June 24, 1995: Lazio Perugia 1-0, Primavera
- Simon Basten
- Jun 24
- 4 min read
Champions of Italy
Lazio Primavera beat Perugia 1-0 with a Ianuzzi goal and win the scudetto
Also on this day:
The season so far
Today we will be talking about the second leg of the 1994-95 primavera league final.
The Primavera League is the under-19 youth competition. The tournament began in 1962-63 taking the place of the Cadetti League which had started in 1954 and Lazio had won in 1955-56.
In the first seven years of the Primavera league there were two distinct final phases for Serie A and Serie B but since 1969 it became one single tournament. The Biancocelesti had so far won twice, in 1975-76, with Bruno Giordano, Lionello Manfredonia, Maurizio Montesi and Andrea Agostinelli, managed by Paolo Carosi, and in 1986-87 with Valerio Fiori and Antonio Rizzolo managed by Giancarlo Morrone.
The teams in the first phase were divided into four regional groups. The top four teams proceeded to the second phase. The teams qualified were Padova, Udinese, Atalanta and Milan for Group A, Genoa, Juventus, Parma and Torino for Group B, Palermo, Reggina, Bari and Foggia for Group D.
The Biancocelesti had a good group of players managed by Mimmo Caso, hero of the -9 season. The previous season they had lost in the final against Atalanta.
Lazio won Group C ahead of Perugia, Fiorentina, and Ancona with 18 wins, 4 draws and only 2 losses.
In the second phase, the 16 teams were divided into four groups. The winners would go on to play the semi-finals. Group A was won by Juventus, Group B by Udinese, Lazio won Group C and Perugia Group D.
In the semi-final, the Biancocelesti won the first leg against Udinese 1-0 with a 90th minute Giacomo Paniccia goal and then drew 1-1 in the second leg after Marco Di Vaio had given Lazio the lead in the 56th minute. The final was against Perugia who had eliminated Juventus.
In the first leg Lazio had lost 2-1. The Biancocelesti had scored first with Alessandro Iannuzzi but Perugia had overturned the result and won 2-1.
The Biancocelesti needed to win today.
The match: Saturday, June 24, 1995, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
The stadium was packed and almost full for this very important game despite it being a Primavera match. And Lazio immediately went ahead. In the 4th minute free kick from outside the box. In came specialist Alessandro Iannuzzi. Marvellous curling shot and 1-0 for the young Biancocelesti.
Lazio put their foot on the accelerator looking for a second and had chances with Marco Napolioni, Marco Di Vaio with a header only just too high and another great Iannuzzi free kick saved by the keeper.
In the second half Perugia woke up and started to attack. The visitors went close to an equaliser with a Danilo Vitali header which went only just wide and then in the last second there was a massive scramble in the Lazio area, ball to Stefano Gioacchini who from favourable position tried a shot. Flavio Roma needed all his ability to save and did so, handing the Biancocelesti their deserved scudetto.
A first for manager Mimmo Caso, legendary player of the -9 season, as well as for Sergio Cragnotti who could look to the future with great optimism since the club could go a long way with such talented kids.
Who played for Lazio
Roma, Di Nicolantonio, Nesta, Piccioni (63’ Sogliani), Cristiano, Orfei, Di Vaio, Napolioni, Lucchini (79’ Birzò), Iannuzzi, Franceschini
Manager: Caso
Who played for Perugia
Mancon, Mundula, Vitali, Goretti, Cernicchi, Cottini, Gemmi (62' Testini), Baiocco, C. Lucarelli, Montesanto (25' Faieta), S. Gioacchini
Manager: Giannattasio
Referee: Ayroldi
Goal: 4’ Iannuzzi
What happened next
Quite a number of these players would go on to have good careers. Daniele Franceschini had a long run in Serie A, Marco Di Vaio and Alessandro Nesta would debut with Lazio and become world class players and goalkeeper Flavio Roma also had a good international career.
Let’s talk about Flavio Roma
Flavio Roma was born in Rome on June 21 1974.
A product of the Lazio youth academy, he was loaned out to Mantova in Serie C1 in 1993, but he returned a year later, after three appearances, and joined the Lazio Primavera team. The squad included Alessandro Nesta, Alessandro Iannuzzi and Marco Di Vaio and won the 1995 scudetto beating Perugia in the final.
The following summer he was sent on loan to Venezia in Serie B where he made 8 appearances. He then played for Fiorenzuola in Serie C1 (19 games), Foggia in Serie B (40), and Chievo again in the second tier where he played 34 matches. In 1999 he was sold to Piacenza in Serie A in the deal that saw Simone Inzaghi come to Rome. He made 36 appearances but was unable to save his club from relegation. He stayed on another year playing 45 games contributing to their return to Serie A.
In the summer of 2001 the big break: he signed for Monaco in Ligue 1. He stayed there 8 years making 247 appearances and winning a League Cup in 2002-03.
After rarely playing in the 2008-09 season, he joined Milan as third keeper. He stayed for three years making three appearances, all in his second season.
When his contract ended he went back to Monaco, who had slipped down into Ligue 2. After two more years he decided to quit football altogether.
Roma earned three caps for Italy, all friendlies and all played in 2005.
Once he stopped playing he became a goalkeeper coach first with Monaco and then with Milan.
Flavio Roma was a solid and physical keeper with excellent technique. He never managed to debut with Lazio, but he did leave his mark with that wonderful Primavera scudetto.
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