May 24, 1992: Cagliari Lazio 0-1
- Lazio Stories
- 13 hours ago
- 7 min read
Doll gives Lazio the win
The day after the world was shocked by the killing of Giovanni Falcone, Lazio close the season with a win
The season so far
The year was heavily influenced by a player who would not play a single minute of the 1991-1992 season. In the summer of 1991 Lazio bought Paul Gascoigne. A massive deal for Dino Zoff’s side, but unfortunately Gazza’s dangerous tackle in his final match for Tottenham inflicted a very serious injury to the English player that would keep him out of the game for over a year.
Lazio had to therefore change plan and in came Thomas Doll, a German midfielder with similar characteristics and who was believed to be able to play well with Lazio’s forwards Karl-Heinz Riedle and Ruben Sosa.
Lazio started the season with a draw at home against Parma, and this would be one of the main issues for the 1991-1992 campionato, that is, a difficulty in winning at home. Not only. Lazio conceded too many goals in the dying stages of games. It was a psychological problem but was untalkative Dino Zoff the right manager to convey calm?
The Biancocelesti were eleventh. After the win against Cremonese a month earlier, Lazio were in sixth place. Europe could have been a possibility since there were still four games left. However the Biancocelesti lost the next three so any chances were squandered. Today was the final game of the season in a shocked atmosphere.
On Saturday, May 23, 1992, at 17.58 a huge bomb hidden under the A29 motorway exploded near the town of Capaci, outside Palermo in Sicily, as the convoy of anti-Mafia magistrate Giovanni Falcone passed by. Falcone was traveling with his wife, magistrate Francesca Morvillo, and a police escort in three armoured cars. Nobody survived. It is one of the most important and traumatic events in modern Italian history.
The match: Sunday, May 24, 1992, Stadio Sant’Elia, Cagliari
Lazio had already threatened in the 14th minute when Ruben Sosa forced Mario Ielpo to a difficult save after he unleashed a powerful shot from nearly 30 metres out. Cagliari then pushed forward into the opposition half and came close to taking the lead several times.
In the 28th minute, Daniel Fonseca squandered a golden opportunity from inside the six-yard box following an assist by Enzo Francescoli. Just two minutes later, the Uruguayan found himself alone in front of goal, but instead of opting for a simple finish past Valerio Fiori, he attempted an acrobatic volley that sailed over the bar.
The home side thought they had finally broken through in the 33rd minute. Set up by Fonseca, Francescoli in front of Fiori tried a lob which looked as if it was going in, only for Angelo Gregucci to clear dramatically off the line and turn the ball over the crossbar. A minute later Francescoli remained the main danger, but his header crashed against the outside of the post.
After the break, the Rossoblu increased the pressure, though they lacked creativity in midfield. In the 54th minute Cagliari again believed they had taken the lead when Gregucci headed the ball into his own net, but referee Cesari disallowed the goal for a previous offside.
The match then opened up, with both teams trading attacks. Thomas Doll twice came close for Lazio, in the 57th and 64th minutes, with powerful efforts from outside the area. The Biancocelesti eventually found the breakthrough in the 72nd minute: Doll left unmarked by the defence had no problem in beating Ielpo for Lazio’s win.
A good ending to an otherwise mediocre season.
Who played for Cagliari
Ielpo (74' Di Bitonto), N.Napoli, Festa (61' M.Villa), Herrera, Firicano, Mobili, Bisoli, Nardini, Francescoli, Matteoli, Fonseca
Substitutes: Greco, Budruni, Criniti
Manager: Mazzone
Who played for Lazio
Fiori, Bergodi, Sergio, Pin (29' Melchiori), Gregucci, Soldà, Bacci, Doll (80' Stroppa), Riedle, Sclosa, Sosa
Manager: Zoff
Referee: Cesari
Goal: 73’ Doll
What happened next
The main event of the year was however the acquisition of the club by Sergio Cragnotti, who had bought Lazio from Gian Marco Calleri on March 12, 1992. Lazio would gradually become a financial superpower over the next decade and achieve the best results in their history.
Roberto Bacci was the player with most appearances in the 1991-92 season (37) and Ruben Sosa with the most goals (15).
Let’s talk about Thomas Doll
Thomas Jens Uwe Doll was born in Malchin, Germany, April 9, 1966.
He began his football for local side BSG Lokomotiv Malchin, in former East Germany. He then joined F.C Hansa Rostock youth academy in 1979.
Doll made his professional debut for Hansa Rostock on 27 August, 1983. He played three seasons there making 47 appearances and scoring 4 goals.
