A goal per half see off Cockerels
Goals by Zanetti and Maraschi give Lazio deserved win
The season so far
Lazio had just won promotion back to Serie A. Under manager Carlo Facchini, for the first four games, and then Bob Lovati with Juan Carlos Lorenzo as Technical Director, the Biancocelesti had conquered 2nd place and a place back in the big time. Juan Carlos Morrone, Orlando Rozzoni and Paolo Bernasconi all got 10 goals each.
This was a year after being robbed of a promotion in 1961-62 when Giovanni Seghedoni's goal was absurdly deemed to have gone in through a hole in the net...
This year Lorenzo was officially manager. The main new players were midfielders Paolo Carosi (Udinese-back from loan), Massimo Giacomini (Genoa), Alberto Mari (Sambenedettese), Bruno Mazzia (Juventus-on loan) plus forward Carlo Galli (Genoa).
Leaving were defenders Adelmo Eufemi (Udinese), Gianni Seghedoni (Vis Pesaro), Giambattista Moschino (Torino-end of loan) plus forwards Paolo Bernasconi (Parma), Claudio Bizzarri (Civitanovese) and Angelo Longoni (Vis Pesaro).
So far Lazio had played eight games and had won 3 (SPAL 1-0 away, Genoa 1-0 at home and Messina 3-1 then changed to 2-0 to punish the hosts for crowd trouble), drawn 3 (Fiorentina 1-1 at home on debut, Milan 1-1 at home and Roma 0-0 away) and lost 2 (Vicenza 0-1 at home and Modena 1-2 away). A mixed start and Lazio had 9 points.
The Biancocelesti and all the Serie A teams had not played for three weeks as the games scheduled for November 3 had been postponed to January 19 to give the national team more training time.
In Coppa Italia Lazio had been knocked out immediately by Cagliari, losing 0-1 away on September 8.
Bari were newly promoted. The previous year they had been runners-up in Serie B and reached the semi-finals of Coppa Italia (lost 0-1 to eventual winners Atalanta). The manager was Pietro Magni and top scorer had been Biagio Catalano with 17 league goals.
This season Magni had started but then been sacked after five games and replaced by future Lazio legend Tommaso Maestrelli. In the transfer market Bari had brought back keeper Carlo Mezzi (Triestina) and signed defenders Mario Cantarelli (Monza), midfielders Nicola Bovari (Inter), Fernando (Palermo) and forwards Franco Galletti (Inter), Gianni Rossi (Juventus) and Bruno Siciliano (Juventus).
Leaving Apulia were keeper Luigi Ferrari (Lecce), long serving defender Mario Mazzoni (Prato-after 313 league games) plus forwards Guido Postiglione (Palermo) and Ulderico Sacchella (Monza).
Things were not going well for the "Galletti" (The Cockerels). After eight games the Biancorossi were winless having suffered 3 defeats (Roma 1-3 at home on debut, Juventus 0-4 away and Vicenza 1-2 away) and drawn 5 (Mantova, Modena and Catania 0-0 at home, Messina 1-1 away and Inter 1-1). Bari were bottom with 5 points.
In Coppa Italia in September they had been knocked out by Napoli who won 1-0 in Bari.
The match: Sunday, November 17, 1963, Stadio della Vittoria, Bari
A grey day in the South- East with a crowd of 23,000 hoping to see Bari finally win a game.
Lazio were without injured defender Bruno Mazzia, replaced by Paolo Carosi at full-back while Bari had Angelo Carrano back in midfield.
The game started with a scare for the Biancocelesti as in the first minute of play Bari's Rossi had a one-on-one with Idilio Cei, but the Lazio keeper was superb and stopped what seemed like a certain goal.
After the wobbly approach, however, the Biancocelesti took command of the game. The defence became solid and the midfield quick to put the forwards in action. In the 12th minute one of these rapid moves gave Lazio the lead. Vincenzo Gasperi started it, then Nello Governato to Graziano Landoni whose clever vertical pass cut through the Bari defence and was run onto by Diego Zanetti, the defender reached the edge of the area and blasted a shot into the top hand corner. Bari 0 Lazio 1 and an excellent team goal and individual finish.
