July 30, 1995: Hokkaido University Lazio 0-5, Friendly
- Simon Basten
- Jul 30
- 6 min read
Zeman changes things around
In a good training match, Zeman tries a few experiments as Signori scores his first pre-season goal
Also on this day:
The season so far
The transfer window started with a bang: Beppe Signori sold to Parma for 25 billion lire plus Dino Baggio and Pippo Inzaghi.
Lazio needed money so when the Parma President Calisto Tanzi, looking to strengthen his team, made the offer, Sergio Cragnotti saw no reason to say no. The rest of the world did however say no. Firstly, the fans who organised a demonstration. 5,000 people took to the streets to show their discontent over the deal. Secondly, the banks said that they would cover if the deal did not go through. Thirdly President Dino Zoff underlined all the technical problems that would have occurred in case the deal went through. Lastly, Beppe Signori said no. So Signori stayed. In hindsight, Cragnotti was probably right.
As a consequence, in the summer of 1995 Lazio did not sign anybody of particular interest with the exception of future legend Guerino Gottardi. On the other hand, many players waved goodbye: Roberto Cravero, Roberto Bacci, Mauro Bonomi and Paul Gascoigne, all players “chosen” during Dino Zoff’s stint as manager.
Lazio were in the pre-season training at Kiroro in Japan. They had already played a few games and today they faced Hokkaido University.
The match: Sunday, July 30, 1995, Kiroro
Zdenek Zeman continued to experiment in the pre-season training in Japan. Today in the first half he put Mauro Iannuzzi at the centre of the attack and Guerino Gottardi as left back. The pitch was not in great condition due to the rain that had made it slippery.
The first half was the most interesting but with only one goal. In the 17th minute great pass from Iannuzzi to Beppe Signori who scored his first goal in this pre-season.
In the second half in came Gigi Casiraghi and the Biancocelesti scored another four. In the 50th minute Dario Marcolin took a free kick which hit the crossbar. Roberto Rambaudi was quicker than anybody and headed the ball into the net.
In the 73rd minute spectacular bicycle cross from young Alessandro Nesta, who was trying to keep the ball in play, in came Casiraghi who headed past the keeper. Then it was Aron Winter who scored nine minutes later. After having hit the crossbar with a shot he tried again with a volley and made it 4-0. The fifth goal came with a shot from outside the box from Casiraghi.
A good training game for Lazio.
Who played for Hokkaido University
Kosugi (55' Abe), Narita, Saga, K.Sakuray, Shukuin, T.Sakuray, Sato, Odate, Sasaki (67' Isobe), Miura, Hirose
Who played for Lazio
First half: Orsi, Romano, Negro, Bergodi, Gottardi, Fuser, Di Matteo, Marcolin, Esposito, Iannuzzi, Signori
Second half: Marchegiani, Nesta, Cravero, Grandoni, Favalli, Winter, Marcolin (76’ Zaizen), Rambaudi, Casiraghi, Di Vaio
Manager: Zeman
Referee: Kaneda
Goals: 18’ Signori, 50’ Rambaudi, 73’ Casiraghi, 82’ Winter, 86’ Casiraghi
What happened next
The season started very well with two consecutive wins. The highlight of the early part was the 4-0 crushing of Juventus at the end of October. It was a demonstration of Lazio’s full potential and of just how lethal manager’s Zdenek Zeman’s teams could be. Two days later came the other side of the coin: Lazio were eliminated in the UEFA Cup by Olympique Lyonnais. This was an example of how the season panned out. Spectacular games (6-3 against Sampdoria for example) and dismal performances like losing to Vicenza and Piacenza. Lazio fans were used to it by now, but the question was: will we ever win anything with this inconsistency? Lazio closed the first half of the season fifth on 26 points.
The Biancocelesti inconsistent year continued until March 24 when they lost to Cremonese. At that point the season seemed over and was very disappointing. But the players found the strength to change things around and from then on Lazio never lost again. In the last eight games the Biancocelesti won six and drew two and managed not only a UEFA Cup qualification for the next season but also a good third place. Just like the previous year, the team was able to turn things around with a great finale and reach an important objective.
Signori was top scorer in Serie A, together with Igor Protti, for the third time in four years. He scored a total of 26 goals that season. Paolo Negro and Diego Fuser had the most appearances (39).
Let’s talk about Aron Winter
Aron Winter was born in Paramaribo (Suriname), on March 1, 1967.
Winter started his career as an amateur in his home country Holland with SV Lelystad and at 19 was bought by Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam. He made his debut on April 6 against Utrecht. He played 187 games for Ajax scoring 44 times and winning 2 Dutch Cups ('87, '88), a league title ('91), a UEFA Cup Winners Cup ('87) and a UEFA Cup ('92).
In 1992 he joined Lazio for 5 billion lire (approx €2.5 million), in owner Cragnotti's attempt to build a competitive squad, both domestically and internationally. Winter, along with Karl Heinz Riedle, Thomas Doll and Paul Gascoigne, added prestige to Lazio and definitely put them on the European map. Winter played 4 seasons for Lazio and totalled 156 games (123 in Serie A, 17 in Coppa Italia and 16 in the UEFA Cup) with 26 goals (21 in Serie A, 3 in Coppa Italia and 2 in UEFA Cup). He was an immensely popular player at Lazio. His name was chanted throughout his time at the Olimpico and all the stories of racism and anti-Semitism were vastly exaggerated by the media, all due to some isolated graffiti on a city wall.
It was with sadness that the “Laziali” saw him leave to Inter in 1996, where he went on to play for 3 seasons, but without ever reaching the heights of his Lazio days. At Inter he made 77 appearances with 1 goal (against Lazio ironically) before moving back to Ajax for 2 seasons in 1999 (51 appearances, 4 goals). He then played a season with Sparta Rotterdam (32 appearances, 1 goal) before returning to Ajax but without playing any competitive matches again.
After retiring he has had coaching experiences, especially as assistant for Ajax, but also as head coach at Toronto FC for a year. He was also Greece's assistant coach for 2 years (2019-21) and head coach of Suriname. He has also worked for television streaming platforms.
At International level Winter won 84 caps for Holland with 6 goals. He was part of the European Championship winning Dutch team of 1988 but made no appearances in the final stages. He played in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups, and was selected for the 1998 World Cup in France.
Aron Winter was an elegant, classy player who had both quality and quantity. He was a central midfielder with excellent athleticism, intelligence and vision. Apart from his technique, he had a strong personality and was a model professional. He usually played left-sided central midfield, a box-to-box player confirmed by his high goal scoring rate for Lazio. He was also versatile and was deployed as full back and even centre-back for Holland.
Aron Winter is remembered at Lazio as a model player, rarely involved in any controversies and as a solid, reliable but also high-quality midfielder. His years at Lazio are identified with their gradual rise as a domestic force, which would later culminate in winning several trophies. Winter was part of that build up and he gave Lazio an International identity and respect.
On a personal level Winter was one of my favourites. Here was an established European star coming to my club, maybe things were finally changing… On the pitch he was hard-working but had class too and all without any of the Italian or South-American antics and theatrics. He was also a player of my generation. I was no longer the starry-eyed boy looking up to unreachable idols but admiring players of my age, of International level, representing my beloved team.
Lazio Career
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