May 12, 2004: Juventus Lazio 2-2, Coppa Italia Final
- Lazio Stories
- 8 hours ago
- 8 min read
Lazio see hell but end up in paradise
Juventus cancel Lazio’s two goal lead inside 47 minutes, but the Biancocelesti fight back and clinch the trophy.
Also on this day:
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had done well reaching a Champions League qualification. But, knowing Roberto Mancini, he must have been very disappointed when the Lazio management told him there was no money for transfers. Goodbye scudetto heroes Luca Marchegiani, Giuseppe Pancaro and Diego Simeone as well as Enrico Chiesa, Dino Baggio and Lucas Castroman. Welcome Roberto Muzzi, Ousmane Dabo, Demetrio Albertini, Luciano Zauri and Matteo Sereni. Not exactly what ambitious Mancini would have wanted.
But this is what a deeply financially troubled Lazio could afford and there was nothing one could do about it. Impossible to extend Dejan Stankovic’s contract so he was going to have to go but he stayed, at least for the moment.
The season started with the Champion’s League qualifying round against Benfica. A comfortable 3-1 win at home was money in the bank for Lazio who also won the away match. In the group stage the Biancocelesti had started well winning away to Besiktas, but a draw at home against Sparta Prague and a loss in London against Chelsea was putting a possible round of 16 in peril. A further loss against Chelsea and a draw against Besiktas meant that the Biancocelesti needed to win away against Sparta Prague. Despite Lazio having numerous chances, they lost in injury time and were last in the group, hence no UEFA Cup consolation.
At the end of the first half of the campionato Lazio were sixth, just two points off a possible Champions League qualification. They had beaten Juventus and Inter but lost the derby. Lazio were constantly very close to a Champions League qualification but missed out in the end. Too many injuries, too much uncertainty and too many controversial refereeing decisions to be able to achieve the objective. The team managed to play some extremely spectacular games but also put in some dismal performances. Too inconsistent to hope for anything better than a UEFA Cup qualification. There was still one game left in the league, but the previous Sunday Lazio had lost at Brescia ending all hopes.
The real Lazio could be admired in Coppa Italia. After easily brushing off Modena, in January Lazio had to face Parma in the quarter finals. Stankovic scored both at home and away and gave Lazio the qualification pass for the semi-final against Milan. These were his final games for Lazio.
The Biancocelesti surprisingly won in Milan in the first leg and in the second leg at home put on a wonderful display, perhaps one the best games Lazio have ever played, at least in their recent history, and won 4-0.
The final was against Juventus with the first leg at home. Lazio won 2-0 but it could have been even better as the Biancocelesti played at a similar level as against Milan and even missed a penalty.
Today was the second leg.
The match: Wednesday, May 12, 2004, Stadio delle Alpi, Turin
On May 12 Lazio and thousands of travelling fans went up to the Delle Alpi stadium in Turin to defend their two-goal lead and try to put their hands on the Coppa Italia.
A gloriously sunny May day had welcomed Lazio fans to Turin and the "Città della Mole" was at its beautiful best. Hopefully the same would be said about Lazio for tonight's 9 o'clock kick-off.
Lazio had more or less the same line-up as the first leg with the exception of Sinisa Mihajlovic coming in for Fernando Couto. Matteo Sereni kept his place in goal as he was officially the cup keeper.
Juventus had some big guns back: Ciro Ferrara was back in defence, Gianluca Zambrotta in midfield, David Trezeguet and Alessandro Del Piero up front.
A 40,000 crowd applauded the players onto the pitch, the Lazio away sector was sold out and bursting at the seams.
The early stages of the game saw "La Vecchia Signora" (The Old Lady) attack but Lazio did not run any real risks. Until the 20th minute, from an Alessandro Birindelli cross, Trezeguet anticipated Sinisa Mihajlovic and headed Juventus into the lead. 1-0 on the night to Juve but still 1-2 on aggregate. It was a hard fought first half but Lazio were never really dangerous up front and Bernardo Corradi was kept quiet by a so far infallible Lillian Thuram.
The second half started with a bang. After only two minutes Juventus doubled their lead. A Stephen Appiah long ball was headed on by Pavel Nedved to Trezeguet, the Frenchman clearly pushed the ball forward with his arm before clashing with keeper Matteo Sereni, the ball then fell to Del Piero for an open goal. The Laziali protests came to nothing (this was of course pre-VAR) so it was all level, 2-0 on the night and 2-2 on aggregate. Things were not looking good, Lazio had dissipated their advantage and now had another 40 minutes of the cup final to play away from home.
At this stage however just when Juventus were expected to push for a third it was Lazio who suddenly reacted and went on the attack. Corradi started to find some space and chances. In the 61st minute Simone Inzaghi replaced a subdued Roberto Muzzi and the Biancocelesti, as in the first leg, became livelier. Lazio were permanently in the opposition's half and forced a series of corners.
From one of these endless corners came the decisive moment of the entire final. Mihajlovic took a high corner from the left and it reached a crowded area where Corradi towered above the defenders and with an impressively powerful header made it 2-1. I've been to many a Lazio match, both home and away, but what followed in the packed away section was a delirious mayhem of unseen proportions. It was a fundamental goal, Juventus now needed another two goals to prevent the cup leaving for Rome.
