July 31 1998: Leeds United -Lazio 1-1, friendly
- Dag Jenkins
- Jul 31
- 7 min read
Lazio miss out on a Liverpool clash
A last minute Leeds equaliser and then a penalty shoot-out deny Lazio a match against old friends Liverpool
The season so far
Lazio had finished 7th in the league but had challenged for the Scudetto until early April before losing to Juventus and then concentrating on the cups. Lazio did well both in the UEFA Cup in which they reached the final but lost 0-3 to Inter in Paris and did even better in the domestic cup.
Lazio had won silverware after 24 years, triumphing in the Coppa Italia against Milan 3-2 on aggregate. The Biancocelesti had lost the first leg in Milan 0-1 and had been 0-1 down in Rome too but then scored three goals in ten minutes to win 3-1 and give some generations the new sweet taste of success.
Over the summer there had been some changes to the squad. Important players arrived: defenders Fernando Couto (Parma), Sinisa Mihajlovic (Sampdoria), midfielders Iván De La Peña (Barcelona), Dejan Stankovic (Red Star Belgrade), Sergio Conceição (Porto) plus striker Marcelo Salas (River Plate).
Leaving were: keeper Fernando Orsi (retiring), defenders José Chamot (Atlético Madrid) and Alessandro Grandoni (Sampdoria), midfielders Diego Fuser (Parma) and Vladimir Jugovic (Atlético Madrid) plus strikers Pierluigi Casiraghi (Chelsea) and Beppe Signori (Bologna).
So quite an upheaval to the squad for Lazio and there would be more arrivals before the season started.
Today was Lazio's 4th pre-season friendly; Fassa Calcio 5-0, Monza 0-0 (4-5 on pens), Panathinaikos 1-1 (2-3 on pens).
Lazio's first big game would be the Supercoppa final in Turin against champions Juventus on August 29.
Today's opposition were Leeds United. In my opinion Lazio and Leeds have a lot in common (apart from the obvious). Great highs and great lows in their history including glory days in the 1970's, a slump in the 80's, a revival in the 90's, a wonderful and loyal fan base. They are also unfashionable clubs, ones many people love to hate for various reasons (although Leeds have strong support in Norway due to the televised games in the 70's). They will never be darlings of the press or liked by the masses. Leeds have two big successful clubs nearby (now three with Manchester City), Liverpool and Manchester United. Lazio have Roma on their doorsteps (a merger of several local teams wanted by the regime in 1927 while Lazio decided to remain fiercely and proudly independent), a more fashionable club, with more support and pumped by the mainstream media.
Leeds United finished 5th in the 1997-98 Premier League under George Graham and qualified for the UEFA Cup. Leeds' main players included: Ian Harte, Alfie Haaland (Erling's father), Lucas Radebe, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Lee Bowyer, Harry Kewell and Alan Smith.
This season Graham had been confirmed. The transfer market had brought in defender Danny Granville from Chelsea while midfielder Jason Blunt went to Blackpool.
The Whites would start their Premier League campaign on August 15.
This game today was officially part of the Carlsberg Trophy, a pre-season tournament between four clubs; Leeds, Lazio, Liverpool and St Patrick's Athletic (Irish champions). This was the second semi-final as in the first the Reds had beaten the locals.
The match: Friday, July 31, 1998, Lansdowne Road , Dublin
A grey day in Dublin saw a substantial crowd of 30,000 turn up at the national stadium used both for football and rugby.
Both sides had several absences.
Leeds were without defender Jonathan Woodgate, midfielder Harry Kewell and forward Alan Smith.
Lazio were missing defenders Alessandro Nesta, Fernando Couto and Beppe Pancaro, midfielders Sergio Conceição and Matías Almeyda plus forwards Alen Boksic and Marcelo Salas (mainly players who had taken part in the 1998 World Cup).
The game predictably was not played at a great pace. Lazio however were more dangerous with a couple of Sinisa Mihajkovic free kicks and a Roberto Mancini effort which shaved the post after a good combination with Ivan de la Peña.
Towards the end of the half though it was Leeds who went extremely close with Floyd Hasselbaink who hit the post after a defensive blunder. Half time 0-0.
The second started with Lazio going forward but an Alessandro Iannuzzi shot was too central after a Beppe Favalli assist.
Leeds responded with a dangerous strike by Lee Bowyer but Luca Marchegiani did well to save behind for a corner. The Lazio keeper was then alert on a David Hopkin attempt.
In the 53rd minute Lazio made a triple substitution bringing on Guerino Gottardi, Giorgio Venturin and Rosario Aquino for Roberto Rambaudi, Dejan Stankovic (promising performance) and Iannuzzi.
Ten minutes later de la Peña also went off and on came Dario Marcolin. The Spaniard was clearly not fit yet but had some clever touches.
Leeds now looked fitter and sharper, a logical consequence of the fact that the English League kicked off in just over two weeks.
Lazio nevertheless threatened with another Mihajlovic freekick saved with a foot by Nigel Martyn and then 18-year-old youngster Aquino wasted a good chance after being set up by Gottardi.
