October 29 1998: Lazio - Milan 3-1 Coppa Italia
A sweet déjà-vu
Lazio fall behind and then win 3-1 just like in the previous year's Coppa Italia final
The season so far
The previous season, under manager Sven-Göran Eriksson, Lazio had won silverware after 24 years, triumphing in the Coppa Italia against Milan 3-2 on aggregate. The Biancocelesti had lost the first leg in Milan 0-1 and had been 0-1 down in Rome too but then scored three goals in ten minutes to win 3-1 and give some generations the new sweet taste of success. A Cup Winners Cup campaign awaited them.
Over the summer there had been some important changes to the squad. Important players arrived: defenders Fernando Couto (Parma), and Sinisa Mihajlovic (Sampdoria), midfielders Iván De La Peña (Barcelona), Dejan Stankovic (Red Star Belgrade) and Sérgio Conceição (Porto) plus strikers Marcelo Salas (River Plate) and Christian Vieri (Atlético Madrid).
Leaving were: keeper Fernando Orsi (retiring), defenders José Antonio Chamot (Atlético Madrid) and Alessandro Grandoni (Sampdoria), midfielders Diego Fuser (Parma), Roberto Rambaudi (Genoa) and Vladimir Jugovic (Atlético Madrid) plus striker Pierluigi Casiraghi (Chelsea). Soon midfielder Dario Marcolin would also leave (Blackburn Rovers - on loan). So quite an upheaval to the squad.
The season had started triumphantly on August 29 when Lazio beat Juventus 2-1 in Turin to lift their first ever Italian Supercoppa.
In Serie A so far Lazio had won 2 (including Inter 5-3 away) and drawn 4 (the first 3 and recently Vicenza 1-1 at home). The Biancocelesti were 4th on 10 points with Roma and Inter.
In the Cup Winners Cup the Biancocelesti had eliminated Lausanne on away goals in the round of 32 and had drawn 0-0 at home to Partizan Belgrade in the first leg of the last 16. The return match in Serbia would be on November 5.
Their Coppa Italia defence had started on September 9 with a 2-1 home win against Cosenza. They then won the return game 2-0 to set up tonight's last 16 clash against Milan. A repeat of the previous year's final.
Milan had finished 10th the previous season under Fabio Capello. The league games against Lazio had ended 1-1 in Milan and 2-1 to the Biancocelesti in Rome. The top scorer was George Weah with 13 goals (10 in A).
This season the manager was Alberto Zaccheroni. The main new signings were: goalkeepers Christian Abbiati (Monza) and Jens Lehmann (Schalke 04 but he would then leave in January), defenders Roberto Ayala (Napoli), Francesco Coco (Vicenza - back from loan), Thomas Helveg (Udinese), Bruno N'Gotty (PSG) and Luigi Sala (Bari), midfielders Massimo Ambrosini (Vicenza -back from loan), Andrés Guglielminpietro (Gimnasia La Plata) and Domenico Morfeo (Fiorentina - on loan) plus forward Oliver Bierhoff (Udinese). In January they would add midfielder Federico Giunti (Parma).
Leaving Milan were: goalkeeper Massimo Taibi (Venezia), defender Daniele Daino (Napoli - on loan), Marcel Desailly (Chelsea) and Steinar Nilsen (Napoli), midfielder Dejan Savićević (end of contract and later Red Star Belgrade) plus forwards Patrick Kluivert (Barcelona) and Filippo Maniero (Venezia). In January defender André Cruz (Standard Liege) and midfielder Giampiero Maini (Bologna) would also leave.
Milan were currently 3rd in Serie A on 12 points. The Rossoneri had won 4 (including Roma 3-2 recently) and lost 2.
To get to this Coppa Italia game in Rome they had beaten Torino 3-2 on aggregate (0-2, 3-0).
This evening was only the first leg as there would be a return match in Milan on November 11.
The match: Thursday, October 29, 1998, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Just under 25,000 turned up for this Thursday evening cup tie.
Lazio were without defender Alessandro Nesta (injured at World Cup), midfielders Ivan de la Peña plus forwards Alen Boksic and Christian Vieri (out until January).
Milan were missing defender Paolo Maldini plus midfielders Demetrio Albertini and Leonardo.
Lazio started off on the attack but were almost immediately punished on the break. In the 6th minute Fernando Couto was left alone to challenge Oliver Bierhoff and the German let loose a left foot which curled in on the far post, 0-1. A great strike.
Having gone in front early Milan changed their 3-4-3 into a more conservative 4-4-2.
Bierhoff however had another attempt that was not far off target.
Lazio then stepped up their pressure and Milan were in difficulty. The Rossoneri had to concede several bookings to stop Lazio's attacks. Christian Ziege, Ibrahim Ba, Bierhoff and Billy Costacurta all received yellows and the Italian defender probably deserved another.
In the 28th minute Lazio equalised. Sinisa Mihajlovic came up with the speciality of the house with a wonderful freekick. The Serb, from near the right vertex of the area, curled the ball into the far top left hand corner, 1-1. A brilliant goal.
