November 17, 1996: Piacenza-Lazio 1-3

Dag Jenkins
3 days ago
9 min read

Lazio and Signori resuscitate in Emilia

A hat-trick by the number 11 gives Lazio much needed boost

The season so far

The previous season Lazio had finished 3rd (UEFA) under manager Zdeněk Zeman. The highlights were beating Juventus 4-0, Sampdoria 6-3, Atalanta 5-1, Cagliari 4-0, Fiorentina 4-0 and especially Roma 1-0, all at home. Top scorer was Beppe Signori with 26 goals (24 in A).

This year the Bohemian stayed on. The main new signings were: South-African defender Mark Fish (Orlando Pirates), midfielders Pavel Nedved (Sparta Prague) and Paul Okon (Club Bruges) plus forward Igor Protti (Bari), previous year's top Serie A scorer with Signori.

Leaving were defender Cristiano Bergodi (Padova), midfielders Roberto Di Matteo (Chelsea), Aron Winter (Inter) plus forwards Alen Boksic (Juventus) and Marco Di Vaio (Bari - on loan).

The Serie A campaign had started very badly with two defeats (Bologna 0-1 away and Udinese 0-1 at home). Since then Lazio had won 2, drawn 2 (Fiorentin 0-0 and Inter 1-1 both away) and lost another 2 (the most recent two, Atalanta 1-2 away and Vicenza 0-2 at home). Lazio were currently 14th on 8 points, only one point from Serie B… (Cagliari on 7 points).

On August 28 Lazio had also started their Coppa Italia campaign and had won 1-0 away at Avellino. Then came Verona away on October 23 and Lazio won 2-1. Next was the quarterfinal away leg against Napoli and Lazio lost 0-1. The return leg would be on November 27 in Rome.

In the UEFA Cup, the Biancocelesti had played the first leg of the round of 64 away at Lens, winning 1-0. On September 24 they then completed the revenge on the French side drawing 1-1 and eliminated "Les Sang et Or", nineteen years after the humiliating 0-6 defeat in extra-time in 1977. Lazio then beat Tenerife 1-0 at home but collapsed 3-5 in the Canary Islands and were eliminated.

The previous season Piacenza had finished 14th under Luigi Cagni. The Biancorossi had lost 1-4 away to Lazio on their league debut but beat the Biancocelesti 2-1 at home. The Emiliani's best results were wins over Roma and Inter at home. The top scorer was Nicola Caccia with 15 goals (14 in A).

This season the manager was Bortolo Mutti. The main new signings were: defenders Daniele Delli Carri (Genoa), Paolo Tramezzani (Cesena via Inter), midfielders Fausto Pari (Napoli), Gabriele Pin (Parma), Giuseppe Scienza (Venezia), Aladino Valoti (Verona) plus forwards Pasquale Luiso (Avellino), Andrea Tentoni (Cremonese) and Fabian Valtolina (Bologna).

Leaving Emilia were: defenders Roberto Lorenzini (Milan - end of loan), Stefano Rossini (Atalanta), midfielders Angelo Carbone (Reggiana), Eugenio Corini (Verona), Francesco Turrini (Napoli) plus forwards Nicol Caccia (Napoli) and Massimo Cappellini (Empoli). Meanwhile a young Simone Inzaghi had come back from his loan period at Novara and now been loaned to Lumezzane.

So far Piacenza had won 3, drawn 2 and lost 3. They were 13th on 11 points with Roma and Parma. "Il Toro di Sora" Luiso had already scored 6 league goals.

In Coppa Italia they were eliminated immediately in August by third tier club Nocerina on penalties.

A difficult game to predict today. Piacenza were higher in the table and played at home where they had not conceded a goal in four games while Lazio seemed in crisis but had far more quality.

The match: Sunday, November 17, 1996, Stadio Galleana, Piacenza

A rainy day in Emilia saw just under 10,000 spectators gather in the small Galleana ground. Italy head coach Arrigo Sacchi was one of them.

Piacenza had the whole squad available while Lazio were missing defenders Beppe Favalli and Paolo Negro plus striker Igor Protti.

Piacenza fielded an entirely Italian XI, a rarity in Italian football even in those days.

Lazio went in front after only five minutes. Gigi Casiraghi received the ball from Pavel Nedved on the left side inside the area, cleverly turned on himself deceiving his marker and put in a low cross into the middle where Beppe Signori had a simple close-range tap-in which put Lazio ahead, 0-1.

Lazio were rampant and had several chances to double their lead. Massimo Taibi however was on form and saved a Nedved long range strike and a diving Casiraghi header.

Just as it seemed Lazio would score any minute the hosts equalised. In the 27th minute Giuseppe Scienza blasted a mid-height freekick through the wall which beat Luca Marchegiani on the right post, 1-1.

