June 30, 1966: Lazio Vitória Guimarães 1-1, Small Club World Cup

Simon Basten
2 days ago
4 min read

A deserved draw

Lazio get their first point in the Small Club World Cup

Player of the day: Vincenzo Proietti Farinelli

Also on this day: June 30, 2020: Torino Lazio 1-2. The Biancocelesti win a very difficult game coming from behind thanks to Immobile and Parolo

The season so far

The previous season had been rather dismal. Lazio struggled all year and were involved in the relegation battle. With five games to the end of the campionato they were 16th, one point below safety. Three consecutive wins then took them out of trouble. They finished 14th just one point above relegated Genoa.

The summer transfer window saw more goodbyes than arrivals. Eugenio Fascetti was sold to Messina and Gianni Sassaroli to Avellino. In came midfielder Giovanni Sacco (on loan from Juventus) and forward Nicola Ciccolo. Orlando Rozzoni returned from his loan to Catania. In the autumn session Kurt Christiansen (Catania), Gianfranco Petris and Giampaolo Piaceri (both to Trani) also left. Carlo Galli had retired. Manager Umberto Mannocci had been confirmed.

At the end of the first half of the season Lazio were 12th, three points clear of the relegation zone. They had won the away derby with a Vito D’Amato goal. The Biancocelesti had struggled a bit in the second half of the season but had won away against Milan 2-0, after the game had been suspended twice due to fog.

Lazio finished the campionato in 12th place, a better season than the previous one but not exactly eye opening.

Giampiero Vitali was the player with most appearances (37) and Vito D’Amato the top scorer with 7 goals.

At the end of the season Lazio went on to play the Small Club World Cup, a tournament held in Venezuela between 1952 and 1975. Vitória Guimarães, Valencia and Lazio played in a double round-robin tournament. The Biancocelesti had lost their first two games.

The match: Thursday, June 30, 1966, Estadio Olímpico de la Ciudad Universitaria, Caracas

Despite the poor results so far in the tournament, Lazio were determined to win this game and started very well. The Biancocelesti team dominated the first half. In the 12th minute, Vito D'Amato, after a slalom, missed a one-on-one with the Portuguese goalkeeper. He then missed two very easy chances, first with a lopsided shot and then lacking precision, albeit just. Antonio Renna and Can Bartu also committed unforgivable errors in front of goal. The half ended goalless, despite total control of the game and a series of wasted chances.

In the second half, in accordance with the old saying that a team that misses goals then pays for it, Guimarães unexpectedly took the lead. Not even a minute of play had passed and Dyalma Freitas collected a cross and volleyed the ball into the net: a beautiful and unstoppable goal. Lazio were forced to chase after having fully deserved to be in the lead. On the wings of enthusiasm, Guimarães were spectacular for the next twenty minutes. Luckily Roberto Gori was not caught unawares and the onslaught passed without further damage. Lazio, at first cautiously and then with force, launched themselves forward. In the 67th minute Gianni Sassaroli, recovering a short rebound by Arnaldo, managed to equalise.

The match gradually then faded away without offering further excitement.

Who played for Lazio

Gori, Dotti, Vitali, Gasperi, Carosi, Galli, Renna, Bartu, D’Amato, Di Pucchio (Proietti Farinelli), Sassaroli

Manager: Lovati

Who played for Vitória Guimarães

Arnaldo; Gualter, Pinto; Jorge, Daniel, Silva; Peres, Morais, Dyalma, Mendes, Castro (Vieira) Manager: Luciano

Referee: Osorio

Goals: 46’ Dyalma, 67’ Sassaroli

What happened next

Lazio lost the final match against Valencia and ended bottom.

Let's talk about Vincenzo Proietti Farinelli

Vincenzo Proietti Farinelli was born on December 24, 1945 in San Polo dei Cavalieri near Rome. He first started playing in the Roma youth teams but then moved to Lazio. He debuted in Serie A with the Biancocelesti in 1965 at 19 years of age and made another two appearances with the first team in the next season. In 1966 he signed for Massese in Serie C and played alongside Giorgio Chinaglia. He returned to Rome in 1967 but played only for the reserves team.

In 1968 he moved to Legnano in Serie C and stayed for a couple of seasons before another two years at Alessandria. Back at Legnano in 1972, he then closed his career in a number of Lazio regional teams – Velletri, Cynthia and Banco di Roma – all in the third and fourth tiers. He retired in 1979 after playing 207 league games in Serie C, with 37 goals, and 111 in Serie D, with 6 goals.

He then started a career as coach for minor teams. In 1990 he became a scout for Sampdoria but in 1993 he returned to Lazio. For 11 years he was European scout for the Biancocelesti and it was he who “discovered” Dejan Stankovic. He worked with managers Zdenek Zeman, Dino Zoff and Sven-Goran Eriksson.

He is currently technical consultant for ASD Ad Maiora.