Juventus went for all-out attack and threw more strikers on, first Marco Di Vaio for a midfielder Enzo Maresca and then Fabrizio Miccoli for Del Piero. Lazio by now were full of enthusiasm and defended well while the clock ticked away. They had space on the break too, so it was by no means one-way traffic.
The light blue and white ribbon could finally be attached to the trophy in the 83rd minute. A high cross into the Juve area was cleared but only as far as Stefano Fiore who with a low and angled left-footed shot beat Antonio Chimenti. 2-4 on aggregate and with the hosts now needing three unanswered goals. An almost impossible feat.
So final score Juventus 2 Lazio 2 and wild celebrations on the pitch and in the Lazio fans' end.
A fantastic and in many ways unexpected triumph for Lazio. Despite the end of the Sergio Cragnotti era and in the middle of a financial crisis they still managed to bring home their 4th Coppa Italia victory.
A few days later the cup was paraded around an ecstatic Olimpico where on the last game of the season Lazio defeated Modena 2-1.
Who played for Juventus
Chimenti, Ferrara, Thuram, Legrottaglie, Birindelli, Zambrotta, Maresca (75' Di Vaio), Pessotto (46' Appiah), Nedved, Trezeguet, Del Piero (78' Miccoli)
Substitutes: Buffon, Iuliano, Boudianski, Chiumiento
Manager: Lippi
Who played for Lazio
Sereni, Oddo, Stam, Mihajlovic, Favalli, Fiore, Giannichedda, Liverani (75' Albertini), Cesar, Muzzi (61' S. Inzaghi), Corradi (87' Negro)
Manager: Mancini
Referee: Paparesta
Goals: 20' Trezeguet, 46' Del Piero, 69' Corradi, 83' Fiore
What happened next
A few days later the cup was paraded around an ecstatic Olimpico where on the last game of the season Lazio defeated Modena 2-1.
The 2003-2004 season was the end of an era. Nothing would ever be the same. Claudio Lotito was on his way.
Let’s talk about Bernardo Corradi
Bernardo Corradi was born in Siena on March 30 1976.
He started playing professionally for Poggibonsi in Serie C2 and D between 1994 and 1996. He then signed for Ponsacco, again in Serie C2. In August 1997 his big break when he joined Cagliari. He was immediately loaned to Montevarchi in C1 for the 1997-98 season and the year after he played for Fidelis Andria in Serie B. He did not do too badly, scoring 8 goals in 33 appearances so Cagliari took him back. He debuted in Serie A against Lazio on August 30 1999. That year he did not score, never good for a centre forward, but he still attracted Inter's attention and moved to the Nerazzurro side of Milan in 2000. The Nerazzurri loaned him to Chievo Verona and in two years he made his mark: 23 goals in 74 appearances. In his second year Chievo qualified for the UEFA Cup, an amazing feat for the small club.
Back at Inter in 2002 he remained just in time to appear in the Champions League qualification match against Sporting Lisbon before he was sold to Lazio in the deal that saw Hernan Crespo move to Milan.
At Lazio he became one of the best centre forwards in Serie A. In two years, he made 82 appearances with 22 goals under Roberto Mancini. Lazio qualified for the Champions League in his first year and won the Coppa Italia in his second. In the return final against Juventus, Lazio were in trouble. They had won the first leg at home 2-0 but were losing in Turin 2-0 so it was all square. A spectacular Corradi header allowed the Biancocelesti to get the necessary away goal to bring the trophy back to Rome. The game then ended 2-2.
Lazio were however in great financial difficulty. The disastrous signing of Gaizka Mendieta left a huge debt with Valencia. When Claudio Lotito took over the club, he sold Corradi and Stefano Fiore to the Spanish club in order to cover the debt. Neither of the two wanted to go but it was in the club's best interest. In Spain he did not do very well, even if he did win a UEFA Super Cup, and after a year he was loaned to Parma. The good year (39 appearances with 10 goals) led him to go on loan to Manchester City but he had a pretty poor season (just 3 goals in 25 appearances). In 2007 he was back at Parma, again on loan but he continued to score little. At the end of his contract, he signed for Reggina where he started to score again (11 goals). In 2009 he signed for Udinese but in two years his contribution was minimal. In 2012 he moved to Canada to play for Montreal Impact. It would be his last year in active football.
At International level he played 13 times for Italy with one goal. He was part of the Italian squad at Euro 2004 and played in the opening match against Bulgaria.
Since he stopped active football, he has been involved with the Italian National team. He has been head coach of the Under 16s, Under 17s and Under 18s and is currently in charge of the Under 19s. He has also done punditry for Mediaset.
Corradi was an excellent centre forward. His time at Lazio was his probable highlight and the maximum level of football he achieved. Very dangerous on headers, he often missed easy chances with his feet, but a cross in the box was always a good idea when one had Corradi in one’s team.
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League |
2002-03 | 36 (10) | 32 (10) | 4 | |
2003-04 | 46 (12) | 32 (10) | 6 (1) | 8 (1) |
Total | 82 (22) | 64 (20) | 10 (1) | 8 (1) |
Sources
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