September 21, 1980: Verona-Lazio 1-1
- Dag Jenkins
- Sep 21
- 6 min read
Could have been two points but could have been none
Lazio go ahead early, almost double but then sit back and risk losing
Also on this day:
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had been relegated to Serie B, not on the field but in the Sports Justice Courts. Lazio paid for four of their players' alleged involvement in the Totonero match fixing scandal. Lazio were therefore in Serie B without Bruno Giordano, Lionello Manfredonia, Pino Wilson and Massimo Cacciatori.
The new manager was Ilario Castagner who had done well at Perugia. The Biancocelesti also had several new players to try and bounce straight back up to the top flight. Arriving were goalkeeper Maurizio Moscatelli (Pistoiese), defenders Giorgio Mastropasqua (Bologna), Arcadio Spinozzi (Bologna), midfielders Alberto Bigon (Milan), Giuseppe Greco (Torino), Dario Sanguin (Vicenza) and forward Stefano Chiodi (Milan).
Leaving were defender Mauro Tassotti (Milan), midfielders Vincenzo D'Amico (Torino-luckily he would be back), Antonio Lopez (Palermo), Vincenzo Zucchini (Vicenza) and forward Enrico Todesco (Genoa).
In the Coppa Italia in August and early September things had gone well with three wins and a draw (Pescara 2-0 away, Varese 2-1 Verona 3-0 at home and Ascoli 0-0 away). Lazio qualified for the quarter finals to be played in March against Bologna.
Lazio's league debut was on September 14 at home to Palermo and it ended 1-1. Today was the 2nd league fixture.
Verona had finished 13th in Serie B under Fernando Veneranda. Top scorer was Nicola D'Ottavio with 9 league goals. The squad included an end of career Roberto Boninsegna.
This season the manager was Giancarlo Cadè. The main new signings were: goalkeepers Paolo Conti (Roma) and Franco Paleari (Campobasso), defender Mauro Ioriatti (Trento), midfielders Fabio Ferri (Forlì), Francesco Guidolin (Pistoiese-end of loan), Gabriele Valentini (Cesena) plus forwards Enzo Scaini (Campobasso) and Nerio Ulivieri (Udinese).
Leaving were: goalkeeper Franco Superchi (Roma), defender Bruno Antoniazzi (Giulianova), Marco Brilli (SPAL), midfielders Franco Bergamaschi (Cesena), Stefano Trevisanello (Pescara), Beniamino Vignola (Avellino) plus forwards Roberto Boninsegna (Viadanese) and Emiliano Mascetti (retiring after 275 league games).
The Gialloblu had drawn 0-0 at Pisa on their league debut.
In Coppa Italia they were in Lazio's group and had drawn 1 (Varese 0-0 at home) and lost 3 (Pescara 0-1 and Lazio 0-3 away and Ascoli 0-2 at home) and were eliminated.
A balanced game was predicted today in Verona but Lazio could take confidence from their recent convincing win over the Scaligeri and the fact that in their five official games Verona had not scored a single goal.
The match: Sunday, September 21, 1980, Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi, Verona
Just under 15,000 turned up on a warm and sunny day in Verona.
Verona were missing main keeper Paolo Conti, defender Fabio Ferri, midfielder Gabriele Venturini and forward Nicola D'Ottavio.
Lazio were without defender Giorgio Mastropasqua and forward Stefano Chiodi who would return from his suspension in November.
The first ten minutes were all Lazio. In the 3rd minute Filippo Citterio dispossessed Fabio Ferri, surged towards the by-line, went past Roberto Tricella and put in a perfect cross which was met by Giuseppe Greco who got their first and beat Franco Paleari, 0-1.
Lazio could have consolidated their lead with Greco again. In the 6th minute the Salentino forward picked up a bad pass by Tricella just inside the halfway line and ran forward, soon finding himself with just the keeper to beat but here, instead of shooting, he tried to go around him, lost the moment and then put in a cross that was cleared by Giacomo Piangerelli.
Lazio then pulled back and left the initiative to the hosts. Verona gradually grew in confidence and gained territory.
In the 25th minute came the first substitution but it was not tactical as Adriano Fedele limped off and on ran Tazio Roversi.
The equaliser came in the 39th minute and it was slightly lucky. Piangerelli crossed from the left to Francesco Guidolin who completely missed the ball which then spun off Dario Sanguin and fell perfectly for Luigi Capuzzo who could not miss, 1-1.
