Top 100 Players in Lazio History: Positions 1-10
- Lazio Stories
- 3 hours ago
- 8 min read
We have finally reached our top ten. It has been a long journey with 100 of the greatest football players Lazio has ever had. We hope you enjoyed the ride.
10) Beppe Signori, born February 17, 1968, 195 appearances, 127 goals
There is no doubt that Beppe Signori was the Lazio hero of the 1990s. He is one of the best goal scorers of all time, an exciting player who had power in his shot, speed and football intelligence. He arrived in 1992. Sergio Cragnotti had been unable to convince Ruben Sosa to stay with Lazio. The Uruguayan signed for Inter and Lazio needed a substitute. In came Beppe Signori. His first goal for Lazio came on his debut. On August 26, 1992, Lazio played at Ascoli in Coppa Italia and won 4-0. He scored Lazio’s third goal, on a penalty with his classic way of taking them, that is with no run up. Nobody had ever seen a player shoot a penalty with no run up before. He also scored in the return match and then in the first game in Serie A he scored two, in the second he scored again, as he did in his third, in his fifth he scored a hat trick, scored one in the sixth, the seventh … Beppe Signori scored time and time again, 32 that season, 23 the next, then 21, 26 and so on. What a player, unstoppable. A new Arne Selmosson.
His third goal against Inter in December 1992 is a classic. He received the ball in Lazio’s half, ran towards the centre of the pitch followed by Beppe Bergomi, once he was 40 metres from the goal, he turned left again, ran past Nicola Berti, got in the penalty box on the left and with a precise left foot shot beat the goalkeeper. What a goal. Even Ruben Sosa, who was in the stands, had to admire Signori and probably thought that Lazio had substituted him with a much better player.
9) Mario Frustalupi, born September 16, 1942, 108 appearances, 2 goals
In the recent documentary on the Lazio Scudetto of 1974, the three heroes that gave most of the narrative – Giancarlo Oddi, Sergio Petrelli and Gigi Martini – all agreed that Frustalupi was the most important player.
He was a giant despite his height of 1.66. He was a midfield playmaker, pulling the strings in midfield with timing, elegance, calm, positioning and technique. He could play with both feet and had a magnificent footballing brain.
One of his managers once phoned Frustalupi’s father to ask if his son was right or left-footed. You could not tell. He won two league titles (Inter '71 and Lazio '74) and played in a European Cup final. He played 364 games in Serie A with 34 goals. Considered finished as a player by Inter, he joined Lazio in 1972 and the rest is history. His sale in 1976, along with Oddi, is still considered one of the biggest market mistakes in Lazio's history.
8) Aldo Puccinelli, born December 25, 1920, 350 appearances, 80 goals
He played for Lazio from 1940 to 1943 and then from 1946 to 1955.
Aldo Puccinelli was one of the strongest wingers in Lazio's history. He is the all time second player for number of league appearances for the Biancocelesti, preceded only by Stefan Radu.
He was only 156 centimetres tall and weighed 56 kilos. A featherweight compared to today’s footballers. But he was physically strong and terribly fast, it was very difficult to take the ball off him. He was a leader, an ideal partner for Silvio Piola in the 1940s. He played 20 derbies, fourth Lazio player with most appearances against Roma. Aldo Puccinelli was a little giant, forever to be remembered in Lazio’s history.
7) Ciro Immobile, born February 20, 1990, 340 appearances, 207 goals
Player who has scored most goals for Lazio in all official competitions; player who has scored most goals for Lazio in Serie A; player who has scored most goals for Lazio in UEFA Cup/Europa League; player who has scored most goals for Lazio in UEFA competitions; Lazio player, along with Beppe Signori, who has been Serie A top scorer most times; one of three players to have won the trophy for top Serie A scorer with two different teams (the others being Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Luca Toni); player, together with Gonzalo Higuain, to have scored most goals in a season in Serie A; first Italian Serie A player to have scored at least 25 league goals three times, the other two were foreigners Gunnar Nordhal and Istvan Nyers; player in activity with most goals scored in Serie A.
Enough said.
Ciro is a goal scorer. He can score in every possible way: headers, volleys, shots from outside the box, left or right foot, penalties. Lethal in every circumstance. For Lazio fans he will always be our captain, our champion and our King and will stay in our hearts forever.
6) Bruno Giordano, born August 13, 1956, 259 appearances, 116 goals
Giordano was a strong, yet skilful centre forward. He was a classy, technical attacker with a powerful finish. He was an all rounder, he could dribble, had pace, strength and could set up goals as well as score them. Diego Maradona described Giordano as the best Italian he had ever played with and also said he was the most South American of them. At times he was a bit selfish, as if he wanted to take all the responsibility on himself, and his header was not his forte, but he was undoubtedly one of the most talented players Lazio has ever had. He was certainly an idol for generations of Lazio fans growing up in the late 70's - early 80's. His banana shot at Catania in 1983 is one of the greatest goals ever.
5) Pino Wilson, born October 27, 1945, 408 appearances, 8 goals
Giuseppe Wilson, better known as Pino, is the Lazio captain, period. Nobody else has ever, since or before him, interpreted the leadership role both on and off the pitch like he did.
