March 26, 1950: Lazio Bologna 3-2
- Lazio Stories
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Lazio End Bologna’s Unbeaten Run in Convincing Victory
Hofling Leads the Charge as Lazio Dominate and Dethrone Bologna
The season so far
In the summer 1949 Lazio were looking for a centre forward. They almost bought Jean Baratte, but the deal fell through at the last minute. A lot of players were tried out, but in the end, manager Mario Sperone had to make do with the previous season’s forwards plus the return of Flavio Cecconi. Only in November did Lazio finally find their centre forward: Dionisio Arce.
Lots of players were bought in the summer transfer window: Lucidio Sentimenti IV, his brother, Vittorio Sentimenti III, Zeffiro Furiassi, Edmondo Veronici and Aldo De Fazio. Some players had to go to make room for the new ones and among them was goalkeeper Uber Gradella, who had never completely recovered from a knee injury, and Salvador Gualtieri. They both quit football altogether.
The new Lazio took a few games to develop into a team but when they did they became a force to reckon with. The Biancocelesti crushed Roma in the derby 3-1, won 5-2 away against Sampdoria and demolished Novara at home 4-0. At the end of the first half of the season they were joint seventh with other teams. They then went on to beat Juventus away and had just come from a draw with Roma. They were currently 5th.
The match: Sunday, March 26, 1950, Stadio Nazionale, Rome
Lazio produced a commanding display to defeat Bologna and bring an end to the Rossoblu’s recent aura of invincibility. Despite a late scare, the Biancocelesti’s superiority over the course of the match made the result beyond dispute.
Cancelling a three-goal deficit against the current Lazio side proved an insurmountable task even for a Bologna team renowned for its fighting spirit and comeback ability. Although the burly Hungarian forward Istvan Mike struck twice late on with close-range efforts, Lazio were never seriously rattled. Greater defensive vigilance and renewed determination were enough to steady the hosts and see the game out.
Lazio seized control from the outset. As early as the 3rd minute, Norberto Hofling might have opened the scoring but fired straight at Angelo Boccardi when well placed. The Bologna goalkeeper was again called into action in the 18th minute, producing a superb save from Leandro Remondini’s curling free kick.
The breakthrough came shortly afterward. A corner delivered by Vittorio Sentimenti III was met by a magnificent header from Hofling, finally beating Boccardi. Buoyed by the goal and inspired by Enrique Flamini’s creativity, Lazio pressed forward relentlessly. Boccardi had to rush out bravely to deny Romano Penzo as the visitors struggled to respond.
In the 42nd minute, Lazio doubled their lead. Gianmarco Mezzadri hesitated in possession near his own goal, allowing Hofling to pounce and apply the decisive touch past Boccardi. Remarkably, Bologna had not managed a single shot on target before halftime.
Expectations of a Bologna resurgence after the break proved unfounded. Lazio returned to the field determined to build on their advantage. Mezzadri nearly compounded his earlier error with an own goal, and shortly afterward Romolo Alzani struck the crossbar with a fierce effort.
The third goal arrived in the 16th minute of the second half. Aldo Puccinelli surged into the penalty area, trusting Hofling’s precise cross. The delivery was perfect, and the winger calmly beat a stationary Boccardi. Bologna protested for a possible offside, but the goal stood.
With a comfortable lead, Lazio eased their tempo and briefly lost focus. Mike struck the crossbar before finally pulling one back, finishing from close range after a well-worked move involving Corrado Bernicchi, Carlo Matteucci, and Cesarino Cervellati.
In the 38th minute, Mike struck again, slipping between defenders and capitalizing on loose rebounds to score his second and inject tension into the closing stages. The crowd, some of whom had begun to leave earlier, remained rooted to their seats as anxiety spread through the stadium.
Lazio responded like a wounded lion. Penzo saw a powerful effort cleared off the line by Guglielmo Giovannini, while the midfielders dropped deeper to reinforce the defence.
Despite late pressure and some irritation from Bologna over referee Scotto’s perceived home leanings, Lazio’s victory was fully deserved. The Romans controlled two-thirds of the contest, with standout performances from Puccinelli, Flamini, Sergio Piacentini, Sentimenti III and Remondini.
By the final whistle, Lazio had not only secured an impressive win but also stripped Bologna of their unbeaten aura — a statement performance from a side in splendid form this season.
Who played for Lazio
Sentimenti IV, Piacentini, Remondini, Furiassi, Alzani, Sentimenti III, Puccinelli, Magrini, Hofling, Flamini, Penzo
Manager: Sperone
Who played for Bologna
Boccardi, Giovannini, Mezzadri, Ballacci, Marchi, Jenssen, Mike, Bernicchi, Cervellati, Cappello, Matteucci
Manager: Crawford
Referee: Scotto
Goals: 18’ Hofling, 42’ Hofling, 61’ Puccinelli, 72’ Mike, 83’ Mike
What happened next
Lazio finished fourth. They also beat Inter hence managed the feat to beat all three top teams.
