September 15, 1993: Lazio -Lokomotiv Plovdiv 2-0, UEFA Cup
- Dag Jenkins
- Sep 15
- 9 min read
Sixteen year wait for European win is over
Lazio beat Bulgarians 2-0 but it should have been more
Also on this day:
The season so far
Lazio had finished 5th, under Dino Zoff, qualifying for the UEFA cup for the first time in fifteen years. Top scorer was Beppe Signori with 32 goals (26 in A and league top scorer).
This season Zoff was confirmed. Over the summer a few new players had arrived: Luca Marchegiani (Torino), defender Paolo Negro (Brescia), midfielders Luciano De Paola (Brescia), Roberto Di Matteo (Aarau), Fabrizio Di Mauro (Fiorentina - on loan) plus forwards Pierluigi "Gigi" Casiraghi (Juventus) and then in November Alen Boksic (Olympique Marseille) would arrive too.
There were some goodbyes as well: goalkeeper Valerio Fiori (Cagliari), sadly fan favourite, defender Angelo Gregucci (Torino), midfielder Giovanni Stroppa (Foggia) plus forwards Maurizio Neri (Brescia) and German Karl-Heinz Riedle (Borussia Dortmund).
Serie A had already started and Lazio had won 1 (Parma 2-1 at home), drawn 2 (Foggia 0-0 at home and Reggiana 0-0 away) and lost 1 (most recent game 0-1 away to Cremonese). A tentative start to their league campaign.
Tonight however was Lazio's long awaited return to Europe after 16 years.
The opposition were Lokomotiv Plovdiv. The Bulgarians had finished 4th in the league and top scorer was Ayan Draganov with 17 goals. The manager was first Atanas Dramov (until Oct 31) and then Petar Miladinov. The "Juventus of Plovdiv" as they were known had never won any silverware (apart from the Soviet Army Cup* in 1983) but had finished 2nd in the league in 1972-73 and lost six domestic cup finals!
*From 1945 until 1982 it was the country's main cup competition and its winners would qualify for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. From 1982 to its abandonment in 1990 the Soviet Army Cup served as a secondary cup tournament.
This season the manager was former Bulgarian national head coach Ivan Vucov (1982-86, 1989-91). One of his claims to fame was discovering Alen Boksic when they were both at Hajduk Split (1987-88)
Lazio were favourites tonight but could risk stage fright after so many years away from the European stage.
The match: Wednesday, September 15, 1993, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
A mild evening and a hunger for European football brought about 50,000 spectators to the Olimpico
Lazio were missing attacking midfielder Diego Fuser and injured Paul Gascoigne.
It was immediately clear what sort of game to expect. The Bulgarians were exclusively defensive, rough and ready to limit Lazio by any means possible, fair or foul.
Lazio attacked constantly and the Bulgarians defended in the last thirty metres. Lazio had chances with a Gigi Casiraghi header, an off-target Beppe Signori volley and Casiraghi again who failed to chest the ball down properly.
The goal came in the 23rd minute. Signori took a corner, Krasimir Kostov cleared, Roberto Cravero tried a shot which hit Dimitar Vasev's back and fell to Casiraghi who hammered it in from close range. Lazio 1 Plovdiv 0 and the Biancocelesti's first European goal since Bruno Giordano's against Lens on October 19, 1977.
The Bulgarians despite falling behind maintained exactly the same tactical approach.
Lazio had chances but were not clinical, perhaps tense on their continental return. Signori headed too centrally and later Casiraghi collapsed into the keeper and was booked. Halftime came with Lazio only one goal up despite dominating, 1-0
The second half was no different. The "Smurfs" had no intention of coming out of their shell. They were punished again however in the 55th minute. Signori floated a free kick into the area from the left and Cravero timed his run and jump perfectly and headed past Krasimir Kolev, 2-0.
In the 62nd minute the Black and Whites made a change bringing on defender Mihail Yumerski for midfielder Mirko Milutinovic.
The game got dirtier mainly thanks to the visitors. In the 63rd minute Vasev was sent off for one filthy foul on Signori's ankles too many.
Lazio had more chances with Signori and Roberto Bacci before Casiraghi missed a sitter.
