September 13, 1998: Piacenza-Lazio 1-1
Lukewarm debut
Lazio go in front with fifteen minutes remaining but Inzaghino equalises in dying minutes with the Biancocelesti in ten men
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), Sinisa Mihajlovic (Sampdoria), midfielders Iván De La Peña (Barcelona), Dejan Stankovic (Red Star Belgrade) and Sergio 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) and Vladimir Jugovic (Atlético Madrid) plus striker Pierluigi Casiraghi (Chelsea) and later, in October, Roberto Rambaudi would also leave (Genoa). 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.
Today was Lazio's Serie A debut.
Their Coppa Italia defence had started on September 9 with a 2-1 home win against Cosenza. The return game would be on September 23.
In the Cup Winners Cup the Biancocelesti would play Lausanne in the round of 32 at home in the first leg on September 17.
Piacenza had finished 13th in Serie A the previous season, under Vincenzo Guerini. The Biancorossi won 7, drew 16 and lost 11. Both games against Lazio ended up 0-0. The top scorer was Roberto Murgita with 7 goals (5 in A). They had three former Lazio players in the squad; Giovanni Stroppa (1991-93), Marco Piovanelli (1995-97), and Renato Buso (1996-97).
This season the former Lazio manager (1988-90) Beppe Materazzi was in charge. The main new arrivals were; former Lazio goalkeeper Valerio Fiori (Fiorentina), defenders Giordano Caini (Reggiana), Gianluca Lamacchi (Pescara), Alessandro Lucarelli (Leffe-back from loan) and Gian Paolo Manighetti (Bari), midfielder Paolo Cristallini (Bologna) plus forwards Davide Dionigi (Fiorentina), Simone Inzaghi (Brescello-back from loan) and Ruggiero Rizzitelli (Bayern Munich). In January they would add midfielder Francesco Statuto (Roma).
Leaving were; future Lazio keeper Matteo Sereni (Empoli), defenders Marco Rossi (Ospitaletto) and Paolo Tramezzani (Tottenham), midfielders Roberto Bordin (Triestina), Marco Piovanelli (Genoa), Aladino Valoti (Lucchese) and Giuseppe Scienza (Torino) plus forwards Roberto Murgita (Napoli) and Fabian Valtolina (Venezia).
In Coppa Italia Piacenza has debuted winning 2-1 at Lecce. The return game was on September 23.
Not an easy start for Lazio today, especially seeing the difficulties they had against these opponents the previous season.
The match: Sunday, September 23, 1998, Stadio Leonardo Garilli, Piacenza
A sunny day in Emilia brought about 15,000 to the Garilli.
Lazio were still without defenders Alessandro Nesta (injured at recent World Cup), Beppe Favalli and Paolo Negro plus midfielder Matias Almeyda and forward Alen Boksic.
Piacenza were only missing defender Gianluca Lamacchi.
The game started at a slow pace.
The first threat was by the hosts but Luca Marchegiani rushed to the edge of the box and dived at Simone Inzaghi's feet to stop the local boy from scoring.
Piacenza increased their rhythm and in the 21st minute an Inzaghi header was superbly saved by Marchegiani.
In the 28th minute Lazio stirred with a brilliant Ivan De la Peña initiative. The Little Buddha nutmegged an opponent and burst into the box but Valerio Fiori touched his shot onto the crossbar.
A few minutes later Inzaghi scored a tap-in after Marchegiani had parried on Massimo Rastelli but the goal was disallowed for offside.
Towards the end of the half Giovanni Stroppa was bleeding copiously and his head had to be bandaged up. Half time 0-0.
For the second 45 minutes Lazio made two changes; Sérgio Conceição and Giorgio Venturin were replaced by Roberto Mancini and Dejan Stankovic. For the Biancorossi Stroppa was unable to continue and on came Paolo Cristallini.
In the second half Lazio had more possession and control.
Christian Vieri crossed low from the left and Fiori fumbled but Marcelo Salas fired the loose ball wide.
