Japanese tour ends on a high

Dag Jenkins
Jul 27, 2023
2 min read

Season 2004-05

Pre Season Friendly

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

Misaki Park Stadium, Kobe

Vissel Kobe Lazio 0-4

Lazio cruise to easy win in "Nippon"

This was Lazio's third friendly of their Japanese tour. The Biancocelesti had drawn 2-2 with Vegalta and then beaten the Vegalta U19s 4-1.

Vissel Kobe's most famous player was Kazuyoshi Miura who had previously also played for Santos in Brazil and Genoa in Serie A (scoring in a derby).

The match

The game was played in the modern Misaki Park Stadium, also known as the Wing Stadium, in Kobe. The ground holds about 30,000 spectators and there was a good crowd today.

The stadium was used in the 2002 World Cup and would later be used in the Rugby World Cup in 2019.

Lazio had a decent starting line-up but lacked alternatives on the bench.

The difference in quality between the two sides was immediately clear.

Lazio were in control for the first twenty minutes then decided to step up a gear. In the 25th minute the Biancocelesti took the lead when Goran Pandev crossed from the by-line and Roberto Muzzi headed past Fure, 1-0.

Lazio’s second came seven minutes later when, following a precise Fabio Liverani assist, Pandev celebrated his 21st birthday in style by lobbing the keeper to make it 2-0.

Lazio continued to create chances but tried to entertain the crowd too much and despite some spectacular moves did not score again until the 61st minute when Christian Manfredini was on target with a precise left foot.

In the 75th minute came the only negative note so far when Roberto Delgado, who had replaced Muzzi in the 60th minute, limped off injured and was in turn substituted by Claudio De Sousa.

In the 84th minute Lazio got their fourth goal. Cesar freed himself with a clever dummy and hit a powerful right foot past Fure, 4-0.

There was still time for Miura to make a brief appearance in the 89th minute.

A positive training game for Lazio. Massimo Oddo won the 'Man of the Match' award but Pandev and César had also been excellent.

Lazio would fly back to Italy the following day before moving to Britain (friendlies with Cardiff City and Manchester City). The next destination would then be Spain for the "Carranza" trophy to be played in Cadiz between August 13 and 15, where Lazio's opponents were Valencia. The Biancocelesti's first really important game would be the Supercoppa final against Milan on August 21 at San Siro. Serie A would start on September 12.

Who played for Vissel Kobe

Fure, Komoto, Tsichiya (89' Miura), Kitamoto, Roger, Sugawara, Mori, Kojima, Niwa, (67' Watada), Park, Fujimoto, Bando (63' Kishida)

Substitutes: Iwamaru, Sugawara, Saeki, Yabuta

Manager: Hasek

Who played for Lazio

Sereni, Oddo, Negro, D. Baggio, Zauri, Manfredini, Liverani (46' Dabo), Giannichedda (83' Angeletti), César (85' Melara), Muzzi (60' Delgado, 75' De Sousa), Pandev