Sweet revenge for Zoff as Riedle gives Lazio rare win over Juventus
Forever the gentleman, Zoff jumped off his bench at the final whistle only to regain his composure within seconds, after a Riedle header had given him the satisfaction of beating his former team.
Also on this day: March 3, 1935, Bologna Lazio 1-2. Two goals in the first 20 minutes give Lazio a precious victory. Player of the day: Virgilio Felice Levratto
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had finished 9th, only three points away from a UEFA Cup qualification.
This year manager Giuseppe Materazzi had been replaced by living legend Dino Zoff, who had perhaps a little unfairly been released by Juventus.
The summer market had brought a few novelties to the squad. In defence Lazio welcomed Roberto Bacci (Mantova) while in midfield Sergio Domini had been added (Cesena). It was in attack however that the main changes occurred: Armando Madonna was signed (Atalanta) and more excitingly, German striker Karl- Heinz Riedle was to wear the Lazio jersey (Werder Bremen). In the Autumn session Lazio had also added defender Claudio Vertova (Atalanta).
The main sacrifice, for economic reasons, was local lad and derby hero Paolo Di Canio (Juventus). Forward Amarildo (Cesena) and three defenders, Paolo Beruatto (Mantova), Marco Monti (Atalanta) and Massimo Piscedda (Avellino), had left. In the Autumn midfielder Andrea Icardi had also gone (Verona).
So far, Lazio had something called "pareggite" (an addiction to draws). They had shared the points 14 times (including the derby 1-1), won 5 and lost 4, giving them 24 points.
Today's opposition Juventus also had a new manager in Gigi Maifredi. The previous season under Dino Zoff the Turin giants had "only" finished fourth but had won the UEFA Cup (Fiorentina) and the Coppa Italia (Milan), it obviously was not enough. Maifredi had done well with Bologna and it was hoped he would bring a more entertaining, "champagne style" of football.
The summer market was promising. The main signing, or signing and a half, was Roberto Baggio (Fiorentina). The "Divin codino" arguably the best and most creative Italian player of his generation had controversially left Florence for arch rivals Juventus (many more would follow over the years). The "Zebras" of Turin had also broken Lazio fans' hearts by signing Paolo Di Canio. Other new entries were German midfielder Thomas Häessler (Köln), promising young midfielder Eugenio Corini (Brescia) and Brazilian defender Julio Cesar (Montpellier HSC). New coach Maifredi had also brought his own defenders from Bologna, Gianluca Luppi and Marco Antonio De Marchi.
Making space for the new arrivals were long-serving defender Sergio Brio (retiring) and fellow defender Roberto Tricella (Bologna). The Soviet contingent had been cut, midfielders Sergei Aleinikov (Lecce) and Oleksandr Zavarov (Nancy). Diminutive but prolific Portuguese striker Rui Barros had also left (Porto).
So far, Juventus were already slightly off surprising front runners Sampdoria. On September 1 they lost the Italian Supercoppa Final against Napoli 5-1. In Serie A the Bianconeri had won 10 (including 5-0 vs Roma), drawn 8 (including 0-0 vs Lazio) and lost 4, so on 28 points. A week earlier Juventus had been held to a 0-0 home draw by Lecce. On February 20 they were knocked out of the Coppa Italia by Roma.
Roberto Baggio had scored 11 goals (5 penalties) but Salvatore Schillaci was perhaps predictably not repeating his Italia '90 World Cup exploits.
Today Juventus were favourites, but Lazio, only four points behind, fancied their chances.
The match: Sunday, March 3, 1991, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
A 60,000 crowd was present at the Olimpico for the big match. About 10,000 were Juventini as they have fans spread all over the country, an estimated 10 million.
For the first half hour the visitors put Lazio in difficulty, especially at midfield where their forwards would take it in turns to give a hand with a constant pressing.
The first chance of the game, however, was for Lazio. In the 6th minute an Angelo Gregucci header was cleared off the line by Giancarlo Marocchi. Pierluigi Casiraghi then had a couple of shots saved by Valerio Fiori.