In the 77th minute forward Georgi Dimitrov came on for defender Valentin Valchev.
The Juventus of Plovdiv players continued to go for the Romans' legs but the referee was too permissive so in the 80th minute Thomas Doll went for his own personal vendetta following a vicious foul by Diyan Petkov on Roberto Di Matteo. It was not a great idea and the German was promptly given his marching orders.
Petkov himself did not take the cue to calm down and kept on hacking away and was finally given a second yellow and subsequent red card in the 82nd minute.
Lazio attacked furiously until the end but had never really settled all match and lacked the necessary lucidity to score more goals. In the 89th minute Dino Zoff tried one last change and threw on midfielder Luciano De Paola for defender Beppe Favalli. It was too late, final score: Lazio 2 Plovdiv 0.
A decent result with no away goals conceded but seeing Lazio's dominance the margin should have been wider. In two weeks' time in Sofia the Bulgarians would presumably have to venture out of their half to try and score some goals thus giving Lazio some space on the break.
A historic evening anyway for Lazio with a winning European return.
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Bacci, Favalli (89' De Paola), Di Matteo, Luzardi, Cravero, Winter, Doll, Casiraghi, Di Mauro, Signori
Manager: Zoff
Who played for Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Kolev, E.Dimitrov, E.Marinov, Kostov, Vasev, Valchev (77' G.Dimitrov), Milutinovic (62' Yumerski), Vukojevic, Petkov, Y.Marinov
Substitutes: Botev, Dievizov, Krastev
Manager: Vucov
Referee: Listkiewicz (Poland)
Goals: 23' Casiraghi, 55' Cravero
Red Cards: 63' Vasev, 80' Doll, 82' Petkov
What happened next
Lazio finished 3rd in Serie A. In the autumn Croatian striker Alen Boksic arrived from Olympique Marseille and things improved. Lazio then won 16 (including Juventus 3-1 at home, Inter 2-1 away and derby 1-0), drew 8 (including derby 1-1 with a late Gazza goal) and lost 6. Top scorer was Beppe Signori with 23 league goals.
In the UEFA Cup, Lazio repeated tonight's win by defeating Plovdiv 2-0 in Sofia too, with goals by Luzardi and Cravero. In the next round however Lazio disappointingly went out to Boavista 1-2 on aggregate.
The Coppa Italia also ended early as Lazio were stunned by 3rd tier Avellino 0-2 on aggregate.
Poor cup campaigns but a positive Serie A season with some good wins and a 3rd place finish.
Lokomotiv Plovdiv finished 5th in the Bulgarian league. Top scorers were Petre Grigoraş and Vojislav Budimirović with 10 league goals each. The Railwaymen have since won the league once (2004), the Bulgarian Cup twice (2019, 2020) and the Bulgarian Supercup twice (2004, 2020).
Let's talk about Roberto Cravero
Roberto Cravero was born in Venaria Reale (Turin), on January 3, 1964.
He grew up in the Torino youth sector. He made his first team debut at 18, on May 16, 1982. The following year however he made no appearances and so in the summer of 1983 he was loaned to Cesena in Serie B.
He played two seasons in Romagna and played 67 games with 5 goals. In 1985 he returned to Torino in Serie A.
In his first season back he made a total of 19 appearances (8 in Serie A, 5 in Coppa Italia and 2 in the UEFA Cup). From the 1986-87 season Cravero became first choice "libero" for the Granata under Gigi Radice and played 28 league games and scored 3 goals (Fiorentina, Udinese and a late equaliser in the derby), plus 6 in Coppa Italia and 8 in the Uefa Cup.
Over the next two seasons Cravero made 58 league appearances under Radice (plus a UEFA place play-off) and 18 in Coppa Italia. He scored 6 league goals (Verona, Inter, Cesena, Atalanta, Lazio, Napoli). Unfortunately Torino were relegated that year but Cravero, by then captain, followed Toro down to Serie B.
Torino came straight up again winning Serie B under Eugenio Fascetti, Cravero played 34 league games with 6 goals (Padova, Cagliari, Avellino, Catanzaro, Cosenza, Messina) and 1 game in Coppa Italia.
