wonderful header against Juventus and for being part of the team that won the 2012-13 Coppa Italia against Roma.
Lazio Career
Sources
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