Piacenza started to regain energy so in the 59th minute Eriksson decided to take off De La Peña and introduce Roberto Baronio. A minute later Piacenza responded by replacing Gianpietro Piovani with Renato Buso.
In the 62nd minute Fiori was forced off injured and on came replacement keeper Sergio Marcon.
The game came to life with a bang in the 75th minute. Stankovic scored a brilliant goal with a blistering shot from at least 30 metres out, 0-1.
Lazio seemed able to control the hosts' reaction but things complicated themselves in the 86th minute when Stefano Lombardi got his marching orders for a second yellow.
Piacenza's conviction increased and in the 88th minute they equalised. Rastelli went down the "Lombardiless" right flank and crossed into the middle where Inzaghi outjumped Fernando Couto and headed in, 1-1 and end of story.
A pity for Lazio but the result was fair. The hosts had played with more energy and enthusiasm and had not deserved to lose. Lazio were superior but still looked heavy legged. Hopefully with increased horsepower all the quality of their machine would emerge.
For Lazio Stankovic had impressed while for Piacenza tough veteran Pietro Vierchowod had kept Vieri very quiet.
Who played for Piacenza
Fiori (62' Marcon), A.Lucarelli, Sacchetti, Vierchowod, Polonia, Piovani (60' Buso), Mazzola, Stroppa (46' Cristallini), Manighetti, S.Inzaghi, Rastelli
Substitutes: Delli Carri, Caini, Dionigi, Rizzitelli
Manager: Materazzi
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, F.Couto, G.Lopez, Mihajlovic, Lombardi, S.Conceição (46' Mancini), Venturin (46' Stankovic), De La Peña (59' Baronio), Nedved, Vieri, Salas
Manager: Eriksson
Referee: Farina
Goals: 75' Stankovic, 87' S.Inzaghi
Red Card: 86' Lombardi
What happened next
Lazio went very close to winning the Scudetto. The Biancocelesti started slowly but from early December (Juventus 1-0 away) 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. In the end they won 20, drew 9 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 Lausanne on away goals, Partizan Belgrade 3-2, 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.
In Coppa Italia they eliminated Cosenza 4-1 and Milan 4-2 but then fell to Inter 4-6 in the quarterfinals.
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 23 September to January).
Piacenza finished 13th again. They then won 11 (including Roma 2-0 and Bologna 5-0 at home), drew 7 (including Inter and Milan both 1-1 at home) and lost 15 (including Lazio 1-4). The top scorer was Simone Inzaghi with 15 league goals.
In Coppa Italia the Biancorossi then lost 2-3 at home in extra-time against Lecce and went out on away goals.
Simone Inzaghi would join Lazio a year later and stay 12 years (including two brief loan periods away). He won a Scudetto, the Coppa Italia 3 times, the Supercoppa twice and UEFA Super Cup. From 2010 to 2021 he was first with the youth sector and then with the first team as manager, winning a Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa twice.
In 1998-99 with Milan champions, Parma won the Coppa Italia while Salernitana, Sampdoria, Vicenza and Empoli were relegated to Serie B.
Let's talk about Pietro Vierchowod
Pietro Vierchowod was born in Calcinate (Bergamo), on April 6, 1959.
His mother was Italian while his father was from Kyiv and while serving in the Red Army in the second world war was made prisoner in Italy. At the end of the war he decided to stay in Italy.
Vierchowod was nicknamed Zar throughout his career.
He first started playing at the Oratorio Spirano (BG) and then joined Romanese (BG).
In 1975-75 he played 3 league games for Romanese in Serie D.
In 1976 he joined Como and stayed five seasons. He made his debut in 1977 and played 136 games and scored 8 goals. The Lariani were in Serie B and finished 6th, 19th (relegated), 1st (promoted), 1st (promoted) and 13th in A. His managers were Osvaldo Bagnoli, Gennaro Rambone, Luis Suarez, Narciso Pezzotti and Giuseppe Marchioro (three seasons). The various squads included Lazio connections; Ernesto Apuzzo (1974-76, 1977-78) and Enrico Todesco (1979-80).