Back in Serie A in 1990-91, under Emiliano Mondonico, he played 30 league games with one goal (Pisa), plus 6 in Coppa Italia (1 goal vs Verona) and 1 game in the Mitropa Cup. The club had a good season finishing 5th (UEFA place) and winning the Mitropa Cup (European tournament for second division winners).
The next season, 1991-92 would be his last for now in Turin but it was an excellent one. Torino came third in the league and were runners-up in the UEFA Cup, losing to Ajax on away goals in the final (Torino had knocked out Real Madrid in the Semis). Cravero made 24 league appearances with 1 goal (Bari), 4 in Coppa Italia and 10 in the great European run.
In the summer of 1992 he signed for Lazio for 7.5 billion Lire (approx 3.8 million Euros). Lazio’s new ambitious owner Cragnotti was trying to build a competitive team and Cravero was chosen as an experienced, reliable "libero". Other players arriving at the same time as Cravero included Paul Gascoigne, Aron Winter, Beppe Signori, Giuseppe Favalli and Diego Fuser.
In his first year at Lazio, under Dino Zoff, Cravero played 30 Serie A games with 3 goals (Juventus, Parma, Ancona) plus 4 games in Coppa Italia. Lazio finished 5th and qualified for the UEFA Cup.
In 1993-94, again under manager Dino Zoff, he played 29 league games and scored 5 goals (Parma, Cagliari, Reggiana, Cremonese, Lecce), 1 game in Coppa Italia and 2 in the UEFA Cup with 2 goals (Lokomotiv Plovdiv, home and away). Lazio had a good season finishing 4th, so back into the UEFA Cup.
The following year 1994-95 saw the arrival of Zdenek Zeman, with new ideas and philosophy of play. Cravero played slightly less, making 23 league appearances with 2 goals (Inter, Fiorentina), 7 in Coppa Italia with 2 goals (Piacenza, home and away) and 7 in the UEFA Cup with 1 goal (Trabzonspor). Lazio had a very good season finishing second in Serie A (behind Juventus), reaching the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup (went out on an unlucky night in Dortmund) and the semi-final of Coppa Italia (Juventus). This however was Cravero's last season with Lazio. He would make one more summer appearance in a Coppa Italia game before returning home to Torino.
He played three more seasons in Turin, the first in Serie A and the next two in Serie B. He made another 41 league appearances plus 3 in Coppa Italia. Unfortunately he could not retire taking Torino back to Serie A as they lost the promotion play-off on penalties (Cravero scored his) against Perugia.
He retired after 301 competitive games for Torino, many as captain, and 18 goals. A club legend.
At Lazio he did not achieve the same status but was highly respected and had three good seasons in Rome. He played a total of 104 games for the Biancocelesti and scored 15 goals (more than some of the strikers they have had).
At international level he participated in the European Championships of 1988 in the Italy squad but did not play any matches. He took part in the Italian Olympic team in Seoul 1988 and also played 12 games for Italy U21s.
Cravero was an excellent club player. He was a classic "libero" sweeper. He had good technique, was a superb tackler and had impeccable timing and sense of position. Despite not being a giant at 1.78 he had good aerial play, confirmed by his many goals from headers. He was a calm, collected player but with a certain authority about him, perfect captaincy material. He was also a reliable penalty taker usually sending the keeper the wrong way. He is remembered positively at Lazio as a solid, classy defender. He is associated with the beginning of the good times with owner Sergio Cragnotti and was part of the crazy "Gazza years" when Lazio were suddenly back on the world map.
After retiring, he worked as Torino team manager until 2000 and then as Torino sporting director between 2003-05. He now works in punditry and is one of the most important and respected Mediaset technical commentators for Champions League and Coppa Italia.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup |
1992-93 | 34 (3) | 30 (3) | 4 | - |
1993-94 | 32 (7) | 29 (5) | 1 | 2 (2) |
1994-95 | 37 (5) | 23 (2) | 7 (2) | 7 (1) |
July-Sep 1995 | 1 | - | 1 | - |
Total | 104 (15) | 82 (10) | 13 (2) | 9 (3) |
Sources
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