November 4, 1979: Lazio Juventus 1-0
- Simon Basten
- 11 hours ago
- 10 min read
A win for Vincenzo
A week after the Paparelli assassination. Lazio beat Juventus thanks to an own goal
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had missed out on a UEFA Cup qualification by just three points. The club did not have much money and could only afford minor signings. In came Filippo Citterio from Palermo, Vincenzo Zucchini from Pescara and Enrico Todesco from Como plus the returns of Mauro Manzoni, who was on loan at Cerretese, and Maurizio Montesi, who had been sent to Avellino for a year.
Lazio said goodbye to scudetto hero Luigi Martini, who left to play in the NASL, Ciccio Cordova (Avellino), Paolo Ammoniaci (Palermo) and Aldo Cantarutti (Pisa). Roberto Badiani, Andrea Agostinelli and Pietro Ghedin were loaned out.
The Biancocelesti had started well, qualifying for the Coppa Italia quarter finals on goal difference after winning their group thanks to three wins and a draw. In Campionato they were seventh in the company of Napoli and Bologna, but it was still early stages. They had so far won one, lost one and drawn three.
On October 28 Rome was ready for the first derby of the season. An hour before the match, Vincenzo Paparelli was sitting in Curva Nord having a sandwich. From the Curva Sud Giovanni Fiorillo fired two flares towards the Lazio Curva. They zig zagged over the top. For the third attempt, the Roma supporter lowered his aim. The flare hit Vincenzo Paparelli in the eye and killed him. He was 33 years of age and had two children.
What happened then was complete chaos. The Lazio fans did not want the game to go on but the police decided that it was best to play for security reasons. In a climate of warfare with few Lazio supporters left in the stands, the game was played. Every time the ball went into the stands with Lazio supporters, the fans did not give the ball back. Captain Pino Wilson and Bruno Giordano were forced to go under the Curva Nord in an attempt to calm the Laziali down. The game was a farce and finished 1-1. In the last minutes there was a clear penalty for Lazio but the ref decided that there was no way he was going to make matters worse. A game and day nobody will forget.
The match: Sunday, November, 4 1979, Stadio Olimpico Rome
A surreal atmosphere and despite it being a game against Juventus there were only 40,000 spectators. Many were afraid of violence. There was a big banner in Curva Sud with written “All together no to violence” from the Biancoceleste fans.
After four minutes Juve had a chance with Roberto Bettega who headed the ball high after a Claudio Gentile cross from the right.
Lazio fought back and went ahead in the 11th minute. Free kick from the right just outside the box, Bruno Giordano crossed towards the far post, Vincenzo Zucchini headed towards the goal, Dino Zoff saved but the ball hit Vinicio Verza and went in.
At this point the Biancocelesti were able to place themselves on the pitch in their favourite way, that is total and asphyxiating defence, and Juve were forced to do what they did not want, and that is to attack a well-guarded fort. The rest of the game was a bland unexciting, continuous and useless attempt by the Bianconeri to break down the Biancoceleste defensive wall. Lazio on the other hand were content with defending and blocking any Juventus initiatives. Domenico Marocchino had a chance in the second half but his volley in the 66th minute went wide. A Nando Viola shot from outside the box was tipped over the crossbar by Zoff then, in the final stages, Juve at full throttle and Lazio defending around keeper Massimo Cacciatori. Three free kicks for Juve in the last three minutes of the game put a lot of pressure on the Biancoceleste defence but neither Franco Causio, Beppe Furino nor Bettega were able to beat Cacciatori who also saved the last desperate shot from Antonello Cuccureddu.
A good win for Lazio and a special tribute to Vincenzo Paparelli.
Who played for Lazio
Cacciatori, Tassotti, Citterio, Wilson, Pighin, Zucchini, Garlaschelli, Labonia (71’ D’Amico), Giordano, Nicoli, Viola
Manager: Lovati
Who played for Juventus
Zoff, Cuccureddu, Cabrini (46’ Virdis), Furino, Gentile, Scirea, Causio, Tardelli, Bettega, Verza, Marocchino
Substitutes: Bodini, Brio
Manager: Trapattoni
Referee: Barbaresco
Goal: 11’ Verza (og)
What happened next
At the start of game 10 the Biancocelesti were in fourth place and only 4 points behind leaders Inter. But in the next 15 matches Lazio won only once and in March, after the game lost at Pescara, were fourth from bottom, just three points above Catanzaro. They had also lost the Coppa Italia quarter final against Torino after a penalty shoot-out.