Lazio were not flustered by the unexpected setback and continued to dominate. In the 40th minute, from inside his own half, Mark Fish sent a long ball forward which found José Antonio Chamot in an uncharacteristic forward position and the Argentine skilfully flicked the ball on, past Settimio Lucci and surged into the area where he was brought down by Stefano Maccoppi for a clear penalty. Signori took it and as usual with no run-up placed a mid-height shot to Taibi's left, 1-2. A confidence boost for Beppe-gol who had missed a spot kick mid-week in a Coppa Italia game.

Lazio deservedly led going into the break.

For the second half the locals replaced winger Fabian Valtolina with forward Andrea Tentoni.

Any risk of another Piacenza comeback was quelled in the 54th minute when Signori scored again. Diego Fuser pushed the ball through to Signori centrally just inside the box where he astutely anticipated a defender and sent a low right-footed shot trickling past Taibi's right.

Lazio were in complete control and could have scored more. Casiraghi had opportunities, especially a one-on-one with Taibi but the future Manchester United keeper stood his ground and saved. In a similar situation some minutes later the Brianzolo striker went down for what looked like a penalty but the referee had other ideas.

Piacenza tried to change things with two role for role substitutions; Cleto Polonia for Paolo Tramezzani and Aladino Valoti for goal scorer Scienza but they made little difference.

In the 68th minute Lazio too replaced Alessandro Nesta with Roberto Baronio and Roberto Rambaudi with Renato Buso.

Lazio controlled the rest of the game and the win was never in doubt, they had been too superior and inflicted a first home defeat on Piacenza.

Lazio were now 13th, on 11 points with Piacenza (two points above last relegation slot, Atalanta on 9).

Who played for Piacenza

Taibi, Pari, Lucci, Maccoppi, Tramezzani (61' Polonia), Valtolina (46' Tentoni), Di Francesco, Pin, Scienza (61' Valoti), Luiso, Piovani

Substitutes: Marcon, Delli Carri, M.Conte, Moretti

Manager: Mutti

Who played for Lazio

Marchegiani, Nesta (68' Baronio), Grandoni, Fish, Chamot, Fuser, Okon, Nedved, Rambaudi (68' Buso), Casiraghi, Signori

Substitutes: Orsi, Piovanelli, Marcolin, Venturin, Gottardi

Manager: Zeman

Referee: Treossi

Goals: 5' Signori, 27' Scienza, 40' Signori (pen), 54' Signori

What happened next

In the next four games Lazio won 2 and drew 2 (including derby 0-0).

Nevertheless, they never found much consistency and, despite some good wins (including Milan 3-0), on January 26 after a 1-2 home defeat to Bologna, Zeman was sacked and Dino Zoff returned. Lazio were in joint 12th position with Udinese on 23 points (five from relegation, Perugia on 18).

With Zoff results got better. Over the next 16 games, the Biancocelesti won 9, drew 5 (including derby with 91st minute Protti equaliser in ten men, Milan and Juventus, both 2-2 away) and only lost 2. Lazio finished 4th and qualified for the UEFA Cup. An excellent result considering the first five months. The top scorer was Signori with 15 league goals.

In Coppa Italia, Lazio then went out to Napoli 1-2 on aggregate after a 1-1 draw at the Olimpico.

Piacenza finished 14th and had to go to a relegation play-off with Cagliari. In the remaining games they won 4 (including Milan 3-2 at home), drew 14 (including Juventus 1-1 at home and Milan 0-0 away) and lost 7 (including Lazio 0-2 away). In the decisive playoff, played in Naples, the Poppies defeated Cagliari 3-1 with a Luiso brace and an own goal. The top scorer was Luiso with 16 goals (14 in A).

Juventus won the Scudetto for the 24th time while Reggiana, Perugia, Verona and Cagliari were relegated to Serie B.

Let’s talk about Gabriele Pin

Gabriele Pin was born in Vittorio Veneto (Treviso), on September 10, 1962.

He spent his formative career at Juventus. From 13 years of age to 17 he was with the Bianconeri youth sector.

In 1979 he joined the first team squad and made his debut in 1980 in the last game of the season against Fiorentina. The following year he did not get any games so he was then sent out to get experience.

In 1981/82 he played for Sanremese in C1 making 22 appearances and scoring 1 goal. In 1982/83 he was at Forli in C1, again playing 22 times but scoring 5 goals.

Between 1983 and 1985 he was at Parma. The first year the Gialloblu were promoted to Serie B but the next they were immediately relegated back to the third tier. Over the two seasons Pin played 67 league games with 7 goals, plus 9 in Coppa Italia with 1 goal.