Lazio continued to have the upper hand but several flowing moves especially between Roberto Mancini and Marcelo Salas were blocked at the last moment. Halftime 1-1.
For the second half the visitors replaced Bierhoff with Maurizio Ganz.
Both sides had penalty appeals early on. Milan claimed Beppe Favalli tripped Zvonimir Boban while Lazio complained about a similar challenge by Bruno N' Gotty on Sérgio Conceição. The clearest was the last when Ganz clumsily fouled Salas but Trentalange was not in a mood for giving penalties tonight.
Lazio continued to attack more and Pavel Nedved twice had powerful efforts go wide by a whisker.
Milan still threatened occasionally as Domenico Morfeo clipped the top of the crossbar with a nice freekick.
In the 69th minute Lazio took off Dejan Stankovic and introduced Giorgio Venturin.
A minute later Lazio scored. Conceição did well on the right side of the area and squared to Mancini in the middle and the former Sampdoria man beat Sebastiano Rossi with a low strike, 2-1.
Lazio then replaced Beppe Favalli with Paolo Negro while in the 78th minute Milan put on Thomas Helveg for Ibrahim Ba and in the 81st Andrés Guly for Morfeo.
Lazio were not content with the win and wanted a bigger cushion to take up north.
Marcelo Salas almost got a third but Rossi did well to dive to his left and parry.
The Chilean was then put out of action by Roberto Ayala in a challenge which could even have been punished with a penalty but Trentalange was coherent if nothing else. "El Matador" was replaced by midfielder Roberto Baronio.
In the second minute of added time Billy Costacurta was finally sent off, possibly about 72 minutes too late. He got a second yellow for intentionally blocking Conceição from bursting towards goal.
With an opposing defender less Lazio then managed to get the precious third goal. In the fifth and last minute of injury time Mihajlovic swirled in a corner which Mancini got to first and headed past Rossi, 3-1.
Lazio had repeated the fantastic cup winning score of April 29 which had won them the previous year's Coppa Italia. Even the goalscoring sequence was the same with Milan going in front and then suffering Lazio's comeback.
A good result to take to San Siro. After a difficult first half hour Lazio had been the better team.
More good news came from the fact that Milan players Costacurta, Ba and Bierhoff would all miss the return game through suspension.
The return game would be in the Lombard capital on November 11.
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Pancaro, Fernando Couto, Mihajlovic, Favalli (72' Negro), Sérgio Conceição, Stankovic (69' Venturin), Almeyda, Nedved, Salas (89' Baronio), Mancini
Manager: Eriksson
Who played for Milan
Rossi, N'Gotty, Costacurta, Ayala, Ba (78' Helveg), Ambrosini, Boban, Ziege, Morfeo (81' Guglielminpietro), Bierhoff (46' Ganz), Weah
Substitutes: Abbiati, Sala, Coco, Cardone
Manager: Zaccheroni
Referee: Trentalange
Goals: 6' Bierhoff, 28' Mihajlovic, 70' Mancini, 95' Mancini
What happened next
In Coppa Italia they then drew 1-1 in Milan (Salas, Ganz) and qualified for the quarterfinals. They played Inter and lost 4-6 on aggregate (2-1 and then 2-5 at San Siro).
Lazio went very close to winning the Scudetto. The Biancocelesti started slowly but from early December (a 1-0 win at Juventus) the machine started to roar and they won nine in a row. They were then top of the table until the penultimate game when they drew in Florence, being denied a blatant penalty and were undeservedly overtaken by Milan. After today they won 18, drew 5 and lost 5 but fell just short.
Lazio finished 2nd in Serie A but triumphed in Europe winning the last ever Cup Winners Cup. They overcame Partizan Belgrade 3-2 away and then defeated Panionios 7-0 and Lokomotiv Moscow on away goals. In the final the Biancocelesti beat Mallorca 2-1 at Villa Park in Birmingham, with goals by Vieri and Nedved.
Top scorer was Marcelo Salas with 24 (15 in league) but Vieri had a good season too, when he finally returned in January, with 12 league goals (he was out injured from mid-September).
Milan therefore won the Scudetto as they pipped Lazio by one point. The Rossoneri then won 16 (including Lazio 1-0 at home), drew 10 (including both derbies 2-2 and Lazio 0-0) and lost 2. The top scorer was Oliver Bierhoff with 21 goals (19 in A).
In the goalless draw against Lazio, in Rome in April, the Biancocelesti had a seemingly regular goal by Vieri disallowed for offside. You need a bit of luck to win titles but this Milan appeared to have it in abundance perhaps epitomised by their 95th winner against Sampdoria with a fluky own goal. Laziali refer to "Il cul de Zac" (play on words with cul also meaning backside or luck in Italian) when they speak of that period.
To this day Laziali are convinced they more than deserved that Scudetto.
With Milan champions, Parma won the Coppa Italia and Empoli, Vicenza, Salernitana and Sampdoria went down to Serie B. The UEFA Cup was also won by Parma.