At the end of the season Lazio played the Latin Cup, an international competition between the French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian teams, this was because the top three Italian teams had declined participation due to the upcoming World Cup. The Biancocelesti were unable to do much against Benfica (lost 3-0) and also lost to Atletico Madrid (lost 2-1), but in this case participation in itself was a big honour for Lazio.
Before these two games Lazio played the Teresa Herrera Trophy against Atlético Madrid. This is a tournament that has been played since 1946 and is the third oldest professional tournament in Spain. Lazio won the trophy 3-1 coming from behind with goals from Alzani, Sentimenti III and Magrini. This was the only time the Biancocelesti managed to win this tournament. They played again in 1993, 1998 and 2000.
Let’s talk about Norberto Hofling
Norberto Höfling was a Romanian Jew born in Chernivtsi (modern day Ukraine), on June 24, 1924.
He started playing football for local teams Dinamo Chernivtsi, Carmen Bucharest, Ciocanul (former Maccabi Bucharest) and then in Hungary for MTK Budapest.
He scored a lot of goals and was signed by Lazio in January 1949. He made 10 appearances with one goal (Torino) and the Biancocelesti came 13th. The manager was Mario Sperone who had substituted Orlando Tognotti after 10 games. In his second season the Lazio finished 4th and won one derby 3-1 and drew the other 0-0. Höfling played 29 games and scored 13 goals (Bari x2, Novara x3, Lucchese x2, Como x3, Bologna x2, Torino) and 1 game in the Latin Cup.
In 1950-51 Lazio came 4th again. They won both derbies and away to Milan. Höfling played 33 league games and scored 11 goals (Pro Patria, Torino, Udinese, Fiorentina, Novara, Padova, Udinese, Lucchese, Palermo, Bologna x2). A positive two seasons at Lazio cut short by his bad relationship with fellow striker Dionisio Arce, Lazio resolved it by selling them both.
In 1951 he joined Pro Patria and Lelio Antoniotti came the other way. Höfling stayed four seasons, the first two in Serie A, the third in B and the fourth in A. His managers were Mario Varglien, Cesare Pellegatta, Giacinto Ellena (1-31) and Luigi Rossetto (32-34 plus the playoff) in his third year and Rossetto again (1-14) and Imre Senkey (15-34) in his last season. With the "Tigrotti" (The Little Tigers) from Busto Arsizio he scored 20 goals in Serie A (including 1 against Lazio and Roma) and 11 in B in a total of 119 league games.
In 1955 he left and joined Vicenza in Serie A. Hofling only played 9 league games with 1 goal, under first Béla Guttman and then Piero Andreoli. The "Lane" finished 13th.
At 32 he retired and at 33 he was already coaching in Belgium at Club Bruges. He stayed with the "Blauw en Zwart (The Blue and Blacks) for six seasons. In 1959 he got them promoted to the top flight, where they have been ever since.
In 1963 he spent a season in Holland with Feyenoord. "De club van het folk" (The people's club) finished 4th.
He then returned to Belgium and was with Racing White Molenbeek for three seasons from 1964-67. In his first "Les Coalisés" (The Coalitions - with Racing Club de Bruxelles in 1963) won promotion and then finished 11th and 13th.
In 1967 he was back at Club Bruges for a season and finished 2nd but won the Belgian Cup defeating Beerschot on penalties.
In 1968 he moved to Brussels and joined Anderlecht but was soon sacked. In the end "Les Mauves et Blanc" (The Violet and Whites) finished 4th.
In 1969 he stayed in the capital but joined Daring Brussels in Division 2. "Les Daringmen" finished 3rd and reached the final of the Belgian Cup but lost 1-6 to Club Bruges.
In 1970 Daring merged and became Royal Daring Club Molenbeek and finished 10th in Division 2.
In 1972 he moved to Oostende. He took them from the Derde Klasse (third tier) to Division 1 over three seasons but then fell out with their directors and left.
In 1975 he moved to Gent in Division 2 but left after a year and a 12th position.
After a few years break he took on the job at Pro Patria in C2. The Biancoblu finished 13th but he laid the foundations for the following year's promotion. He then spent a year as sporting director before returning to Belgium.
An interesting and long career as player and then manager. Hofling was a striker and always scored goals wherever he went. He proved himself in Serie A with Lazio and Pro Patria scoring 45 goals in the top flight.
At Lazio he was a success and was their top scorer for two consecutive seasons in a positive period for the Romans with two 4th places.
Hofling died in Bruges on April 18, 2005.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Latin Cup |
1948-49 | 10 (1) | 10 (1) | - |
1949-50 | 30 (13) | 29 (13) | 1 |
1950-51 | 33 (11) | 33 (1) | - |
Total | 73 (25) | 72 (25) | 1 |
Sources
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