In 1981-82 he played for Fiorentina on loan. He played 34 games and scored 2 goals (Catanzaro, Como). La Viola finished 2nd under Giancarlo De Sisti. The squad included Lazio connections; Roberto Galbiati (1985-86), Paolo Monelli (1987-88) and Marco Baroni (manager 2024-25).
In 1982 he moved to Roma on loan for a season. He played 43 games and the Giallorossi won the Scudetto under Nils Liedholm.
In 1983 he signed for Sampdoria and stayed 11 seasons. He played 493 games and scored 39 goals. The Blucerchiati won a Scudetto (1991), the Coppa Italia 4 times (1985, '88, '89, '94), the Supercoppa (1991) and the Cup Winners Cup (1990). In 1992 they reached the European Cup final but lost 0-1 to Barcelona at Wembley. His managers were; Renzo Ulivieri, Eugenio Bersellini (2 seasons) Vujadin Boškov (6 seasons) Sven Göran Eriksson (3 seasons). He played alongside numerous Lazio connections: Renato Buso (1996-97), Vladimir Jugovic (1997-98), Roberto Mancini (1997-2000, manager 2002-04), Sinisa Mihajlovic (1998-2004), Attilio Lombardo (1999-2001), Enrico Chiesa (2002-03) and Fabrizio Casazza (2003-05)
In 1995 he joined Juventus for a season. It was a successful one as the Bianconeri won the European Cup (Ajax on pens) and the Supercoppa (Parma 1-0) under Marcello Lippi while in Serie A they finished 2nd behind Milan. He played 31 games with 2 goals (Cremonese, Udinese). His teammates included Lazio connections; Jugovic and Lombardo again, Fabrizio Ravanelli (1999-2001) and Angelo Peruzzi (2000-07).
In July 1996 he joined Perugia in Serie A but left in September before making his debut.
In September 1996 he signed for Milan. He played 18 games with 1 goal (Roma) and the Rossoneri finished 11th, under Óscar Tabárez (1-11) and then Arrigo Sacchi. He played alongside former Lazio, Mauro Tassotti (1978-80) and future Lazio, Demetrio Albertini (2003-04).
In 1997 he joined his last club Piacenza and stayed three seasons. He played 83 games with 6 goals. Piacenza finished 13th twice and 18th (relegated). His managers were Vincenzo Guerini, Beppe Materazzi, Gigi Simoni and Daniele Bernazzani. His teammates included Lazio connections; Valerio Fiori (1986-93), Flavio Roma (1991-93, 1994-95), Giovanni Stroppa (1991-93), Marco Piovanelli (1995-97), Renato Buso (1996-97), Simone Inzaghi (1999-2010, manager 2016-21) and Matteo Sereni (2003-06, 2006-07).
He then retired at 41.
He won 45 caps for Italy with 2 goals (Cyprus, Malta). He was in the squad that won the World Cup in 1982 (with no appearances) and then played in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups. He also played 6 times for the Italy Olympic team (1984).
On retiring he had some experiences as a manager. From December 2001 to April 2002 he was with Catania in C1.
From August 2002-October 2002 with Florentia Viola (Fiorentina) in C2.
He was with Triestina in Serie B from September to November 2005.
His next job was in Hungary with Honvéd from August 2014 to November 2014.
His last experience was with Kamza in Albania in 2018.
A highly successful playing career but not as a coach.
As a player Vierchowod was a central defender. He is considered one of the best in Italian history. He was tough, very tough, as hard as nails as they say. He was a gritty man-marker who was incredibly quick in open play. As a boy he did Athletics as a sport and as a player he could run 100 metres in less than 11 seconds. It was difficult to get past him and even if you did it was likely he would catch you again. Maradona used to call him Hulk.
Over the years he kept his physical prowess but improved his skills and managed to adapt to various styles of play including Arrigo Sacchi's.
He was also a prolific defender, scoring 58 goals (42 in A).
He had a long and successful career winning trophies with three different clubs; the Scudetto twice, the Coppa Italia 4 times, the Supercoppa twice, a European Cup and a Cup Winners Cup.
Sources
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