At this point the Biancorossi put constant pressure on Lazio but were rarely threatening apart from a couple of scrambles in the area and two long range shots, by Bruno Visentin in the 28th and Bruno Cicogna in the 39th, that Cei easily blocked. Half time Bari 0 Lazio 1. Lazio in control.
The second half started in the same fashion with Bari forward but sterile. Lazio's second goal came in similar timing and mode to the first. In the 55th minute a quick one -two between Landoni and Massimo Giacomini who put through a long pass forward to Mario Maraschi in front of keeper Italo Ghizzardi, the striker took the ball on and from close range doubled Lazio’s lead. Bari 0 Lazio 2.
Bari, already in difficulty before the second goal, became increasingly frustrated resorting to dirty fouls and rough play. Their forward Bruno Siciliano was sent off for a particularly brutal challenge on Carosi and the game was basically over. Lazio could have scored a third but Rozzoni and Morrone were off target. Final score Bari 0 Lazio 2.
The Galletti went off to whistles from the home fans while the Eagles were applauded off the field.
It had been a good win for Lazio. After the initial lack of concentration, they had been tight in defence, lively and dynamic in midfield and clinical in front of goal.
Who played for Bari
Ghizzardi, Baccari, Panara, Buccione, Mupo, Carrano, Rossi, Catalano, Siciliano, Visentin, Cicogna
Manager: Maestrelli
Who played for Lazio
Manager: Lorenzo
Referee: Lo Bello
Goals: 12' Zanetti, 55' Maraschi
What happened next
Lazio finished joint 8th (with three other teams). They did not concede many goals (24) but scored even less (21). The most common result was 1-0, either for or against. Between December 8 and January 26, they went through a bad patch and lost 6 consecutive matches. They then picked up and even beat Milan 1-0 away, Juventus 3-0 away and drew the derby 1-1. In the end the Biancocelesti had a three-point cushion on the drop zone and one point more than Roma. Top scorers were Mario Maraschi and Juan Carlos Morrone with 5 league goals.
Bari were not so lucky. They changed managers again after the 11th fixture, from Maestrelli to Paolo Tabanelli but were unable to avoid relegation. They won 6, drew 10 (including Roma away) and lost 18 (including Lazio 0-1) and finished bottom. Top scorer was local boy Biagio Catalano with 6 league goals.
Bologna won the Scudetto after the first and only ever playoff (Inter 2-0 in Rome). Keeping Bari company on the downward journey to B were SPAL and Modena (after playoff with Sampdoria, 0-2 in Milan).
Lazio 1963-64
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 34 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 21 |
Coppa Italia | 1 | - | - | 1 | - |
Total | 5 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 21 |
Top five appearances
Players | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
Pagni | 35 | 34 | 1 |
Landoni | 34 | 34 | - |
Cei | 32 | 32 | - |
Morrone | 32 | 31 | 1 |
Maraschi | 31 | 31 | - |
Zanetti | 31 | 30 | 1 |
Top goal scorers
Players | Serie A |
Morrone | 5 |
Maraschi | 5 |
Let's talk about Pierluigi Pagni
Pierluigi Pagni was born in Livorno, on June 26 1939.
He began his football with local club ASSI Spartacus. He was a promising fullback and was called up for a training camp with the national youth squad in Florence. Here he was spotted by a talent scout, former Lazio player Oreste Brondi, who mentioned him to Fulvio Bernardini, the Fiorentina manager at the time.
The following season, in 1958, when Bernardini became Lazio manager he brought Pagni with him, but he was skinny and overeager, not ready for first team Serie A football. He therefore played with the youth team for a couple of years.
On June 18, 1960 he finally made his debut in a Coppa Italia game, lost 0-3 away to Juventus.