The first half was a balanced affair without much goal action, but the little there was proved decisive. In the 35th minute a move started by Pedro Troglio and Roberto Bacci and continued by Gabriele Pin saw the former Juventino go deep down the right side of the area and put in a cross, the ball took a deflection from Galia and reached Riedle who with an acrobatic twist of his body headed the ball past Tacconi. Lazio 1 Juventus 0. That was also the score at half time.
In the second half, Juventus predictably piled on the pressure looking for an equaliser. Lazio however controlled the situation without excessive panic, although Juventus obviously created some danger. In the 63rd minute Schillaci appealed for a penalty after a block by Claudio Sclosa and Raffaele Sergio, but the referee saw no foul play. In the 70th minute Di Canio replaced Hæssler and was whistled by the majority of his former fans (they would later patch things up when the truth about his transfer came out). With the former Lazio player on the field, Juventus became more threatening and Fiori made some good saves especially from a Baggio freekick. In the 81st minute Juventus had a Corini goal disallowed but the referee had already blown for offside before the shot.
Lazio meanwhile were defending Italian style, but also dangerous on the break with Ruben Sosa, Pin, Sergio and Bacci all on fine form.
The last chance of the game fell to Juventus when a Casiraghi close range bicycle kick was superbly saved by Fiori. Final score Lazio 1 Juventus 0.
Lazio defended their one goal lead and earned a hard fought but always hugely satisfying win over the " Old Lady" of Italy.
For Zoff, although with his proverbial sportsmanship and style he would never admit it, a personal revenge against his former team and employers who had possibly unjustly shown him the door in the summer.
Another blow to Juventus' title hopes, while Lazio were maybe starting to wonder where they kept their passports in view of a potential European adventure, after all at this point they were only two points behind Juventus.
Who played for Lazio
Fiori, Bergodi, Sergio, Pin, Gregucci (85' Lampugnani), Soldà , Bacci, Troglio, Riedle, Sclosa, Ruben Sosa
Subs: Orsi, F.Marchegiani, A.Bertoni, Saurini
Manager: Zoff
Who played for Juventus
Tacconi, Galia, Luppi, Fortunato (46' Corini), Julio Cesar, L. De Agostini, Hæssler (70' Di Canio), Marocchi, Casiraghi, R. Baggio, Schillaci
Subs: Bonaiuti, De Marchi, Alessio
Manager: Maifredi
Referee: Sguizzato
Goal: Riedle 35'
What happened next
Lazio never had to look for their passports as they struggled to win matches and finished 11th, although only three points off 6th place (Parma last UEFA spot).
A week later the Biancocelesti drew 0-0 at Bari. Their attraction to draws would continue and they totalled 19 (including return derby 1-1) with only 8 victories and 7 defeats giving them 35 points.
Lazio were competitive again, but would have to become better at closing out matches if they wanted to get back into Europe.
Juventus' choice to go for a more modern and entertaining style backfired and the champagne went flat. The Bianconeri ended up 7th on 37 points, missing out on European competitions after 28 years. They won 13, drew 11 and lost 10. In this year's European Cup Winners Cup they were knocked out by Barcelona in the semi-final. The following year they would call back Giovanni Trapattoni, classic old style Italian football maestro par excellence.
The Scudetto was won by Vujadin Boskov's Sampdoria, a rare occasion when one of the big three missed out. They were by far the best team with a superb attacking partnership in Gianluca Vialli (future Juventus) and Roberto Mancini (future Lazio).
The unfortunate four going down were Bologna, Cesena, Pisa and Lecce.