In 1986 he signed for another East German club BFC Dynamo from Berlin, the dominant team at the time. Alongside Andreas Thom he formed one of the best attacking partnerships in the league. He won the DDR - Oberliga (league title) in 1987 and 1988 and the FDGB- Pokal (East German cup) in 1988 and 1989. He also won the first and only ever East German Supercup scoring two goals in a 4-1 victory over SG Dynamo Dresden in 1989. At BFC Dynamo he played four seasons making 99 appearances with 39 goals.
After the historic events and the reunification of Germany he signed for Hamburger SV in 1990. He only stayed in Hamburg for a year but it was a very positive one. He played 33 league games and scored 4 goals.
He had performed so well for the Hanseatic club that he attracted interest from the then best league in Europe, Serie A. In the summer of 1991 he signed for Lazio (13 billion Lire - approx 6.5 million Euros) who were looking for an alternative to Paul Gascoigne, side-lined by injury. He became the first former East German to play in Italy.
In his first season in Rome he was a great success. He was exciting to watch, he set up and scored goals but also defended and generally worked hard. He played 31 league games and scored 7 times (plus 4 in Coppa Italia with 1 goal).
In his second year at Lazio he played less regularly. This was partly due to injuries and partly due to the fact that only three foreign players could be used in a game. With the arrival of Paul Gascoigne and Aron Winter, and already having Karl Heinz Riedle in the squad, competition for places was tough. In 1992-93 Doll played 20 league games with 2 goals (plus 2 games in Coppa Italia). Lazio had a good season finishing 5th and qualifying for a UEFA Cup place.
His third year at Lazio was again hindered by a series of injuries, he only got 13 league games and in the autumn market window went back to Germany to Eintracht Frankfurt on loan. Lazio improved their league placement and finished 4th, confirming a UEFA Cup participation. He played a total of 72 games for Lazio (64 in Serie A) with 10 goals (9 in Serie A).
In the 1994-1995 pre-season Doll was back training with Lazio and even played a couple of Coppa Italia games scoring 2 goals but, mainly due to his frequent injuries, they then definitively sold Doll to Eintracht Frankfurt. Back in Germany he would continue to struggle with physical problems and in 3 years only played 28 league games with 4 goals.
In 1996 he came back to Italy. He signed for Bari in Serie B. He played 31 games with 4 goals and the 'Galletti' from Puglia were promoted to Serie A. In 1997-98 however he was injury prone again and only played 14 times. Bari had a good season coming 11th under former Lazio manager (and club legend) Eugenio Fascetti.
In 1998 he returned to Hamburger SV in the Bundesliga. In three seasons due to his usual injuries he played 41 league games with no goals. At the end of the 2000-2001 season Doll called it a day and retired.
At International level he was one of the few players to win caps for both East Germany and the newly united Germany. Between 1986-1990 he played 29 games for DDR scoring 7 goals (plus 14 games and 2 goals for the Olympic team). From 1991-1996, after the reunification, he earned 18 caps for Germany with one goal (against Wales). He played the second half of the Euro '92 final defeat against Denmark.
After his retirement he stayed on at Hamburg going into coaching. He started with the under 19's, followed by the Hamburg second team and then Hamburger SV main team between 2004-2007. In his first year he saved them from relegation and won the European Intertoto cup while in his second they finished 3rd qualifying for Champions League. In his third year the team struggled, both in Europe (only one win out of six) and in the league, leading Doll to be replaced in February 2007.
Since his Hamburg days he has had a series of managerial experiences in several different countries. He coached Borussia Dortmund (Germany, for one year), Gençlerbirliği (Turkey, for one year), Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia, sacked after 7 months), Ferencváros (Hungary 2013-18, winning 3 cups and a league title), Hannover (Germany, for half a season) and APOEL (Cyprus, for 4 months winning Cypriot Super Cup and then ended contract by mutual consent).
In April 2022 he became manager of Persija Jakarta (Indonesia) and stayed until the end of the 2023-24 season.
Thomas Doll is remembered fondly at Lazio. He was part of an era in which they were able to start attracting exciting foreign stars such as Doll himself. He performed well in Rome, so well that there will always be a regret about how much more he could have given had it not been for his injuries. Doll was an attacking midfielder who played mainly on the right. He had an innate ability to jump his defender and had dribbling skills you rarely see nowadays. He was a dynamic player with great stamina and running abilities. He was also a generous, hardworking and brave player, never holding back in physical battles, this could also account for some of his injuries. Lazio fans have only positive memories of Doll and the most common opinion is "Quanto era forte" (what a great player he was).
Lazio Career
Season | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup |
1991-92 | 35 (8) | 31 (7) | 4 (1) | - |
1992-93 | 22 (2) | 20 (2) | 2 | - |
1993-94 | 14 | 13 | - | 1 |
1994-95 | 2 (2) | - | 2 (2) | - |
Total | 73 (12) | 64 (9) | 8 (3) | 1 |
Sources
Lazio Stories
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