Top 100 Players in Lazio History: Positions 81-90
- Lazio Stories
- 3 hours ago
- 4 min read
We continue with our top 100 Lazio players for the positions between 81 and 90 with some memorable players and fan favourites in all ages.
90) Renzo Burini, born October 10, 1927, 148 appearances, 40 goals
Burini was an exceptionally quick player especially in the first part of his career.
He started off as an attacking winger with the ability to set up but also to score lots of goals. He later became more of a midfielder but never lost his eye for goal.
At Lazio he is also remembered fondly as a great player over six years (1953-1959) with plenty of goals, especially the three in the local derbies. Burini kept Lazio in his heart and would often turn up at the Lazio fans club meetings in Milan where he lived.
89) Orlando Rozzoni, born July 23, 1937, 101 appearances, 41 goals
Rozzoni was a massive centre forward for the time, similar, so they say, to Christian Vieri.
He signed for Lazio in 1959, left and came back three times until 1966.
Big, powerful, a classic old-fashioned centre forward, he was nicknamed “Orlando Furioso” like the main character of the Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto. Big fan favourite, the Lazio Club Milan is named after him and Renzo Garlaschelli.
88) Romano Penzo, born April 8, 1920, 91 appearances, 36 goals
He played for Lazio from 1947 to 1950.
A strong, powerful, acrobatic centre forward, he was an excellent player and a great goal scorer.
He even once scored five goals in a match when he was at Inter.
He came to Lazio late in his career in a difficult post war period which culminated in an excellent fourth place finish in 1949-50.
87) Cristian Ledesma, born on September 24, 1982, 318 appearances, 14 goals
Ledesma arrived under Delio Rossi and became a piece of Lazio and well loved by fans. He will always be remembered for the big whack in the derby of 2006, the two Coppa Italia wins (especially the second), his commitment to the Lazio cause and seriousness. A great midfielder who could defend but also create play, very much like Lucas Leiva. He stayed for eight seasons, from 2006 to 2015 and was captain for most of them.
86) Claudio Lopez, born on July 17, 1974, 144 appearances, 40 goals
The Argentinian winger had made his name with Valencia and he was one of the first signings by Lazio as Champions in 2000 and he stayed for four seasons.
Unfortunately, after a devastating first game in which the Biancocelesti won the Supercoppa, he got seriously injured. When he returned, despite still being top class, he was probably not the player he was before the injury. He was an incredibly fast left-winger, very talented, who knew how to play. One major flaw: he did everything with his left foot, the right one was used only for walking!!!
85) Beppe Favalli, born on January 8, 1972, 401 appearances, six goals
He played for Lazio from 1992 to 2004.
Favalli was one of the first players signed by Sergio Cragnotti. A star of the Italian U21 national team, he was a great left full back, extremely intelligent tactically, possessed good technical skills and was athletic.
He was a full left back but gave a good contribution up front serving assists and crosses with his precise left foot. With Lazio he won a scudetto, three national cups, a Cup Winners Cup, a UEFA Super Cup (but did not play) and the Supercoppa three times. Second in Lazio history for number of appearances behind Stefan Radu.
84) Per Bredesen, born December 22, 1930, 93 appearances, 19 goals
Norwegian, he arrived at Lazio in 1952 and stayed for three seasons.
He was one of the best football players to have come out of Norway until recent times.
He was exceptionally quick and technically gifted. He could use both feet and had an extremely accurate shot.
A midfielder, he provided quantity and quality to his teams and scored goals.
At Lazio he was very popular. He was nicknamed "Varechina" (bleach) for his blonde hair and also " Tocco Magico" (Magic Touch) for his skills.
83) João Fantoni I, born July 24, 1905, 113 appearances, 39 goals
Brazilian, he arrived in Rome in 1930 and stayed for five seasons.
He was part of the so called Brasilazio, called that because there were so many Brazilian oriundi in the team. Excellent forward, he retired in 1938 with a phenomenal goalscoring rate, 205 in 240 professional matches.
Fantoni was not the only member of his family to play for Lazio. There was also cousin Octavio, brothers Leonízio and Orlando.
82) Gian Piero Ghio, born January 28, 1944, 76 appearances, 22 goals
He played for Lazio from 1968 to 1970.
He was one of the most important Lazio players in the 1968-69 season and gave a huge hand in the promotion to Serie A.
He was a good centre-forward who could also play on the wing.
He later played for Inter and even scored a goal in the European Cup.
81) Uber Gradella, born June 14, 1921, 161 appearances
He played for Lazio from 1940 to 1949.
Uber was a highly reliable goalkeeper with outstanding positional awareness. He rarely resorted to spectacular saves, doing so only when necessary.
Traditionally, Lazio have always had exceptional goalkeepers and he was one of them.
He suffered a serious injury in 1948 and it took him a long time to recover, but Lazio had already bought a new goalkeeper.
The thought of playing for a team other than Lazio was unbearable and at the age of 28 he quit football.
Next up positions 71-80 on July 3.
Comments