June 19, 1971: Lugano-Lazio 2-2
- Dag Jenkins
- Jun 19
- 7 min read
Comeback draw on lake
Two zero down at halftime Lazio fight back to earn point
Also on this day:
The season so far
It had been a negative season for Lazio. The Biancocelesti had been relegated from Serie A under Juan Carlos Lorenzo. Lazio had finished 15th, after 5 wins, 12 draws (both derbies) and 13 defeats.
In Coppa Italia they had been eliminated in the first round despite 2 wins out of three, as they lost 0-2 to Roma.
In the Fairs Cup the "Aquilotti" were eliminated by Arsenal in the Round of 64. The Gunners drew 2-2 in Rome and then won 2-0 at Highbury.
The Coppa delle Alpi (The Alps Cup) was the last tournament of the season and the chance for some consolation silverware. It was to be played between June 12 and June 25.
This was the 11th edition of the cup. It was a competition between Italian and Swiss sides. This year eight teams took part, divided into two mixed groups. The A Group was made up of Lazio, Sampdoria, Lugano and Winterthur. The B Group had Varese, Verona, Basel and Lausanne.
The formula was that each team played the foreign team in their group twice (so no matches between Italians). The highest placed Italian and Swiss team would then qualify for the final. The points were calculated from the points from the four matches plus the goals scored.
In the first match, on June 12, Lazio beat Lugano 4-0 (Pierpaolo Manservisi, Giuliano Fortunato, Berset og, Giorgio Chinaglia).
In the second match, on June 15, Lazio beat Winterthur 4-1 (Chinaglia hat-trick and Ferruccio Mazzola).
Today was the third match away to Lugano just over the Italian border, in Switzerland.
Lugano had finished 3rd in the Swiss league and had been runners-up in the domestic cup, losing 0-2 to Servette. The manager was German Albert Sing.
So far in the Alps Cup the "Lügàn" had lost 0-4 to Lazio in Rome and then won 2-1 away against Sampdoria.
The table read: Lazio 4, Lugano 2, Sampdoria 1, Winterthur 1.
A good chance today for Lazio to win the group a game early and at the same time accumulate points and goals to get to the final.
The match: Saturday, June 19, 1971, Stadio Cornaredo, Lugano
A sparse crowd of about 3,000 turned up at the Cornaredo ground on a mild evening.
An unfortunate episode had occurred before the match as in the usual walkaround on the field Juan Carlos Morrone had been targeted by innocuous paper balls but to avoid one had accidentally elbowed his teammate Nello Governato in the face. This meant "Il professore" had been forced to go to hospital and would miss tonight's game. Lazio were already without Pino Wilson.
The Swiss started on the front foot while Lazio were slow and apathetic. The hosts imposed a high tempo on the game and went close immediately with a Tiziano Scacchi effort.
In the 15th minute the White V's went in front courtesy of the son of an old Lazio friend, John Hansen. The Dane had played for the Biancocelesti in 1954-55 scoring 15 goals, after many years at Juventus. Anyway, his son Henning showed he had some of his dad in him and put the Swiss ahead, 1-0.
Lazio did not have much of a reaction and in the 39th minute the Swiss doubled with a powerful and precise Otto Luttrop volley, 2-0.
Lazio were 0-2 down at halftime after a lacklustre first 45 minutes. It could even have been worse had Rosario Di Vincenzo not made at least a couple of excellent saves.
For the second half Bob Lovati took off Ferruccio Mazzola and put on Pierpaolo Manservisi and at the same time moved Giuliano Fortunato further forward.
The tactical change brought almost instant rewards. In the 52nd minute Fortunato skilfully eluded his marker and from the edge of the box sent an unstoppable shot past Mario Prosperi, 2-1.
Lazio had changed gear and equalised five minutes later. Fortunato sent Gaetano Legnaro down towards the by-line and the defender's cross was met by Giorgio Chinaglia who with the inside of his foot put a low shot just inside the post, 2-2.
In the 68th minute were forced to replace keeper Di Vincenzo with Michelangelo Sulfaro. The game however was past its peak as both sides became more cautious seemingly satisfied with the score line. Final score: Lugano 2 Lazio 2.
A decent comeback point for Lazio who had approached the game badly but remedied in the second half in which, had they insisted, they could possibly have come away with more than a point.
