June 26, 1921: Lazio Naples 4-4

Simon Basten
Jun 26
3 min read

Fun draw

Lazio come from behind to draw their final game of the season

The season so far

The previous season Lazio had played the National Championship Rome group and had arrived third, missing out on the semi-final group. The adamantly amateur nature of the club could not compete with Fortitudo, who had loads more money and were professional, and Lazio had also been overtaken by Audace. They had however won the Canalini Tournament (beating Audace and Juventus Audax but losing to US Romana) and the Lazio Tournament (beating both Audace and Pro Roma).

The only player who joined Lazio in the summer of 1920 was Odoacre Parboni even if he had already played a few friendlies the previous season. Young Dante Filippi was promoted to the senior team. The manager was still Guido Baccani.

Lazio managed to achieve second place in the Rome National Championship group, five points behind Fortitudo, who had won all of the games except one, and five ahead of Juventus Audax. The Biancocelesti had won 10 games, lost only twice (Fortitudo at home and Juventus Audax away), and drawn twice (Fortitudo away and Vittoria). They qualified for the centre-south semi-final group and were paired with Livorno and Naples.

Alas they had lost all three of their games. Livorno had won all of theirs and were mathematically in the final where they would meet Pisa in a Tuscan derby.

Lazio and Naples had nothing left to say for this season.

The match: Sunday, June 26, 1921, Campo della Rondinella, Rome

The appointed referee did not show up. By mutual agreement, the two clubs accepted that the match would be officiated by Mr. Bellucci.

The game began with both teams playing cautiously, but in the 6th minute Giuseppe Fioranti unleashed a powerful shot toward the Naples goal. Goalkeeper Guido Cavalli parried it into the path of Alessandro Varini, who had no difficulty tapping the ball into the net.

Lazio continued to press forward, but in doing so left themselves exposed, and in the 29th minute Ernesto Ghisi finished off a lightning-fast counterattack to score.

The Biancocelesti were not discouraged and resumed their dominance. In the 34th minute Varini took a corner kick, and Fioranti timed his run perfectly, beating Cavalli with a decisive finish.

Naples responded vigorously, first equalising through Vincenzo Valente and then, just before halftime, taking the lead through Carlo Bruschini II.

After the restart, Naples tried to control the match but still looked dangerous going forward, and the speedy Ghisi scored in the 54th minute to make it four goals for the Neapolitans.

At this point Lazio had nothing to lose and threw the entire team into attack. Their courage was rewarded because, after several miraculous saves by Cavalli, Aldo Fraschetti pulled one back in the 56th minute, and the young Dante Filippi secured the equaliser for Lazio in the 78th minute.

Who played for Lazio

Bernardini, Saraceni II, Dosio, Orazi I, Parboni, Orazi II, Varini, Raffo, Fioranti, Filippi, Fraschetti

Who played for Naples

Cavalli, Garozzi, Gattegna, Guidotti, Molaschise, Pentone, Caramamma, Bruschini II, Ghisi, Valente, Dodero

Referee: Bellucci

Goals: 6' Varini, 29' Ghisi, 34' Fioranti, 42' Valente, 45' Bruschini II, 54' Ghisi, 56' Fraschetti, 78' Filippi

What happened next

The player with most appearances was goalkeeper Fulvio Bernardini (18) and the top scorer was Giuseppe Fioranti with 12 goals.

Let’s talk about Vezio Orazi II

Vezio Orazi was born in Rome on November 1 1904. He is the brother of Spartaco Orazi I.

In 1920-21 he joined the Lazio first team after having played with the youth teams. With his brother he formed a good partnership at midfield and the Biancocelesti in 1922-23 reached the national final but were beaten by Genoa. He stopped playing for Lazio in 1923 and was very briefly manager of the Biancocelesti in 1925-26. He continued to play football with his brother in minor Roman clubs.

Closely tied to the Fascist regime, during the 1930s he was an important sports administrator, primarily involved in the organization of the G.U.F. (University Fascist Groups). He was appointed Federal Secretary of Rome (Federale dell'Urbe) and served as prefect of Cuneo, Gorizia, and, in 1941, Zara. He was also Director General of Cinematography at the Ministry of Popular Culture.

He was killed on 26 May 1942 in an ambush set by Tito's partisans against an Italian military column. He was awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor, Italy's highest military decoration for bravery.