Then, an already bad and tragic season got even worse. In Pescara after the game Wilson, Giordano, Lionello Manfredonia and Massimo Cacciatori were arrested for match fixing.
Rumours that there was something wrong in Serie A had begun to circulate earlier in the year. At Cagliari Montesi broke his leg and from the hospital spoke to the few journalists who went to see how he was. He was alone, none of the Lazio players had had the decency to drop by. He started talking of match fixing, agreements between clubs over results, and illegal betting.
In Italy one could not legally bet on the result of a single game or on the scores of a series of games. There was just the Totocalcio where one had to guess the result of 13 games. There was however an illegal betting system called Totonero run by illegal bookmakers similar to how legal bets were organised in the UK.
Match fixing had always been a problem in Italy and taken place since the early 1950s. Clubs and/or players would agree to share points during the season in a “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” system. But then the players started to bet on these games. It was easy money; they knew what the result would be so why not have a little wager.
Alvaro Trinca was the owner of a restaurant in the centre of Rome where Lazio and Roma players would often go and eat before games. Massimo Cruciani was a fruit seller and was very friendly with a number of players. Both would hear the players talk of match fixing and therefore started to bet and win large sums of money. They teamed up and devised a plan which was to offer money to the players to fix games as well as bet money for them.
Their plan failed miserably and they were hugely indebted with people with whom you do not want to be indebted to. Apparently, they first asked the clubs for money but not all wanted to pay, then they presented their case to the Italian Football Federation but that was not going to solve the debts, so they then tried by resting their case with the law. They were later both arrested and started talking to the magistrates.
On March 23 1980, the Italian police arrested a number of players of Lazio, Milan, Bologna, Avellino, Genoa and Perugia. The scandal had exploded and Lazio were right in the middle of it.
But in all of this there was a very important game to be played: Lazio vs Catanzaro. If Lazio had lost, the Biancocelesti would have almost certainly gone down to Serie B especially because without Giordano, Manfredonia, Wilson and Cacciatori the chances of survival would have been very, very slim. Vincenzo D’Amico took the team by the hand and literally single handedly led Lazio to victory.
After this win Lazio needed just a couple of points to maintain their place in Serie A and with the draw against Napoli with two games to go, Lazio were mathematically safe.
Once the season finished however there was the Sport Justice court case regarding the match fixing. The Lazio players were allegedly involved in the match fixing of Milan vs Lazio that ended 2-1 for the hosts and Lazio vs Avellino which finished 1-1.
The first sentencing between May and June gave Cacciatori and Wilson a life ban, Giordano and Manfredonia an 18-month suspension, Maurizio Montesi four months and Lazio were fined 10 million lire. At the time fans thought that all in all this was acceptable.
Others had even worse sentences. Milan were relegated (there was a direct involvement of the club President), Avellino, Bologna and Perugia given a 5-point docking. Among the various players, Enrico Albertosi got a life ban and Paolo Rossi three years.
The Lazio fans looked at the appeal case with optimism. They were wrong. Lazio were relegated to Serie B for the game against Avellino, Giordano and Manfredonia got a three-and-a-half-year suspension, Cacciatori four years and Wilson three years. Paolo Rossi’s suspension was reduced to two years, Albertosi’s to four.
Why were Lazio relegated? There was no legal reason since none of the club directors were involved. The only motive was the fact that the first sentences were considered too lenient and the Sports Justice system wanted to set an example. Hence, Lazio, always everybody’s favourite scapegoat, were relegated because they had a large number of players involved. But others were involved far deeper and got off lightly or with no penalisation at all. Lazio were a sacrificial lamb to keep the media happy.
Were the players guilty? Who knows? Wilson hardly ever spoke about it. In his official biography though, he admitted having reached an agreement with some Milan players regarding Milan-Lazio. The plan was to let them win in Milan and Lazio in Rome. The Biancocelesti did not have much of a chance in Milan and the points at the end of the season could have been useful in case of a battle to stay in Serie A. He had nothing to do with betting, as also shown in the case files and his name appeared only for the Milan match. But Montesi accused him of being the ring leader. He always denied this and in a book about Montesi’s life, the author wrote that since he needed to give a name to the football authorities, he chose Wilson’s since the captain was close to retirement and had less to lose.