Let's talk about George Weah
George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah was born in Monrovia, on October 1, 1966.
He is from a very humble background and was brought up in the shanty town of Santa Clara in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia.
His first clubs as a boy were Young Survivors (1981-84) and Bong Range United (1984z185).
As an adult in Liberia he played for Mighty Barrole (1985-86) winning the league and Invincible Eleven (1986-87) winning the league again with 24 goals in 23 games.
In 1987 he played briefly for Africa Sports in Ivory Coast before moving to Tonnerre Yaoundé in Cameroon, winning the league with 14 goals in 18 games. His goalscoring attracted attention in Europe and in 1988 he moved to France.
He joined Monaco in Ligue 1 and stayed four seasons. He played 149 games and scored 66 goals. "Les Rouges et Blancs" finished 3rd twice and 2nd twice and in 1991 won their 5th Coupe de France (OM 1-0). His manager for the whole period was Arsène Wenger.
In 1992 he joined Paris Saint-Germain and stayed three seasons. He played 138 games and scored 56 goals. "Les Parisiens" finished 2nd and won their 3rd Coupe de France (Nantes 3-0), 1st winning their 2nd league title and finally 3rd winning both the Coupe de France (Strasbourg 1-0) and the Coupe de la Ligue (Bastia 2-0). His managers were Artur Jorge the first two seasons and Luis Miguel Fernandez the third.
In 1995 Weah moved to Italy and Serie A, considered the best league in Europe at the time.
He signed for A.C Milan and stayed four and a half seasons. He played 147 games and scored 58 goals. The Rossoneri finished 1st, 11th, 10th and 1st, so two league titles to start and finish.
His managers were Fabio Capello (1st Scudetto), Óscar Tabárez, Arrigo Sacchi, Capello again and Alberto Zaccheroni (2nd Scudetto).
He played alongside Lazio connections: Mauro Tassotti (1978-80), Mario Ielpo (1981-84, 1985-87), Giorgio Frezzolini (1993), Alessandro Iannuzzi (1995-96, 1998-99), Demetrio Albertini (2003-04). He left in January 2000, in the middle of his fifth season. He was playing less also due to the signing of Andrij Shevchenko.
In January 2000 he signed for Chelsea on loan. He only stayed 6 months with 15 games and 5 goals but the Blues won the FA Cup (Aston Villa 1-0) while in the league they finished 5th. The manager was Gianluca Vialli and the squad included former Lazio, Roberto Di Matteo (1993-96).
In the summer of 2000 he joined Manchester City but only stayed until January. He played 9 games with 4 goals and the Citizens finished 18th and were relegated under Joe Royle. The squad included Erling Håland's father Alf-Inge.
In January 2001 Weah returned to France and signed for Olympique Marseille. Again he only stayed until January, playing 20 games with 5 goals first under Javier Clemente and then Tomislav Ivić. "Les Olympiens" finished 15th.
In 2001 Weah joined his last club Al-Jazira in the United Arab Emirates where he stayed two seasons. He played 39 games with 30 goals.
He retired at 36.
He earned 59 caps for Liberia and scored 16 goals (top scorer). In 2018 at 51 he played as captain in a friendly against Nigeria. His number 14 was then officially withdrawn and in his honour will never be worn again.
After retiring he did not go into coaching or punditry but instead went into politics and from January 2018 to January 2024 was President of Liberia.
He is considered one of the best players in African footballing history. He is 43rd in World Soccer's list of best players of the 20th Century.
He won the Ballon d'Or in 1995 (first African in history) and was voted African Player of the Year three times, 1989,1994 and 1995 and FIFA World Player in 1995. In 1994-95 he was top Champions League scorer with 7 goals.
At club level he won 6 league titles (in 4 different countries) and 5 domestic cups.
Weah was a forward. He was incredibly strong physically which combined with his speed made him difficult to stop. He was skillful and inventive but also a team player contributing assists and carrying out defensive duties.
He was considered, alongside Ronaldo and Romário, the prototype 1990s centre-forward. These were no longer goal hangers playing inside the area but forwards who could play outside the box, run at defences and take part in collective play.
At Milan he is a legend, with two league titles and 58 goals, some of them epic. His coast to coast goal against Verona in 1996 is folklore on the Rossonero side of town.
Apart from being a great player he was also a likeable person and very popular in Italy in general. He had many nicknames: Diavolo Nero (Black Devil), Re Leone (King Lion), Big George, King George and Pantera (Panther).
An interesting character. In the 1990s he converted to Islam but in 1995 returned to his christian faith following the death of his grandfather. He graduated in Art and Sports Administration in London and in 1999 was awarded an honorary doctorate in human sciences from A.M.E Zion University in Liberia.
He has three children and his two sons are both footballers. Timothy Weah has played for PSG, Celtic, Lille, Juventus and currently Olympique Marseille and holding US citizenship has earned 53 caps for USA with 7 goals.
George Weah was definitely one of the greats in the Serie A heyday of the 1990s.
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