In 1985 he was called back "home" to Juventus. He was not first choice but played 21 Serie A games (1 goal against Bari), 7 in Coppa Italia (1 goal against Casertana), and 4 in Europe (1 goal against Jeunesse d'Esch). Juventus won both the scudetto and the Intercontinental Cup against Argentinos Juniors.

In 1986 he started his Roman adventure joining Lazio in Serie B. In his first year he was part of the team that avoided relegation after starting the season with a 9-point deduction. Pin played 40 matches under manager Eugenio Fascetti (including the play outs against Campobasso and Taranto) and scored 2 goals (Modena and Cagliari) plus another 5 in Coppa Italia (talk about midfield Stakhanovite...).

The following year Lazio won promotion to Serie A, Pin playing 36 league games and scoring 2 goals (Sambenedettese and Triestina) and another 5 games in Coppa Italia.

So, in 1988/89 Lazio were back in Serie A and they kept on their reliable midfield dynamo. Pin made 27 league appearances and scored 2 goals (Verona and Torino) and 9 in Coppa Italia with 1 goal (Atalanta).

In 1989/90 he again played regularly with 31 league appearances but also had his most prolific year with 6 goals (Udinese, Napoli, Cesena x2, Bologna and Inter) plus 2 games in Coppa Italia.

In 1990/91 he was almost ever present with 32 league appearances and 2 goals (a brace against Torino) plus another 2 games in Coppa Italia.

The 1991/92 season would be his last in Rome but he was consistent as ever and played 32 Serie A games and scored 1 goal (Genoa) plus 4 more games in Coppa Italia. At the end of the season with the imminent arrivals of Paul Gascoigne, Aron Winter, Diego Fuser and Dario Marcolin, all in midfield, for Pin it was time to move on.

At Lazio over six years Pin played 225 games with 16 goals and had been captain for three seasons.

Pin moved on but also back, joining Parma again in 1992. In Emilia he played his usual reliable, solid football for four seasons. He made another 98 Serie A appearances with 2 goals (Fiorentina and Atalanta), 21 in Coppa Italia and 33 in Europe. Parma had great teams in those years (Asprilla, Brolin, Melli, Osio, Zola, Buffon, Stoichkov, Cannavaro just to mention a few) and Pin won a Cup Winners Cup (1993), a European Supercup (1993) and a UEFA Cup (1995).

In 1996/97 he moved up the road in Emilia to Piacenza in Serie A. Pin played 21 league games (plus 1 in Coppa Italia) contributing to the "Poppies" survival after a play-off against Cagliari in Naples (3-1).

At this point, at 35 years of age, Pin called it a day and retired. He had been the midfield playmaker in 552 professional games and scored 35 goals. He had an excellent club career playing for prestigious clubs and winning silverware.

He then moved into a coaching career. First, at Parma in their youth sector and then as assistant to Arrigo Sacchi, Renzo Ulivieri and Cesare Prandelli. It was with Prandelli that Pin struck up a special rapport and was to be his assistant for countless teams; Parma, Roma (very briefly due to Prandelli's wife's health problems), Fiorentina, Galatasaray, Valencia, Al-Nasr, Genoa, Fiorentina again, plus of course the Italian national team (2010-2014 - Runners up at Euro 2012).

In June 2021 Pin accepted the job at Esteghlal (Iran) as assistant to Farhad Majidi. He is currently assistant coach at Al-Ittihad Kalba in the United Arab Emirates, still under Farhad Majidi.

As a player Pin was a central midfielder. He could play in the heart of midfield or in front of the defence. He was an extremely dynamic player, had an excellent sense of position and astute tactical geometry. He was a perfect link between defence and attack. He was clean and technically precise with the knack of always making himself available for his team mates whether it was for defending or constructing an attacking move, always seemingly to have the time to make the right decision. He was a reliable player rarely missing games through injury or suspension. He was the type of player most people would put first or pretty high up on their list when picking a team.

What about Pin and Lazio? He was with the Biancocelesti for six years, captain for three, played 225 games, scored 16 goals, was part of the heroic -9 team, won promotion and played in the Di Canio winning derby… I think it's fair to say Gabriele Pin has his name in a prominent position in the Lazio history books.

Lazio Career

Season	Total appearances (goals)	Serie A	Serie B	Coppa Italia
1986-87	45 (2)	-	40 (2)	5
1987-88	41 (2)	-	36 (2)	5
1988-89	36 (3)	27 (2)	-	9 (1)
1989-90	33 (6)	31 (6)	-	2
1990-91	34 (2)	32 (2)	-	2
1991-92	36 (1)	32 (1)	-	4
Total	225 (16)	122 (11)	76 (4)	27 (1)