He was called the “padrino” (godfather) because of how he managed things within the team. He was also the best “libero” Italy has even had, perhaps on a par with Franco Baresi. A fantastic defender, elegant, excellent skills, good header, made a perfect match with Giancarlo Oddi in the Lazio scudetto of 1974. When he forced himself out of the penalty box with the ball it was a joy to watch. But he was also a tough defender, at times even nasty, in the spirit of football in the 1970s.
In his spare time he studied law and managed to get a degree, a rarity in the football world of the time. Great friend of Giorgio Chinaglia and almost a son to Tommaso Maestrelli who made him captain at a very young age, he is buried together with Long John in the Maestrelli family tomb.
4) Vincenzo D’Amico, born November 5, 1954, 336 appearances, 51 goals
Knowing how Vincenzino was like, he would probably jokingly take offence for being only fourth in our top Lazio 100, but we can be sure he would agree on the top three … maybe!!!
Vincenzo D’Amico was one of the greatest talents in Italian football. Young hero of the 1973-74 scudetto, he was a player that on a good day could be as good as Pele. “You know why Lazio did not win the scudetto in 1973? Because I was not there. As soon as I came into the team Lazio won. That was the difference between those two years”, he said jokingly, but not too much.
He often came to the rescue when Lazio were in difficulty, a true captain. He probably would have deserved more, especially at Nazionale level, but a general ostracism on behalf of selectors never allowed him to help his country. He played as a number 10, but at times also at midfield or on the wing.
“I did not want to be a footballer. I wanted to be a Lazio footballer”. This is another of his quotes and sums up all his greatness.
3) Alessandro Nesta, born March 19, 1976, 262 appearances, 3 goals
Nesta was an incredible player, one of the best defenders in the history of football. He was nicknamed "La Tempesta Perfetta" (The Perfect Storm) as he was such a complete player.
He was physically strong (1.87 for 80 kilos), athletic and fast. He had a great sense of position and was an impressive man-to-man marker, often using his anticipation skills to dispossess opponents, that failing he had his speed to fall back on. He was a superb tackler, specializing in the old sliding tackle, just like another Lazio great Pino Wilson. He could block the opposition but was also able to play from the back as a defensive playmaker. Combined with all these attributes he was elegant, a joy to watch. One runs out of adjectives to describe Nesta but the Italian " Fuoriclasse assoluto" (Totally outstanding) almost does him justice.
With Lazio he won 1 Scudetto, 2 Coppa Italia, 2 Italian Supercoppa, 1 UEFA Cup winners Cup and 1 UEFA Super Cup and in his career he won everything: World Cup, Champions League, World Cup for Clubs, European Under 21 championship. There are only two competitions which eluded him: European Championship and UEFA Cup, but he was runner-up in both. He was also vey unlucky in that he had to face numerous injuries in his career which could have been even greater.
At Lazio he was one of us, a Lazio fan who played for his beloved club and led them to glory.
2) Silvio Piola, born September 29, 1913, 243 appearances, 159 goals
Silvio Piola can still today be considered the best Italian centre-forward ever. He is the top Serie A goal scorer of all times with 274 goals, the current leading Serie A goal scorer for Pro Vercelli and Novara, third goal scorer in Nazionale behind Gigi Riva and Giuseppe Meazza, and second with Lazio behind Ciro Immobile. He is also the Italian footballer to have scored more goals in official competitions (390), leading goal scorer in the Italian first tier championship (290), only player, together with Omar Sivori, to score 6 goals in a game, youngest player to score a hat trick in Serie A (17 years and 132 days) and youngest player to score four goals in a match (18 years and 54 days).
He was a complete player. He could shoot with both feet, acrobatic, quite fast despite his height. He could score with shots from outside the box, headers, left foot, right foot, bicycle shot. An Italian journalist claimed he had the power of Gunnar Nordahl (powerful Swedish forward who scored more than 200 goals in Serie A), the header of John Charles (the tall Welsh champion who played for Juventus in the 1950s), the shot of Gigi Riva (legendary Cagliari and Italy forward), the quick thinking of Gianpiero Boniperti (one of the greatest forwards in Italian history) and the acrobatics of Guglielmo Gabetto (one of the protagonists of the Great Torino of the 1940s).
He is the greatest Italian centre forward of all time, and he played with Lazio.
1) Giorgio Chinaglia, born January 24, 1947, 263 appearances, 140 goals
Giorgio Chinaglia is the reason why we are Lazio supporters. He was the heart and soul of the 1973-74 scudetto squad. An exceptional player, big, physical, powerful. He may not have had the greatest technique but he always gave 1000% in every match. He became a Lazio supporter and it was as if every fan was on the pitch when he played. Chinaglia has been loved, hated, missed, treated like a semi God, worshipped like a Messiah, forgotten and ignored.
He was more than a player, a symbol. A symbol of strength, resistance, revolt, pride. He put Lazio on the map. He made us believe in miracles. The goal in the derby of March 31, 1974, and the subsequent gesture at the Roma fans became a legendary picture, marvellously captured by Marcello Geppetti.
Chinaglia was the first “modern Serie B” player to be called to play for Italy. He was one of the protagonists of Italy’s first win at Wembley against England and was also a football hero in the US with New York Cosmos. He played alongside Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto among many. He played 9 years in the American Soccer League, winning four soccer bowls (scoring in every single one), playing 230 games with 227 goals.
Giorgio Chinaglia was one of us. To this day he is adored by the fans who keep his memory alive at all times.
For his talent, what he means to Lazio supporters, what he gave us, he is the obvious choice for number one Lazio player.
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