Satanelli by name and by nature

Dag Jenkins
Aug 28, 2022
3 min read

Season 1993-94

Game 1, Serie A

Sunday, August 29, 1993

Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Lazio Foggia 0-0

Foggia play at lightning speed and deservedly take away a point

It was a historic night for Italian football as this was the first ever Serie A game on Pay-Tv. Things would never be the same again for the fans. Despite this a good crowd of over 50,000 turned up at the Olimpico. It was Paul Gascoigne's league debut after all.

The match

Lazio were without their star striker Beppe Signori while Foggia had the whole squad available.

In the first twenty minutes Lazio were overwhelmed by Foggia's speed. The Pugliesi seemed to move at double the pace and closed down all the hosts initiatives. The Rossoneri on the other hand made a couple of efforts: in the 6th minute Luca Marchegiani saved comfortably on Pierpaolo Bresciani and then had to make a more difficult block on Bryan Roy.

In the 20th minute Lazio made an effort with Gigi Casiraghi, well set up by Gascoigne, but Franco Mancini was safe.

It was then Foggia again who went extremely close but Giovanni Stroppa's shot hit the crossbar.

The "Diavoli del Sud" were superior in midfield, as for the Biancocelesti it was only Gascoigne who stood out and the Geordie had a shot parried behind for a corner by Mancini.

For the Satanelli Stroppa was particularly lively and before the break Marchegiani had to bravely dive at the former Lazio player's feet to divert the danger. Half time Lazio 0 Foggia 0.

A tough game for Lazio so far as the visitors moved and played at an incredibly high rhythm. The hope for the Biancocelesti was that they would be unable to keep it up.

There were no changes at halftime but one came early in the second half as captain Andrea Seno was forced off injured and on came Nicolò Sciacca.

The visitors showed no signs of relenting and Lazio had even more problems creating chances. Zdeněk Zeman's back line played even higher up field and Lazio had no space.

Foggia meanwhile had two shots by Massimiliano Cappellini go just wide, one to the right and one to the left of Marchegiani posts.

In the 66th minute a flagging Gascoigne was replaced by Roberto Di Matteo who made his Serie A debut.

Lazio then had two attempts, first Mancini produced a flying save on a Diego Fuser free kick and then a couple of minutes later Thomas Doll's strike was not far off target.

Foggia took precautions by taking off striker Cappellini and putting on a more versatile Igor Kolyvanov.

The game became a bit scrappy and by the 75th minute there were seven bookings.

In the 80th minute Aron Winter had a powerful effort but Mancini was there and then Sciacca fired over the bar for the visitors.

Lazio attacked desperately now and Foggia were dangerous on the break with Kolyvanov who lost the moment and wasted a good opportunity.

The game ended 0-0 and the draw was probably the fairest outcome. Foggia had impressed and were pleased to take home a point. If they could keep this up they should be in for another satisfying season.

Lazio needed to improve their fitness levels (although hopefully not all teams would run as much as Foggia) and to have Beppe Signori back up front (unfortunately he would not be back for another three weeks). Gascoigne had started well but did not have the 90 minutes in him yet.

Who played for Lazio

Marchegiani, Negro, Favalli, Di Mauro, Luzardi, Cravero, Fuser, Doll, Casiraghi, Gascoigne (66' Di Matteo), Winter