May 1, 1977: Lazio-Torino 0-0
- Dag Jenkins
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
The Jaguar fends off Eagles
Lazio dominate second half but Toro keeper makes crucial saves to give champions a point
The season so far
Lazio had finished 13th the previous season. It had been a difficult season due to Tommaso Maestrelli's illness. Lazio had started the season with Giulio Corsini in charge but he had clashed with the old guard players especially Giorgio Chinaglia and left in early December.
At this point Maestrelli surprisingly returned seemingly in better health. Lazio however struggled all season and in April Chinaglia left to play for the New York Cosmos. Lazio ultimately avoided relegation in a dramatic last game of the season 2-2 draw at Como.
This season Maestrelli was replaced by Brazilian Luís Vinicio. The main new players were keeper Claudio Garella (Novara), defender Dario Pighin (Palermo), midfielders Franco "Ciccio" Cordova (free agent), Fernando Viola (Cagliari) and forward Renzo Rossi (Como).
Leaving were keeper Avelino Moriggi (Novara), defender Sergio Petrelli (Anconitana), midfielder Sergio Borgo (Pistoiese) and forward Giovanni Carlo Ferrari (Cagliari).
The season had started with the Coppa Italia in August-September. Lazio had won 2 (Novara 3-2 at home and Catania 3-1 away) and lost 2 (Atalanta 1-2 away and Milan 1-2 at home) and were eliminated.
In Serie A, Lazio lost the opener (Juventus 2-3 at home) but had since done reasonably well and were now in mid-table, on 22 points. After losing on their debut the Biancocelesti had won 8 (including first derby 1-0, Fiorentina 4-1 and Inter 2-1 at home), drawn 9 (including Inter 1-1 and most recently Milan 2-2 away) and lost 8 (including second derby 0-1).
It had not been an easy season for Lazio as Tommaso Maestrelli died on December 2, 1976.
Yet another tragedy hit Lazio on January 18, 1977. One of their star players Luciano Re Cecconi died tragically at 28. He was shot by a jeweler in a shop in north Rome. Initially it seemed it may have been a prank gone wrong and that Re Cecconi had jokingly simulated a hold up, pretending to have a gun in his coat pocket. This version has since been challenged, especially by his teammate Pietro Ghedin who was with him at the time. It emerged that the jeweler just panicked, he had already shot at someone before and was on edge, while the Lazio player had done nothing suspicious at all. At the time there were often hold ups by political terrorist groups to finance their activities. It did not help that the jeweler did not follow football and so did not recognise "Cecco" who had even played for the national team. The sad fact remains that Re Cecconi died at 28.
Torino were reigning champions. In 1975-76 they had won the Scudetto under Gigi Radice. It was their 7th league triumph and first since 1949 and the Superga air crash tragedy.
This season Radice was still on the bench. The main new signings were: defender Luigi Danova (Cesena) and midfielder Cesare Butti (Cagliari). Leaving were: defenders Marino Lombardo (Cesena) and Giuseppe Parravicini (Monza). So they pretty much kept the same squad.
Torino were fighting for the title again and coming into the weekend fixture were joint top with Juventus on 43 points. The Bianconeri however had beaten Napoli 2-1 at home on the Saturday so were temporarily solitary leaders. Today was Toro's chance to respond. The Scudetto was a Turin affair this year as 3rd placed Inter were on 31 points. The Granata had won 18 (including first derby 2-0), drawn 7 (including Lazio 3-3 and second derby 1-1) and lost 1 (Roma 0-1 away). They came from three consecutive wins.
In the European Cup they had reached the last 16 but lost to Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-2 on aggregate. They had previously eliminated Malmö 3-2 on aggregate.
In the Coppa Italia they had been knocked out in the first group phase after 2 wins (Foggia 3-0 and Ascoli 4-1 at home), 1 draw (Taranto 1-1 away) and 1 defeat (Lecce 1-2 away).
A difficult game for both sides today. Lazio on the right day could beat anyone but Toro were defending champions and possibly on course to win it again.
The match: Sunday, May 1, 1977, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
A cloudy but warm day brought just under 50,000 spectators to this May Day clash.
Lazio were without Vincenzo D'Amico while Torino had no absences.
The first half was a cagey affair. Lazio attacked more but were unable to create any serious threats to the defending champions.
In the 23rd minute Gigi Martini was forced off injured and replaced by Pietro Ghedin.
The half slipped by without much excitement.
The second half was a different story. Lazio started to push forward with more conviction and put the Granata in serious difficulty.
The visitors were saved by their keeper, Luciano Castellini, known as the "Giaguaro" (Jaguar).
In the 52nd minute he was superb on a Bruno Giordano effort and in the 67th on a Ghedin header. In the 81st minute Giordano managed to get past Castellini but hesitated a second too long and Patrizio Sala cleared from the goal line. In the dying seconds Ghedin threatened again but Castellini was on top form and saved brilliantly.
And the champions? Forwards Francesco Graziani and Paolino Pulici had a quiet afternoon but between Lazio's chances Toro had a Renato Zaccarelli header go close but Felice Pulici had no intention of being outshone by the Jaguar and a Patrizio Sala shot go just wide. Not enough to win the game against the extremely determined hosts especially in the second half.
Torino were pleased to get away with a point while Lazio rued a missed occasion for a prestigious win.
Lazio were now joint 6th, with Perugia on 26 points. The European UEFA slots were now only three points away (Napoli on 29).
Torino were now 2nd, a point behind Juventus with only three games to go.
