May 6, 1962: Lazio Catanzaro 1-0

Simon Basten
2 days ago
5 min read

Fundamental two points

Lazio beat Catanzaro to keep the Serie A dream alive

Also on this day:

May 6, 1984, Lazio Ascoli 2-1. Lazio beat Ascoli and now need only one more point in the last game at Pisa to avoid relegation.
May 6, 1923, Lazio Internaples 4-0. Lazio played a great game and were much better than their opponents on every inch of the pitch.

The season so far

In the 1960-61 season Lazio finished last in Serie A and were relegated to Serie B for the first time in their history. There were however hopes of an immediate return back to the Italian football elite. To do so, the club revolutionised the squad: among many, Lazio said goodbye to Franco Carradori (Brescia), Franco Janich (Bologna), Bruno Franzini (Bologna), Egidio Fumagalli (Novara), Ugo Pozzan (Pisa), Giacomo Del Gratta (Arezzo) and Bob Lovati who had retired. In the autumn, Orlando Rozzoni (Udinese), Nicola Lo Buono (Pescara) and Giovanni Molino (Napoli) had also left. New players were defenders Gianni Seghedoni (Bari), Diego Zanetti (Novara), Nello Governato (Como) and Graziano Landoni (Messina). The new manager was Paolo Todeschini.

In the first three games of the second half of the season, Lazio had only earned two points and were now fourth with Pro Patria, three points behind second placed Verona and Modena. Leaders Genoa were nine points away.

Todeschini had been sacked and momentarily replaced by Bob Lovati with Alfonso Ricciardi as technical director. Five games later Carlo Facchini, who had previously been head coach at Novara, took over.

Lazio vs Napoli on March 4 was a big match, if Lazio won, the immediate return to Serie A would be downhill from then on. In the 76th minute the referee, Iginio Rigato, gave a free kick to Lazio. Gianni Seghedoni with a splendid shot put the ball in the back of the net. The Lazio players and fans celebrated; the Napoli players despaired. Rigato laughed. “It’s not a goal, the ball went out”. There was a hole in the net, and he claimed the ball went right through it. Lazio protested but there was nothing the players could do.

All Lazio wanted was the repetition of the match. They had won the game in the first half of the season in Naples so they felt rather confident they could beat Napoli again. But the appeal was uphill right from the start. RAI, the Italian state television, refused to hand over the footage, the Federal Appeal Commission (CAF) refused to examine the TV images and the Rome-based media who should have raised hell all went very quiet.

In the magnificent book “Controstoria della Lazio”, the author, journalist Vincenzo Cerracchio, underlined the political importance of the then Napoli President, Achille Lauro, former mayor of Naples and very important political figure (if you ever get the chance to see the 1963 movie 'Hands over the City' directed by Francesco Rosi you will understand what type of person Achille Lauro was). Lazio had been commissioned due to very high debts and from a political point of view did not stand a chance.

The game was not repeated. Lazio Napoli 0-0.

Before today's match the Biancocelesti were third in the company of Napoli, Pro Patria and Modena, two points behind Verona who were second. Top of the table was Genoa with a 9-point lead and since there were just 5 games left, Serie A was already a certainty for them.

Victory today was paramount.

The match: Sunday, May 6, 1962, Stadio Flaminio, Rome

Lazio started strongly with the idea of closing the game early. In the fifth minute a great freekick from Gianni Seghedoni was saved by Luigi Bertossi. In the 16th minute the Calabrian keeper was quick to anticipate Giancarlo Morrone after a one-two with Mario Maraschi. In the 24th minute, Guglielmo Mecozzi crossed, Angelo Longoni with a powerful header hit the woodwork. The ball then went right across the goal and ended wide without anybody ready for the tap in.

In the 27th minute, first chances for Catanzaro. A Romano Miceli double attempt was first parried by Idilio Cei and then by Paolo Carosi. Towards the end of the first half a great Mecozzi shot was only just wide.

In the 54th minute, splendid assist from Gilberto Noletti to Maraschi who dribbled past a defender but shot wide. In the 71st minute a cross from Bertossi almost beat Cei. Finally, in the 73rd minute the Biancocelesti scored. Noletti crossed into the box, Mecozzi headed the ball for Morrone who with a powerful volley beat Bertossi.

Catanzaro gathered all their remaining energy to equalise, but Lazio held off the attacks and took the very precious two points.

Who played for Lazio

Cei, Zanetti, Carosi, Mecozzi, Seghedoni, Noletti, Longoni, Landoni, Governato, Morrone, Maraschi Manager: Facchini

Who played for Catanzaro

Bertossi, Bonari, Raise, Frontali, Bigagnoli, Tulissi, Rambone, Florio, Maccacaro, Micelli, Bagnoli Manager: Dolfin

Referee: Babini

Goal: 73’ Morrone

What happened next

Lazio lost the next match against Novara away but then beat Prato at the Flaminio. With two games to go, Lazio were third in the company of Verona, Napoli and Modena and one point behind Pro Patria, second.

Lazio then had to face Verona away and lost, killing any chances of promotion, Napoli and Modena drew and Pro Patria surprisingly lost at home. With one game to go, Verona were one point ahead of Napoli, Pro Patria and Modena and two ahead of Lazio. In the last game Napoli and Modena won, Pro Patria and Verona lost so promotion went to the Neapolitans and the Emiliani.

Lazio won their last game and missed promotion by one point. Napoli were promoted by one point. If that goal had been given ..

There was another scandal involving Napoli that year. With three matches to go there was Verona Napoli. Two people associated with Napoli tried to bribe the Verona goalkeeper and got caught in doing so. This should have automatically meant that Napoli at least got a points deduction, or worse. But two things happened: firstly, there was a massive storm over Verona on the Sunday and the match got postponed, and secondly Napoli’s lawyer managed to “convince” the judges that it was a personal initiative by the two and that Napoli were not involved. This should have brought a deduction of some points for strict liability anyway, but Napoli got away with it.

Idilio Cei was the player with most appearances that season (41) and Juan Carlo Morrone the leading goal scorer with 15 goals.

Let's talk about Guglielmo Mecozzi

Guglielmo Mecozzi was born on July 13, 1936, in Grottammare near Ascoli Piceno.

He started playing for Robur Grottammare in 1954 signed for Sambenedettese in Serie B. He stayed five years (with a 1 game interlude for Siena where he was doing his military service) and in 1961 he moved to Rome to play for Lazio. The Biancocelesti had just been relegated for the first time in their history and needed players with second tier experience to immediately try for promotion. Unfortunately, Lazio missed out by one point due to a ghost goal not given to the Biancocelesti in the home game against Napoli who would in the end clinch promotion thanks to that point. He made 31 appearances and in 1962 was sold to Catanzaro. After three seasons he went back home and played another two years with Sambenedettese. His last season was with Tolentino in the fourth tier in 1967.

After he retired, he was manager for minor local teams: Matelica, Robur, Grottammare, Truentina, Acquasanta Terme, Tolentino and Nereto.

Mecozzi was a typical second tier midfield player, used to playing on the difficult provincial pitches. If it was not for that ghost goal, perhaps he could have played in Serie A.