March 2, 1913: Virtus Juventusque Lazio 1-3

Simon Basten
10 hours ago
3 min read

Lazio almost through to the final

Thanks to a great second half, the Biancocelesti have more than a foot in the centre-south final

The season so far

The 1912-13 season was, as they usually were in the early Italian championships, again divided between North and Centre-South. In the north there were three inter-regional groups with the first two qualifying for the semi-final group. In the centre-south there were also three regional groups: the winner of the Tuscany group would go on to play the winner of the Lazio group in a first semi-final; the two Neapolitan teams played the second semi-final. The winner of this final then had to play against the winner of Northern championship for the scudetto.

Lazio dominated their group winning 8 games and drawing 2. They now had to face Virtus Juventusque.

The match: Sunday, March 2, 1913, Poligono di Tiro Bastia, Livorno

In the first half, the Lazio players were caught off guard by the lively play of the Livorno side and displayed a sluggish and uncertain performance. The half in fact ended with Virtus leading 1–0, thanks to a Baroncelli goal in the 20th minute.

In the second half, the Biancocelesti found greater cohesion and managed to score three goals, one of them from a penalty, with Fernando Saraceni I in the 50th minute, Amedeo Coraggio (55th) and Giuseppe Fioranti (60th).

In the end, they proved to be clearly superior to the Livorno side.

Who played for Virtus Juventusque

Zaccagnini, Bartolotti, Carraresi, Casella II, Benedetti, Ciampi, Baroncelli, Casella I, Montanari, Piccina, Bianchi

Who played for Lazio

Levi I, Branca, Levi II, Di Napoli I, Faccani, Fioranti, Coraggio, Saraceni I, Consiglio, Folpini, Corelli

Referee: Pippo

Goals: Baroncelli, Saraceni I, Coraggio, Fioranti

What happened next

Lazio also won the second leg 3-0, setting up the final match against Naples. A very tense match in Bagnoli was clinched by Lazio in the very last minute (2-1). The return leg finished 1-1 meaning Lazio would have to play against Pro Vercelli for the national championship final.

Lazio did not stand a chance. To make some kind of comparison, it was as if Manchester City played a local amateur team. As a consequence, Lazio lost 6-0, but it was a very successful year for the Biancocelesti and reaching the final itself was very prestigious.

The players that played most games that season were Augusto Faccani and Fernando Saraceni I who was also top scorer.

That year Lazio won every single local tournament they played: the Regional Reserves Championship, the 3rd Category regional Championship, the Coppa Branca, the Piccola Coppa Branca, Targa Audace, Targa Audace Reserves and the Targa Tiro A Segno.

Let’s talk about Amedeo Coraggio

Amedeo Coraggio was born on March 6, 1893, in Rome.

He played for Lazio from 1911 to 1915 with 58 appearances and 10 goals.

First noted by Sante Ancherani, he was fast with excellent skills, a fine winger but at times also played at midfield.

He was part of the team that reached the national finals in 1913 and 1914.

Called to the battlefront for World War I he stopped playing and after the war decided on a military career in the Royal Navy, becoming a Lieutenant Colonel.

Lazio Career

Season	Total games (goals)	Lazio 3rd Category League	Roman 3rd Category League	National 1st Category League	Other
1910-11	5	3	-	-	2
1911-12	12 (2)	-	10	-	2 (2)
1912-13	20 (2)	-	-	13 (2)	7
1913-14	10 (4)	-	-	8 (3)	2 (1)
1914-15	11 (2)	-	-	9 (1)	2 (1)
Total	58 (10)	3	10	30 (6)	15 (4)