Just before halftime there was a bit of controversy as Sanguin appeared to punch Guidolin after being nutmegged, the referee however must have been looking the other way. Halftime Verona 1 Lazio 1.
Lazio had started well but then made the mistake of slowing down merely trying to control the game defensively.
Things didn't change in the second half. It only became dirtier and more physical and the Scaligeri attacked constantly but to be fair did not create many goal scoring chances. The biggest was in the 54th minute when Maurizio Moscatelli got a hand to a long range Capuzzo strike and pushed it onto the post.
Both sides made a substitution each, in the 57th minute Guidolin, possibly still groggy from the punch, was replaced by Nerio Ulivieri while for Lazio the perpetrator Sangiun went off for Mauro Manzoni in the 67th minute.
In the 69th minute Lazio had a rare foray on the break when Renzo Garlaschelli almost forced Paleari into an own goal but the keeper was rescued by Carmine Gentile who saved into corner.
On the half hour mark, Tricella had time and space after a good Davide Del Nero initiative but the future Verona scudetto winner lost the moment and was anticipated by Nando Viola.
As the game went on it lost its intensity despite Verona trying harder than Lazio to get a winner. Both sides however seemed reasonably satisfied with the point and the game ended 1-1.
A decent away point for Lazio who however could have taken better advantage of Verona's nervy start. Verona meanwhile had finally scored a goal and got their second point.
Who played for Verona
Paleari, E.Oddi, Fedele (25' Roversi), Piangerelli, Gentile, Tricella, Guidolin (57' Ulivieri), Ferri, Capuzzo, Scaini, Del Nero
Substitutes: Paese, Joriatti, Janes
Manager: Cadè
Who played for Lazio
Moscatelli, Spinozzi, Citterio, Perrone, Pochesci, Viola, Sanguin (67' Manzoni), Garlaschelli, Bigon, Greco
Manager: Castagner
Referee: Mattei
Goals: 3' Greco, 39' Capuzzo
What happened next
Lazio went very close to promotion but just fell short and finished 4th. Lazio battled all season with the frontrunners and seemed on course to go up. Then came the June 14 home game against Vicenza. The table read Milan 48, Genoa 44, Cesena 44, Lazio 44 for three places in A.
With the score on 1-1, Lazio were awarded a penalty in the 87th minute. Stefano Chiodi, the specialist who had never missed a penalty, stepped up and.... missed obviously, hitting the post. Cesena and Genoa won, and a demoralised Lazio then only drew the last away game at Taranto and so came 4th. A huge disappointment. Top scorer was Alberto Bigon with 10 goals (9 in B).
In Coppa Italia, in the quarter finals, Lazio lost both home and away 0-2 against Bologna. The cup was eventually won by Roma who beat Torino on penalties.
Verona struggled and finished 16th. After today the Gialloblu won 6, drew 20 (including Milan 1-1 at home) and lost 10 (including Lazio 0-1). They continued to have problems scoring goals, only 24 in 38 games. Top scorers were D'Ottavio and Scaini with 5 league goals each.
As mentioned Milan, Genoa and Cesena were promoted while Serie C was the next stop for Vicenza, Atalanta, Taranto and Monza.
Lets talk about Guido Valenzi
Guido Valenzi was born in Rome, on July 19, 1959.
He arrived at Lazio from local Roman club San Basilio. In 1978-79 he won the Primavera Coppa Italia, defeating Inter 4-3 on aggregate.
In 1979-80 he played for Cerretese (Florence) in C2 where he played 16 league games with 2 goals. The Tuscans finished 9th.
In 1980-81 he returned to Lazio. The Biancocelesti were now in Serie B due to the Totonero match fixing scandal which had involved four of their players. The manager was Ilario Castagner and Valenzi made 2 league appearances (Palermo and Catania). Lazio finished 4th narrowly missing out on promotion.
In 1981-82 Valenzi played for Lodigiani in Rome in the Interregionale league (5th tier). The Biancorossi finished 3rd.
In 1982 he joined Avezzano (Abruzzo) in Serie C2. The Marsicani finished 17th and relegated. One of his three managers was Juventus legend Gino Stacchini (1955-67, 287 games and 4 league titles).
Valenzi then retired at 25.
Lazio Career
Season | Total Serie B appearances |
1980-81 | 2 |
Sources
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