October 2, 1949: Lazio Genoa 1-0
- Lazio Stories
- Oct 2, 2025
- 5 min read
Cecconi gives Lazio precious win
Called up just 30 minutes before kick-off, the Lazio midfielder proves vital
Also on this day:
The season so far
In the summer of 1949 Lazio were looking for a centre forward. They almost bought Jean Baratte, but the deal fell through at the last minute. A lot of players were tried out but in the end, manager Mario Sperone had to make do with the previous season’s forwards plus the return of Flavio Cecconi. Only in November did Lazio finally find their centre forward: Dionisio Arce.
Several players were signed in the summer transfer window: Lucidio Sentimenti IV, his brother, Vittorio Sentimenti III, Zeffiro Furiassi, Edmondo Veronici and Aldo De Fazio. Some players had to go to make room for the new ones and among them was goalkeeper Uber Gradella, who had never completely recovered from a knee injury, and Salvador Gualtieri. They both quit football altogether.
The Biancocelesti had started the season drawing 2-2 away to Lucchese but then they lost at home to Juventus and were beaten at Como. Certainly not a dream start.
The match: Sunday, October 2, 1949, Stadio Nazionale, Rome
Lazio were forced to put in Flavio Cecconi in place of Enrique Flamini who had picked up a bout of flu. Cecconi had played a reserves game the day before because he was not considered fit enough for the bigger match. But half an hour before kick-off he was called up and played.
It was he who opened hostilities with a shot that Dante Piani parried but not without difficulty. In the 16th minute Mario Magrini on a Norberto Hofling assist tried a shot which hit the outer part of the post. Eight minutes later again the Lazio midfielder had a chance alone in front of the keeper but he was unable to control the ball after a marvellous one-two between Hofling and Aldo Puccinelli. In the 36th minute it was the turn of Romano Penzo to miss a sitter after a great Cecconi pass. Four minutes later it was Hofling to miss yet another chance.
In the 51st minute Lazio scored. Penzo passed to Cecconi on the left wing, slight move to the centre, massive whack from 15 metres which became a powerful daisy cutter giving the Biancocelesti the lead.
Genoa did absolutely nothing to equalise and Lazio controlled the game to the end without much to worry about. The referee, after being too permissive in the first half, became way too harsh in the second sending off Mario Boyé for a normal foul on Zeffiro Furiassi and Vittorio Sentimenti III for a bland retaliatory foul. Absolutely pointless.
Who played for Lazio
Sentimenti IV, Antonazzi, Remondini, Furiassi, Sentimenti III, Montanari, Puccinelli, Magrini, Hofling, Cecconi, Penzo
Manager: Sperone
Who played for Genoa
Piani, Becattini, Cattani, Pellicari, Bergamo, Castelli, Dante, Magni, Aballay, Alarcón, Boyè
Manager: Astley
Referee: Camiolo
Goal: 51’ Cecconi
What happened next
Lazio took a few games to develop into a team but when they did they became a force to reckon with. The Biancocelesti crushed Roma in the first derby of the season 3-1, won 5-2 away against Sampdoria and demolished Novara at home 4-0. At the end of the first half of the season they were seventh. They continued along this positive path also in the second half, and arrived fourth behind the great northern teams Juventus, Milan and Inter. They managed to win at least one game against each of the three greats and played very well throughout the season.
Sentimenti IV played more than anyone (37 games) and Hofling was the top scorer with 13 goals.
At the end of the season Lazio played the Latin Cup, an international competition between French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian teams, because the top three Italian teams had declined participation. The Biancocelesti were unable to do much due to the might of Benfica (lost 3-0) and Atletico Madrid (lost 2-1), but in this case just taking part was a big honour for Lazio.
Let’s talk about Flavio Cecconi
Flavio Cecconi was born in Verona on February 27, 1923.
He grew up in the Verona youth sector and made his debut for his hometown club in 1939 at only 16. He played for the Scaligeri (Scaligers from the Latinised de scalis- Della Scala family who ruled Verona for 125 years) for seven years making 62 Serie A appearances with 13 goals.
The following year he spent at Maceratese in Serie C. Not a lot is known of his time there but a year later he signed for Lazio.
He made his debut for Lazio on February 8 1948 in Sampdoria-Lazio. He played 16 league games that season with 5 goals. He scored away at San Siro against Milan, at home against Genoa, Fiorentina and Sampdoria. His greatest moment though came in the away derby triumph against Roma. On April 21 1948 Cecconi scored Lazio’s opener in a 2-0 victory.
In the summer of 1948 he went to play for Atalanta for a year, making 19 appearances and scoring 3 times.
In 1949 he was back in Rome for Lazio. He would stay another two seasons until 1951. Over the two years he played 42 league games and scored 12 goals. In his first season he scored winners against Genoa and Pro Patria plus a goal in the home win versus Bari. In his second year he scored again in the derby win (2-1) and in an away draw to Juventus (1-1) plus goals against Pro Patria (again), Udinese (home), Lucchese (away), Padova, Udinese (away) and Lucchese (home).
In 1951 he went south to Napoli but only made 3 league appearances (1 goal). In 1952 he played in Sicily for Palermo, 12 league and 3 goals. In 1953 he returned to his hometown of Verona and finally played more regularly, 25 league games and 3 goals. A year later however he changed clubs again and made 24 appearances scoring 1 goal for Pro Patria. He retired in 1955 at 32. He died in 2001 at 78.
At International level he earned one cap for the Italy B side in a 0-0 draw in Turkey.
His main successes had been with his local Gialloblu of Verona and of course Lazio. Cecconi was an attacking midfielder, a mezzala as they say in Italy. He played wide in central midfield and especially with Lazio had a reasonably high scoring rate. He made a total of 58 Serie A appearances with 17 goals.
In only 3 years he gave a good contribution at Lazio and scoring in a winning derby means eternal gratitude on the Biancoceleste side of Rome. He did that not once but twice.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Mitropa Cup |
1947-48 | 16 (5) | 16 (5) | - |
1949-50 | 18 (3) | 18 (3) | - |
1950-51 | 25 (9) | 24 (9) | 1 |
Total | 59 (17) | 58 | 1 |
Sources
Comments