In 1960 -61 made his league debut, on November 20 in a 0-4 away defeat in Florence. Pagni also played the next match at Padova but Lazio lost again and Pagni was dropped. Lazio then changed managers from Bernardini to Enrique Flamini (with Englishman Jesse Carver as T.D) but Pagni made no more league appearances. Lazio finished 18th and were relegated. They reached the final of Coppa Italia but lost 0-2 to Fiorentina in Florence. Pagni played 1 game in the domestic cup.
In 1961 Pagni was loaned to Cosenza in Serie B. He played regularly, making 29 league appearances, first under Hungarian Gyula Zsengellér and then Cosenza legend Francesco Morgine. The "Lupi della Sila" (The Sila Wolves) finished 18th but avoided relegation due to Novara's misdemeanours.
In 1962 he was back in the capital where he would then stay for six seasons.
In 1962-63 Lazio were in Serie B but got promoted under Roberto Lovati and Juan Carlos Lorenzo as T.D (manager Carlo Facchin was sacked after 4 games). Pagni played 25 league games and 1 in Coppa Italia.
Back in Serie A in 1963-64 Lazio finished 8th under Lorenzo. Pagni played 34 league games with 1 goal (Modena) and 1 game in Coppa Italia. Lazio's best results were beating Milan 1-0 and Juventus 3-0, bith away while they drew both derbies.
In 1964-65 the manager was Umberto Mannocci and Lazio finished 14th. Pagni was the player with most appearances, 35 (33 in A plus 2 in Coppa Italia). Lazio drew both derbies.
In 1965-66 Lazio finished 12th in a season which saw the arrival of Umberto Lenzini as President in November. Pagni played 31 league games and 2 in Coppa Italia. Lazio's best results were winning a derby 1-0 (the other was a draw) and beating Milan 2-0 away.
In 1966-67 Lazio were relegated, first under Mannocci and then, from November, Maino Neri. Pagni played 30 league games and 2 in Coppa Italia. Lazio's best result was beating Inter 1-0 at home while in the derbies Lazio lost one and drew one.
The 1967-68 season was a mediocre one, first under Renato Gei (1-24) and then Bob Lovati (25-42) and Lazio finished 11th. Pagni played less, only 13 league games and 1 in Coppa Italia. He was probably past his peak now and was losing some of his speed.
In 1968, he joined SPAL on loan in Serie B. The Estensi however, under three different managers (Francesco Petanga, Serafino Montanari to Giovan Battista Fabbri) were relegated to Serie C. Pagni played 16 league games. He played alongside a young Alberto Bigon (65 games with Lazio) and future top manager Luigi Del Neri.
In 1969 Lazio were back in Serie A but Pagni retired. He stayed in Rome and worked for a construction firm.
He had a good career at Lazio. He started as a full-back but at Lazio was transformed into a centre-back. He was a no frills but extremely efficient defender. For many years he was the pillar of the Biancocelesti's backline and was known for the consistency of his high-level performances. At Lazio he played in the number 5 shirt and was captain in the 1964-65 season. He was definitely captain material, reliable, fair and loyal, so much he was nicknamed "Modino" (precise/ decent / scrupulous).
He played 185 games for Lazio and after retiring remained close to the Biancoceleste family, often appearing official ceremonies, celebrations and get togethers.
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia | Mitropa Cup | Cup of the Alps |
1960-61 | 4 | 2 | - | 1 | - | 1 |
1962-63 | 26 | - | 25 | 1 | - | - |
1963-64 | 35 (1) | 34 (1) | - | 1 | - | - |
1964-65 | 35 | 33 | - | 2 | - | - |
1965-66 | 33 | 31 | - | 2 | - | - |
1966-67 | 36 | 30 | . | 2 | 4 | - |
1967-68 | 14 | - | 13 | 1 | - | - |
Total | 185 (1) | 130 (1) | 38 | 11 | 4 | 1 |
Sources