June 22, 1947: Lazio Triestina 3-0
- Simon Basten
- Jun 22
- 4 min read
Easy and with little effort
Lazio crush Triestina thanks to Puccinelli and a Lombardini brace
Also on this day:
The season so far
In the previous season the teams from Serie A and B had been grouped together and divided into two groups according to geographical location. This was in order to lessen the burden of travel in a devastated country following the end of World War II. Lazio finished seventh. A mediocre season for the Biancocelesti with a terrible first half and a better second.
The manager, Toni Cargnelli had been confirmed and there had been some new entries as far as players were concerned. Defenders Luigi Cassano (Alessandria), Emilio Carton (Verona), midfielders Antonio Sessa (Pro Gorizia) and Luciano Ramella (Como) and forwards Mario Magrini (Pro Gorizia), Bruno Ispiro (Genoa) and Cesare Ferronato (Bassano). There was a lot of optimism, and Lazio were considered a possible outsider.
But this was not to be. The Biancocelesti had not done as well as expected and after the first half of the season they were 10th. Very inconsistent, the Biancocelesti had some good wins (Bologna 3-1, Sampdoria 4-0) but also some bad losses (4-1 against Fiorentina and 5-1 to Torino). After 25 games they were in the relegation zone, but thanks to Enrique Flamini's return they managed to work themselves up. They were currently 11th, five points clear of the relegation zone with three games left.
The match: Sunday, June 22, 1947, Stadio Nazionale, Rome
The result was predictable and the match was monotonous. It started without great impetus, with alternating moves and a slight Lazio advantage. Without the worry of the result, the two teams tried to show off some of their skills, but without raising the level of the game. There was a shot by Alberto Milli in the 18th minute that went just wide, an innocuous shot by Aldo Puccinelli in the 22nd minute and another Puccinelli initiative in the 27th minute.
Then suddenly there was a goal: Cesare Brunetti took a free kick that Guerrino Striuli punched away, the ball reached Romolo Alzani who softly pushed it to Umberto Lombardini who missed the first shot with his right but then touched it with his left and scored from two metres.
Triestina tried to react, but their attacking line was out of ideas and without a player capable of getting the finishing touch. In the 46th minute Lombardini, receiving the ball from Costantino De Andreis, beat Striuli with an unstoppable shot.
In the 73rd minute an Alzani goal from outside the box he was disallowed by the referee for an alleged De Andreis offside. Then some visitor counter attacks were neutralized without too much effort by Corrado Giubilo. In the 82nd minute Enrique Flamini, once again man of the match, set up Puccinelli who volleyed the ball past Striuli for the third time.
Easy and with little effort.
Who played for Lazio
Giubilo, Cassano, Antonazzi, Alzani, Gualtieri, Brunetti, Puccinelli, Magrini, Lombardini, Flamini, De Andreis
Manager: Cargnelli
Who played for Triestina
Striuli, Gratton, Blason, Presca, Radio, Bergamasco, Zanella, Rossetti, Urbani, Milli, Bernard
Manager: Varglien
TD: Girani
Referee: Massai
Goals: 37’ Lombardini, 46’ Lombardini, 82’ Puccinelli
What happened next
Thanks to a good second half of the season Lazio managed to avoid relegation. In the last 13 matches they lost just one and won five, reaching tenth place.
Aldo Puccinelli was the player with most appearances (36) as well as the top scorer with 13 goals.
Let's talk about Umberto Lombardini
He joined Lazio at the age of 9 and played in all the youth teams. He debuted in Serie A on December 15, 1940, in Bergamo in the match lost against Atalanta. He made 10 appearances in the 1940-41 with three goals. He was Silvio Piola’s reserve.
In the game against Napoli on February 9, there was a penalty for Lazio and Lombardini was asked to take it. He was not sure he could score since the Napoli goalkeeper was his former teammate Giacomo Blason. But he did. As he walked up to the spot kick, he said to the keeper “I’ll kick on the right”. That is exactly what he did and scored.
In 1941 he was loaned to Ala Littoria and in the following year to Alba Roma. In 1943 he came back to Lazio and played in the Rome War Championship. The Biancocelesti won the tournament and Lombardini was top scorer with 21 goals.
In 1944 he played for Ala Italiana but was back with the Biancocelesti once Serie A recommenced. In 1947-48 he made just nine appearances due to the arrival of Romano Penzo. In 1949 he signed for Tivoli and then played the rest of his career in minor leagues.
Once he stopped active football he began to work for Lazio and did so until the 1980s.
He was a very powerful centre-forward, nicknamed “bomba” (bomb). Some say he was even more powerful than Silvio Piola.
He made 77 appearances with 36 goals for Lazio. He died in Rome on October 16 1986.
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