Going into the last twenty minutes Leeds too started to turn to their bench. On came Matt Jones for Bruno Ribeiro and Martin Hiden for Hopkin.
The young lad from near Naples then redeemed himself in the 79th minute by putting Lazio in front. Two through balls, first by Pavel Nedved and then Mancini were finished off well by the Lazio youth player, 0-1.
Lazio then took off Mihajlovic and put on Stefano Lombardi while for the last few minutes Leeds replaced Hasselbaink with Alfie Haaland.
Lazio were just starting to savour a prestigious and exciting clash with Liverpool and former player Karl-Heinz Riedle in the final when Leeds equalised. In the 90th minute the Lazio defence had a collective hesitation and Bowyer headed in to level the score.
The game ended 1-1 and so went to penalties which Leeds won 4-2.
A good training game for Lazio against a quality Premier League side. Lazio had shown signs of improvement and the old Mihajlovic-Mancini partnership was still as effective as in the Sampdoria days. De la Peña had shown flashes of class but would have to get into better physical shape to be really competitive. Finally, young Serb Stankovic looked strong and confident.
Next up for Lazio were the game for 3rd place against St. Patrick's Athletic, then Benfica away, Real Madrid in La Coruña, Deportivo La Coruña, Fiorentina at home, Atlético Madrid away and then the Supercoppa appointment.
Who played for Leeds
Martyn, Kelly, Molenaar, Radebe, Harte, Halle, Bowyer, Ribeiro (73' Jones), Granville, Hasselbaink (87' Haaland), Hopkin (73' Hiden)
Substitutes: Wetherall, McPhail, Hatthens
Manager: Graham
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Negro, Lopez, Mihajlovic (84' Lombardi), Favalli, Rambaudi (53' Venturin), Stankovic (53' Gottardi), De la Peña (62' Marcolin), Nedved, Iannuzzi (53' Aquino), Mancini
Manager: Eriksson
Referee: O'Hanlon
Goals: 79'Aquino, 90' Bowyer
Pens:
Jones (Le)- saved
Nedved (La)- missed
Harte (Le)- 1-0
Aquino (La)- 1-1
Haaland (Le) - 2-1
Venturin (La) - missed
Bowyer (Le) - 3-1
Marcolin (La) - 3-2
Hiden (Le) - 4-2
What happened next
In this tournament Lazio then beat St. Patrick's Athletic 4-1 to finish 3rd (Stankovic, Nedved, Iannuzzi, Venturin).
More importantly they also beat Juventus 2-1 in the Supercoppa in late August to lift the trophy for the first time.
In the late summer Lazio would add forward Christian Vieri to the squad (from Atlético Madrid). Unfortunately he was then out until January with an injury.
They were then unlucky in Serie A narrowly missing out on the league title by one point but triumphed in the last ever Cup Winners Cup by beating Mallorca 2-1 in Birmingham (Vieri, Nedved).
Sadly youngster Aquino would pass away at 20 years of age in a car crash.
Leeds United then lost the final 0-2 to Liverpool (Berger, Owen).
In the Premier League the Peacocks finished 4th. Graham would be sacked on October 1 and replaced by David O'Leary.
Lazio and Leeds would meet again in the 2000-01 Champions League. Leeds would win 1-0 in Rome while at Elland Road it finished 3-3.
On a personal note little did I know at the time in 1998 but a few years later Leeds and Leeds United would become an important part of my life as my sister moved to Leeds and married into a family of staunch United fans. I still support Cardiff City though....
Let's talk about Lazio Shirts 1998-99
Image Source: Football Kit Archive
Lazio had six shirts for this season. Four were for the outfield players and two for the goalkeepers. The main sponsor was Cirio while the technical sponsor was Puma.
There were three for Serie A. The home shirt was light blue with a horizontal black band stretching across the chest and onto the sleeves. The band was interrupted in the middle for the Puma logo. The light blue collar also had a thin black line on it. The shorts were white with a black stripe down the sides and the socks light blue with a black stripe a third of the way down.
The away strip was the same design but yellow with a light blue band across the chest. The shorts were also yellow with a light blue stripe on the sides as were the socks.
The third shirt for Serie A was again the same design but black with a light blue band. The shorts were black with a light blue stripe and the socks also black with a light blue stripe.
For the Cup Winners Cup the Biancocelesti had a different design. The shirt was a darker yellow with black vertical stripes down the sides and along the shoulders, interrupted in the middle of the shirt for the sponsor. The sponsor was changed for the final and caused some controversy as the "Dal Monte" logo was red and combined with the yellow of the shirt caused a "bit" of an eyesore to Lazio fans. The players took them off soon after the final whistle against Mallorca and donned the beloved light blue.
The last two were for the goalkeepers. One was a very light blue with an uninterrupted black band across the chest and down the sleeves. The second was black with a grey uninterrupted band.
The Serie A shirts in particular were all extremely popular and can still be seen worn by fans at the stadium today.
Sources
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