On a historic note this was the first match ever shown in colour on national television. The second half was broadcast a few hours after the final whistle with commentary by Nando Martellini.
Who played for Lazio
F.Pulici, Ammoniaci, Martini (23' Ghedin), Wilson, Manfredonia, Cordova, R.Rossi, Agostinelli, Giordano, Viola, Badiani
Substitutes: Garella, Garlaschelli
Manager: Vinicio
Who played for Torino
Castellini, Danova, Salvadori, P.Sala, Mozzini, Caporale, C.Sala, Pecci, Graziani, Zaccarelli, P.Pulici
Substitutes: Cazzaniga, Butti, Garritano
Manager: Radice
Referee: Michelotti
What happened next
Lazio finished a positive 5th and got into Europe (two ahead of Perugia and three on Napoli who were also docked one point). The Biancocelesti then won 2 and drew 1 and ended on 31 points. An emotional, sad and tragic year off the pitch had at least ended decently on it with a UEFA Cup qualification.
Lazio had a good mix of experienced players and some promising youngsters, including Lionello Manfredonia, Andrea Agostinelli and especially Bruno Giordano who was top scorer with 13 goals (10 in A).
Torino ended up 2nd. Today's draw proved fatal as despite winning the last three games they finished one point behind city rivals Juventus. The top scorer was Ciccio Graziani with 23 goals (21 in A).
In Serie A the winners were therefore Juventus who won their 17th title. The Coppa Italia was won by Milan who beat Inter 2-0 at San Siro. Leaving Serie A for now were Cesena, Catanzaro and Sampdoria (they are all currently in B-2025-26).
Let's talk about Renato Zaccarelli
Today in our opponents series we will talk of a great midfielder and Torino 1975-76 Scudetto winner.
Renato Zaccarelli was born in Ancona, on January 18, 1951.
He started playing football with Junior Ancona and at 15 moved to Turin and joined the Torino youth setup.
In 1968-69 he was loaned out to Catania in Serie B. He only played 2 league games under Egizio Rubio and the Rossoblu finished 15th. One of his teammates was Lazio connection Paolo Carosi (1958-62, 1963-68 as player and 1983-84 as manager).
In 1969 he went back to Torino but over the next two seasons made only 1 appearance in the Mitropa Cup. In 1970-71 the Granata won the Coppa Italia.
In 1971 he joined Novara on loan for two seasons. The Azzurri were in Serie B and Zaccarelli played more regularly, making 52 league appearances with 1 goal and 4 games in Coppa Italia. His managers for both seasons was former Lazio, Carlo Parola and the Gaudenziani finished 13th and 9th. In his first season his teammates included future Lazio goalkeeper and legend Felice Pulici.
In 1973-74 he moved up to Serie A when he joined Verona on loan. He played 30 league games with 5 goals plus 3 games in Coppa Italia. The Gialloblu ended up 16th and relegated under Giancarlo Cadè.
In the summer of 1974 he finally went back to Torino for good. He stayed thirteen seasons. He made another 414 appearances (318 in A) with 21 goals (17 in A). After an initial 6th place, in 1975-76 Toro won the Scudetto under Gigi Radice. In the following seasons Toro finished 2nd, 2nd, 4th, 3rd, 9th, 9th, 8th, 5th, 2nd, 4th and 9th. They also reached three Coppa Italia finals (1980, 1981, 1982) but lost them all (two to Roma and one to Inter). His managers were Edmondo Fabbri (1974-75), Radice (1975-80, 1984-87), Ercole Rabitti and Romano Cazzaniga (1980-81), Massimo Giacomini (1981-82) and Eugenio Bersellini (1982-84). He played alongside several Torino greats such as Luciano Castellini, Giorgio Ferrini, Luigi Danova, Eraldo Pecci, Claudio and Patrizio Sala, Beppe Dossena, Leo Junior, Francesco "Ciccio" Graziani and Paolino Pulici.
He was also in squads with Lazio connections: Vincenzo D'Amico (Lazio, 1971-80, 1981-86), Giuseppe Greco (1980-81), Roberto Galbiati (1985-86), Domenico Caso (1985-88), Giancarlo Camolese (1986-88), Giuliano Terraneo (1986-87), Paolo Beruatto (1986-87), Vincenzo Esposito (1986-88), Silvano Martina (1987-89), Claudio Sclosa (1988-94), Roberto Cravero (1992-95), Diego Fuser (1992-98) and Roberto Rambaudi (1994-98).
Zaccarelli then retired at 36.
He earned 25 caps for Italy and scored 2 goals (Finland, France). He took part in the World Cup in Argentina where Italy finished 4th and scored on their winning debut against France.
After retiring he had some coaching experiences with Italy B and as assistant manager with the U-21s. In 2002-2003 he took over briefly at Torino in A for the 7th fixture and then between the 23rd and 27th (Toro ended up relegated). In 2005 he was again called up by Torino in Serie B for the last two league games and playoffs (Toro won promotion but went bust and stayed in B under the new ownership of Urbano Cairo).
He has also worked as sporting director and team manager with Torino and as sporting director for Alessandria and Bologna. He has also worked in punditry for Sky Italia.
Zaccarelli was a midfielder who late in his career also played as libero in defence. He was 1.80 for 70 kilos and was an athletic but classy player. He was a reliable, consistent and elegant player who played head high with good tactical sense and vision. As mentioned he moved further back late on and even won the award for best Serie A player for the 1985-86 season (Guerin d'oro).
At Torino "Zac" is a legend. He played 415 games (3rd all time) and won the Scudetto in 1976. He was also captain for six seasons (1981-87).
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