Lazio 1990-91
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 34 | 8 | 19 | 7 | 33 |
Coppa Italia | 2 | - | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Total | 36 | 8 | 20 | 8 | 34 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
Fiori | 36 | 34 | 2 |
Sergio | 36 | 34 | 2 |
Riedle | 35 | 33 | 2 |
Ruben Sosa | 35 | 33 | 2 |
Bergodi | 34 | 33 | 1 |
Pin | 34 | 32 | 2 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
Ruben Sosa | 12 | 11 | 1 |
Riedle | 9 | 9 | - |
Pin | 2 | 2 | - |
Gregucci | 2 | 2 | - |
Madonna | 2 | 2 | - |
F. Marchegiani | 2 | 2 | - |
Let's talk about Pedro Troglio
Pedro Troglio was born in Luján, Argentina, on July 28, 1965.
He started his career in his homeland for River Plate of Buenos Aires. He made his league debut in 1983 at 18. He stayed with the Milionarios for five years making 59 appearances with3 goals. He won the Argentinian title in 1985-86, the Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup both in 1986.
In 1988 he began his European adventure when he signed for Verona in Serie A. He had a good season playing 32 games and scoring a goal against Como.
In the summer of 1989 he signed for Lazio along with Amarildo, forming a trio of South-Americans with Rubén Sosa. In his first season Troglio played 24 games and Lazio finished 9th under Giuseppe Materazzi and won a derby after 10 years.
In his second season he played 16 times under Dino Zoff and scored his first and only goal against Milan. Lazio finished 11th.
In 1991-92, with the arrival of foreign players Thomas Doll and Karl-Heinz Riedle, Troglio was sold to Ascoli (only three non Italians per team per allowed). At Lazio he made 40 appearances in Serie A with 1 goal plus one in Coppa Italia.
Troglio stayed in Ascoli Piceno for three seasons (one in Serie A and two in Serie B). He played 106 games and scored 13 goals.
In 1994 he left Italy and Europe, destination Japan. For two years (1994-96) he played for Avispa Fukuoka in the Japanese league making 56 appearances and scoring 20 goals.
In 1997 he returned to his native Argentina and signed for Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata. He had five good years in the city of diagonals and played 124 games with 4 goals. In 2006 his number 21 jersey was retired in Gimnasia, the first ever in Argentine football.
Troglio ended his career at Villa DÃ lmine (Argentine 4th division) playing 31 times with 4 goals. At 38 he decided to call it a day.
At International level he earned 21 caps for Argentina with 2 goals. He took part in the Albiceleste expedition to Italia '90 World Cup. He scored against the USSR and played both the semi final (Italy) and the final (lost 1-0 to Germany). He was playing for Lazio at the time so a satisfaction for the Biancocelesti who have not had many of their players in World Cup finals (a more recent one being Klose in 2014).
After retiring, Troglio became a manager. He started with Godoy Cruz (Argentine 2nd division). He then had a two-year spell at former team Gimnasia. Between 2007 and 2011 he had several teams; Indipendiente, Cerro Porteño (Paraguay- won league in 2009) and Argentinos Juniors. In 2011 he returned to Gimnasia for another five years. He then spent a year at Tigre and one at Universitario before returning to Gimnasia in 2018 for his third spell. In 2019 he went to Olimpia for two years and then in 2022 to San Lorenzo (Pope Francis' team). Troglio is currently manager of CD Olimpia in Honduras.
Troglio was a solid defensive central midfielder. He was strong physically, not tall at 1.72 but sturdy and a good tackler. He was the classic midfielder whose main task was to break down the oppositions build up play and win back as many balls as possible. He did this with great efficiency.
He was only at Lazio for two years but his time in Rome coincided with positive, carefree times. Lazio were back in the big time, after all the tribulations of the 1980's, but had no particular pressure to overachieve. It seemed enough to have some decent players, good crowds and not to suffer. It was a period before spending in football spiralled out of control, a more romantic era before the sport was finally lost to business interests. This could explain why Troglio's name is still sung by Lazio fans in a chant that includes Sosa and Amarildo. Lazio have had better midfielders than Troglio (and far worse) but he is remembered with affection by Lazio fans as linked to a time when they still had the feeling football was their game and not a corporate affair of brands and clients.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
1989-90 | 25 | 24 | 1 |
1990-91 | 16 (1) | 16 (1) | - |
Total | 41 (1) | 40 (1) | 1 |
Source