May 30, 1948: Torino Lazio 4-3
- Lazio Stories
- 13 hours ago
- 5 min read
Unlucky
The Day Lazio Nearly Toppled the Invincible Great Torino
The season so far
The previous season had been disappointing and Lazio arrived only 10th so, for the 1947-48 season, fans hoped for a better year. Toni Cargnelli was confirmed as manager and the most important new arrivals were Flavio Cecconi from Venezia and Sergio Piacentini from Sampdoria plus Brazilian Orlando Fantoni. Leaving the capital were Luigi Cassano and Henglebert Koenig to Sampdoria, Bruno Ispiro and Antonio Sessa to Triestina, plus Edoardo Valenti to Perugia. In the autumn transfer window, Leandro Remondini from Modena and Romano Penzo were added.
After the first half of the season Lazio were 13th with 17 points, just two points above the relegation zone. They had beaten Inter and drawn away to Juventus but had lost the derby. Cargnelli was sacked and replaced with Orlando Tognotti. In his first game the Biancocelesti had been slaughtered 5-2 by Milan.
The situtation had then improved and the Biancocelesti were currently 10th with a five point lead on the relegation zone. Today they had to play against the invincible Great Torino who already had a ten point lead over second placed Milan.
The match: Sunday, May 30, 1948, Stadio Filadelfia, Turin
Lazio came close to a heroic feat. Historically unpredictable, the Roman side were humiliating the champions of Torino FC away from home. In the stands, there was an almost Aeschylean sense of drama in the air, and people rubbed their eyes in disbelief at what the players in Biancoceleste were producing. Then the fairy tale ended, and the change in momentum was heavily influenced by the serious injury suffered by the visitors’ best player, Flavio Cecconi. Lazio gradually lost their shape and organization, and Torino emerged, realizing that the deficit could be overturned. And so it was.
The match report begins in the 3rd minute with a deadly free kick from Leandro Remondini, awarded for a handball by Valerio Bacigalupo outside the area. The shot was brilliantly tipped away for a corner by the goalkeeper.
The Lazio players appeared completely unfazed by Torino’s famous champions. In the 4th minute, Costantino De Andreis burst forward at great speed, Mario Rigamonti lost his balance, and Sauro Tomà rushed over to help his teammate. The Lazio player evaded him and managed to pass to Aldo Puccinelli: two steps, a shot, and the ball was in the net.
In the 13th minute, there was a flowing move involving Cecconi, Romano Penzo, and Puccinelli. The latter crossed backward for Cecconi, who struck the ball. It grazed Giuseppe Grezar’s head and deceived Bacigalupo.
In the 20th minute, the Torino goalkeeper made a serious blunder. Trying to hand the ball to Grezar, he became confused and the ball bounced off his thigh. Lurking nearby was Penzo, who gathered it and made it three.
Torino were not a team to give up easily, and indeed in the 25th minute Menti crossed for Eusebio Castigliano, whose shot burned Uber Gradella’s hands.
In the 38th minute Cecconi left the field, and that event caused the lights to go out for Lazio. In the 43rd minute Franco Ossola delivered from a corner to Romeo Menti. He sent it back into the middle, sparking a scramble that Guglielmo Gabetto resolved by beating Gradella with one of his famous bicycle kicks.
Lazio — remember, now down to ten men — retreated to defend their goal, leaving only the centre-forward and the wingers up front.
The second half began with Valentino Mazzola striking the post. In the 10th minute came the equaliser: Aldo Ballarin carried the ball forward and passed to Menti, who in turn fed Ossola; the usual high cross followed, then a scramble, and finally Castigliano applied the decisive touch.
In the 16th minute, the exact same move unfolded again, but this time it was Mazzola who provided the finishing touch.
4–3 to Torino — but what a magnificent Lazio!
Who played for Torino
Bacigalupo, Ballarin, Tomà, Grezar, Rigamonti, Castigliano, Menti, Martelli, Gabetto, Mazzola, Ossola
Manager: Sperone
Who played for Lazio
Gradella, Remondini, Piacentini, Brunetti, Alzani, Del Pinto, Puccinelli, Magrini, Penzo, Cecconi, De Andreis
Manager: Tognotti
Referee: Agnolin
Goals: 6' Puccinelli, 13' Grezar (og), 22' Penzo, 25' Castigliano, 43' Gabetto, 55' Castigliano, 61' Mazzola
What happened next
Lazio finished 10th with 39 points. One could not really ask for more especially since with 12 away losses out of 20 there was not much room to earn more points.
Romolo Alzani was the player with most appearances (38), Romano Penzo scored the most goals (17).
Let's talk about Guglielmo Gabetto
Guglielmo Antonio Gabetto was born in Turin, on February 24, 1916.
He started his career with Juventus. He debuted for the Bianconeri in 1934 and went on to play 191 games and score 102 goals (86 in A). He won a Scudetto in 1935, under manager Carlo Carcano and then Carlo Bigatto and a Coppa Italia in 1938, under Virginio Rosetta.
In 1941 he switched allegiances in Turin and joined Torino. He had done well with the Bianconeri and he did even better with the Granata.
In eight seasons (5 in A due to WW2) he played 225 games and scored 127 goals (80 in A in 158 appearances). He was part of the Grande Torino who dominated Italian football in that period. The Granata won five consecutive league titles (excluding the war interruption) in 1943, 1946, 1947, 1948 and 1949. The managers were Antonio Janni (1943), Luigi Ferrero (1945, '46, '47) and Mario Sperone (1948 with Roberto Copernico as T.D) and finally Leslie Lievesley and then Oberdan Ussello (1949).
It was a great team with the likes of legends such as: goalkeeper Valerio Bacigalupo, defenders Aldo Ballarin, Virgilio Moroso and Mario Rigamonti, midfielders Giuseppe Grezar and Eusebio Castigliano, wingers Franco Ossola and Ezio Loik, forwards Valentino Mazzola, Romeo Menti and Pietro Ferraris to name a few.
Disaster struck on May 4 1949. On the way back from a friendly game in Lisbon the plane, carrying the Torino squad, directors and journalists, crashed into the Superga hill overlooking the Piedmontese capital. All the 31 passengers on board were killed. The causes were attributed to adverse weather conditions, especially very strong winds.
A huge tragedy for Torino and Italian football. A similar awful destiny would sadly await Manchester United in 1958.
Gabetto died at 33. He is considered one of the best forwards in Italian history. He scored 231 goals in 416 appearances. He also won 6 caps for Italy with 5 goals.
Gabetto was an all-round forward. He was 1.74 and 70 kilos and was quick with explosive acceleration and dribbling skills but also with excellent acrobatic ability. He was famous for scoring "impossible" goals, a fact that earned him the nickname "La Santa Rita dei goleador" (Santa Rita was renowned for her miracles). Other nicknames were "Il Barone" for his elegance and slicked back hair while for the fans he was Gabe. There would later be two more Barone characters, Nils Liedholm and Franco Causio.
He is a legend at Juventus and even more so at Torino. He is still Juventus' 9th all time Serie A scorer and 5th for Torino.
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