The table now read: Lazio 5, Lugano 3, Sampdoria 3, Winterthur 1. In the other group the top Italian team was Varese with 3 points while Verona had 2. The table would then be a calculation of points plus goals scored (at the moment Lazio 15, Sampdoria 7, Verona 7, Varese 5). Lazio were in a good position.
Who played for Lugano
Prosperi, Fassi, Riehn, Signorelli, Cadlini, Roth, Scacchi, Hansen, Berset, Luttrop, Arrigoni
Manager: Sing
Who played for Lazio
Di Vincenzo (68' Sulfaro), Facco, Legnaro, Nanni, Polentes, Marchesi, Massa, Mazzola (46' Manservisi), Chinaglia, Fava, Fortunato
Manager: Lovati
Referee: Branzoni
Goals: 15' Hansen, 39' Luttrop, 52' Fortunato, 57' Chinaglia
What happened next
In the last match, on June 22, Lazio beat Winterthur 5-2 away (Manservisi, Facco, Fava, Dolso, Morrone).
So, Lazio, with 7 points plus 15 goals, totted up 22 points and qualified for the final (Samp 11, Verona, 11, Varese 8).
In the Swiss aggregate group Basel came first with 4 points plus 7 goals so a total of 11 (Lugano 8, Lausanne 7, Winterthur 5).
The final Basel vs Lazio was played at St. Jakob Stadium in Basel on June 25 and Lazio triumphed 3-1 with a goal by Pierpaolo Manservisi and a Giorgio Chinaglia brace.
A great satisfaction for Lazio after a difficult season. It was certainly not the European Cup or UEFA Cup but it held some prestige at the time. Lazio had performed well and the win was given great emphasis in the local and national media.
Serie B awaited but with today's triumph, new manager Tommaso Maestrelli (in the stands today) and President Lenzini's promise not to sell Chinaglia to Juventus the future looked brighter. And it certainly was.
Lugano then lost the last game at home to Sampdoria who got their revenge winning 2-1. Lugano finished 3rd in the group and 2nd among the Swiss teams.
Let’s talk about Giuliano Fortunato
Giuliano Fortunato was born in Tricesimo near Udine on May 12, 1940. He began his career in the youth teams of Pro Gorizia and in 1959 he signed for Triestina in Serie B. After two years, he moved to Vicenza in Serie A and debuted on September 10 1961 against Catania. He scored his only goal of the season in that match.
In the autumn transfer window of 1962, he signed for Milan. He played five years with the Rossoneri but he was never really able to become a first-choice player and never played more than 17 games a season. He did however win a European Cup in 1963 and a Coppa Italia in 1967.
In 1967 he joined Lazio. On his arrival the Biancocelesti were in Serie B and coached first by Roberto Gei and then Bob Lovati. Lazio finished 11th and Fortunato was top scorer with 5 league goals.
The following year Juan Carlos Lorenzo arrived as manager and Lazio won the league, earning promotion back to Serie A. Fortunato played 35 league games with 8 goals, plus 2 games in Coppa Italia.
In 1969-70 Lazio had a good season in Serie A finishing 8th. He played 20 league games with 2 goals (Roma and Bari), plus 3 games in Coppa Italia.
The 1970-71 season was not as positive. Lazio were relegated back to Serie B with a 15th place finish. Fortunato played 19 league games with 1 goal (Foggia) and 2 games in Coppa Italia. Lazio did however win the Cup of the Alps beating Basel 3-1 in the final. He played 5 games and scored one goal in the tournament.
The 1971-72 season would be Fortunato's last with Lazio but it was a positive one. Under the wise guidance of new manager Tommaso Maestrelli, Lazio won promotion back to Serie A with a 2nd place finish. He played 23 league games and 9 in Coppa Italia. So, Fortunato won his second promotion but then parted ways. He moved to Lecce in Serie C where he ended his career.
Fortunato was a strong centre forward with good feet. He played 153 games for Lazio (39 in Serie A, 93 in Serie B, 18 in Coppa Italia, 2 in the Intercities Fairs Cup and one in the Mitropa Cup) and scored 16 goals (3 in Serie A and 13 in Serie B).
He died in Tricesimo (Udine) on September 23, 2022.
Lazio Career
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