July 24, 2010: Lazio Vicenza 2-1, Friendly
- Simon Basten
- Jul 24
- 6 min read
Improving
The Biancocelesti improving in their first real test during the summer preseason training
Also on this day: July 24, 2013: Lazio Spezia 3-0, Friendly. Young forward Rozzi scores a brace in the final friendly at Auronzo di Cadore
The season so far
The previous season, despite winning the Supercoppa in August, had not been positive and Lazio struggled. In the end they managed to avoid relegation and finished 12th.
The summer transfer window had seen Lazio sign Javier Garrido (Manchester City), Mark Bresciano (free transfer), Alvaro Gonalez (Nacional) and the return of Libor Kozak from his loan to Brescia. Pablo Cesar Pintos was also signed from San Lorenzo. Leaving Lazio were Aleksandar Kolarov (Manchester City), Emilson Cribari (Napoli) and Stephen Makinwa (loan to Larissa). Julio Cruz, Simone Inzaghi and Sebastiano Siviglia had all retired, Ousmane Dabo, Roberto Baronio and Thomas Hitzlsperger had not had their contracts renewed.
The club was currently completing the signing of Brazilian star Hernanes. A midfielder who could use both feet, he would be one of the most important and expensive signings of the Claudio Lotito presidency.
Lazio were in their pre-season training period at Auronzo di Cadore. They had already played a few games against amateur teams. Today was a tougher game against Vicenza who were in Serie B.
The match: Saturday, July 24, 2010, Stadio Rodolfo Zandegiacomo, Auronzo di Cadore
Edy Reja fielded a revolutionised team, with Mark Bresciano and Libor Kozak in attack, Pedro Cavanda and Stefan Lichtsteiner in midfield (the Belgian, still one of the best, was deployed on the left), Francelino Matuzalem as playmaker and Riccardo Perpetuini and Lionel Scaloni in midfield. In defence in front of Tommaso Berni, the trio was formed by Giuseppe Biava, André Dias and Luciano Zauri.
The Biancocelesti showed signs of improvement compared to the other friendlies and played some good football.
The Lazio goals all came in the first half: in the 25th minute Bresciano converted a penalty (foul on Lichtsteiner). In the 37th minute, Kozak scored on a pass from Cavanda who, at the end of a great personal run and after having outpaced two opponents, gave a precise assist to the Czech striker.
In the second half loads of substitutions and Vicenza scored with Denis Tonucci surprising an uncertain Berni in the 79th minute following a corner.
In the final minutes of the match, Mauro Zarate and Stefano Mauri were denied goals by two fine saves from the Veneto goalkeeper Alberto Frison.
Lazio had appeared better in the first half, while in the second half there were more defensive uncertainties.
Who played for Lazio
Berni, Biava (65’ Stendardo), Dias, Zauri (65’ Cribari), Cavanda (65’ Gonzalez), Perpuetini (46’ Pintos), Matuzalem (65’ Ledesma), Scaloni (65’ Del Nero), Lichtsteiner (46’ Zarate), Bresciano (65’ Brocchi), Kozak (65’ Mauri)
Manager: Reja
Who played for Vicenza
Frison, Martinelli (75' Mbida), Zanchi (74' Calori), Tonucci, Giani (46' Minieri), Soligo (69' Salifu), Braiati (46' Misuraca), Botta (74' Rossi), Oliveira (46' Di Matteo), Baclet (46' Gavazzi), Sgrigna (46' Alemao)
Manager: Maran
Referee: Ros
Goals: 25’ Bresciano (pen), 38’ Kozak, 79’ Tonucci
What happened next
Lazio managed to sign Hernanes in August but had to send Pintos on loan to Getafe due to the fact that only one new non-EU player could be signed per season.
In Serie A they started well despite losing the first game against Sampdoria away. In the next eight games they won seven and drew only with Milan. At that point Lazio were top with a 4-point lead. The very controversial loss against Roma, with at least one penalty not given to Lazio, and the bad defeat against Cesena dampened the enthusiasm. But then the Biancocelesti beat Napoli and later on also Inter. At the end of the first half of the season Lazio were third. They then dropped a place but stayed fourth for most of the second half but the decisive loss at Udine (with Mauro Zarate missing a penalty and with Udinese down to 10 men) with two games to go meant that once again Lazio lost out to Udinese on goal difference and arrived 5th. Too many matches that should have been won were lost or drawn (Cesena away, Lecce at home, Cagliari away are just some examples).
In Coppa Italia Lazio went out against Roma in the fourth round.
Hernanes was the player with the most appearances (36 in Serie A and one in Coppa Italia) and with the most goals (11 in Serie A and one in Coppa Italia).
Let’s talk about Libor Kozak
I doubt there has ever been a centre forward at Lazio as tall as Libor Kozak. At 1.93 he was an ideal player for crosses and not only. He was not slow either so he could score in any possible way.
Kozak was born in Brumov-Bylnice in the Czech Republic on May 30, 1989. Early in his career he played in defence because he was so tall but his feeling for the goal and his dribbling skills made coaches move him forward. He started his football career with Opava and stayed there until 2008 debuting in the second Czech tier.
In 2008 he signed for Lazio. He initially played in the primavera team but impressed Delio Rossi who started to call him for the A team. He debuted in Serie A on May 9, 2009 at San Siro against Inter. After three appearances he was loaned to Brescia in Serie B for the 2009-10 season. Following a good year in Lombardy he was called back to Rome and played three years for the Biancocelesti. Kozak was not a goal scoring machine in Serie A, but, particularly in his last year, he scored many goals in Europa League of which he was top scorer in 2012- ‘13. He was part of the teams that won the Coppa Italia 2008-2009 and the historic one against Roma in 2013.
Adriano Galliani, Silvio Berlusconi’s right-hand man, when at Milan accused Kozak of being a dirty player and from then on, he had a tough time with the Serie A referees. In a game with AC Milan he first elbowed Daniele Bonera and then literally clashed heads with Nicola Legrottaglie. Galliani said at the end of the game that Libor should have been arrested.
In 2013 Lazio decided to cash in some money and sold Kozak to Aston Villa. After a good start, at the beginning of 2014 he suffered a serious injury breaking his leg. Due to complications following an operation which went wrong, he missed the entire 2014-15 season. He came back after 605 days in August 2015 but in January he broke his ankle. In four years with the Villans he played just 22 games.
Once his contract was over he signed for Bari in Serie B. In the 2017-18 season he appeared in 16 games scoring two goals but the club then went bust and he was a free agent. In 2018 he signed for Livorno in Serie B but left after nine games to join Slovan Liberec. In 2019 he joined Sparta Prague and stayed for two years appearing in 55 games and scoring 22 goals.
In 2021 he signed for Puskas Akademia in Hungary. After 29 appearances and 5 goals he moved back to the Czech Republic and played with Slovacko. In January 2023 he signed with Trinity Zlin and six months later he moved to Arezzo but stayed only half a season going back to the Czech Republic signing for SFC Opava.
In June 2025 he announced his retirement via social media.
Kozak earned 9 caps with the Czech Republic and scored two goals.
Lazio fans have a very fond memory of Kozak and gave him a big hand when on May 28 the heroes of the 2013 Coppa Italia win celebrated their tenth anniversary at the Olimpico before Lazio Cremonese.
Lazio Career
Sources
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