These types of agreements had always happened in Italian football, this was no different from other similar agreements as in the last matches of the season when one team needed a point to stay in Serie A and the other maybe a point for a UEFA Cup qualification. The games would practically be non- starters. This is a violation of every Sports Code, and if the agreement is reached among clubs, if found guilty, these should be relegated or given point deductions. And if it is between players, these, if found guilty, should be suspended. If the players take money all that has to be done is to verify and check.
Manfredonia stated in an interview that he paid a rather high price compared to what he actually did. So maybe when Wilson announced that they were going to lose the Milan game, he complied. He did not play the match against Avellino, so he can’t have been guilty for that.
Giordano proclaims his innocence to this day. In his official biography he claims that Trinca and Cruciani tried to blackmail President Umberto Lenzini who refused to pay. When the magistrates asked him if he had got some extra cash Giordano denied it, saying “check my bank statements”. This is probably what they did and as a consequence none of the players were found guilty in the legal court case.
Where does the truth lie? A few facts are almost certain. Milan-Lazio was fixed by the players. The club had nothing to do with it. The rest is just speculation. Lazio, some Lazio players and Lazio fans paid a very high price for the Italian Football Federation's need to find guilty parties, whether they were actually guilty or not. And unfortunately, it would not be the only time. Claudio Vinazzani’s friendship with a Neapolitan illegal bookie, who was fixing games, translated into a 9-point deduction for the 1986-87 season, despite Lazio not being involved. President Claudio Lotito’s requests for decent referees would cost Lazio a 30-point deduction in the 2005-06 season and 3 for the following one in the Calciopoli farce. Stefano Mauri’s friendship with a player who fixed games cost him a six-month suspension and jail time, even if he was innocent.
Lazio had invested a lot for the 1980-81 season and even signed Rene Van de Kerkhof, the Dutch star, but he could not play in Serie B so the deal did not go through.
It would take Lazio three seasons to get back to Serie A.
Let’s talk about Roberto Bettega
Roberto Bettega was born in Turin on December 27, 1950. He started playing football in the Juventus youth teams and was often compared to John Charles. In the summer of 1969 he was loaned to Varese to gain experience, under Nils Liedholm. In his first season as a professional he made 33 appearances with 13 goals and impressed. The club won the Serie B league and were promoted to Serie A.
Back in Turin in 1970, he then stayed for 13 seasons making 490 appearances and scoring 179 goals. He won the league seven times plus a Coppa Italia in 1978-79 and a UEFA Cup in 1976-77. He was top Serie A scorer in 1979-80.
He debuted in Serie A on September 27 1970 scoring the decisive goal against Catania. He was a modern forward. Fast, he could play with both feet, had excellent aerial abilities and was often the second forward, partnering with Pietro Anastasi, Roberto Boninsegna, Pietro Paolo Virdis and Paolo Rossi. But he could also play at the centre of the attack, helped on the wing by Franco Causio.
In 1983 he signed for Toronto Blizzard and played in the NASL for two years making 48 appearances with 11 goals. In 1984 he moved back to Italy and was about to sign for Udinese, but he was involved in a bad car accident on the Turin-Milan motorway and in a coma for a couple days so then forced to retire.
In all of these years he was a fundamental player for the Italian National Team. He played 42 games with 19 goals appearing in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. Together with Paolo Rossi, Italy went very close to reaching the final, ending up fourth. His spectacular goal against Argentina in Buenos Aires was one of the highlights of the campaign. He unfortunately was unable to play for Italy in Spain in 1982 due to injury.
After a long period where he was involved in television punditry, in 1994 he became Juventus’ Vice President and together with sporting director Luciano Moggi and managing director Antonio Giraudo formed a triad that managed the Bianconeri in one of their most prolific periods in history. The Calciopoli scandal of 2006 put an end to his managerial career. He was not involved in the Sports Court inquest and managed to be acquitted by the penal courts, and returned to be number two of the club in 2009 but he only stayed five months before being replaced by Giuseppe Marotta.
Bettega must be considered one the greats of 1970s Italian football. His acrobatic header against England in the 1978 World Cup qualification match in Rome, was typical of his abilities. He began as a centre forward early in his career but he gradually played further back. He was still lethal and was also able to help his partnering centre forwards. He scored a lot, in all possible ways and perhaps could have scored even more if he had taken more penalties (only 6 in his career). He is among the few players who have scored 4 goals in a single match for Italy alongside Gigi Riva, Alberto Orlando, Francesco Pernigo, Omar Sivori and Carlo Biagi.
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