This Week In Lazio History: December 8-14 | OneFootball

This week in Lazio history we celebrate important wins against Juventus, Inter, in Europe and in derbies thanks to Ledesma and Chinaglia and we remember Ernesto Brivio.

Matches of the Week

Date: Saturday, December 8, 2020 Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Club Brugge 2-2, Champions League Lazio almost lost the match but secured qualification to the Champions League knock out phase.

Date: Sunday, December 10, 2006 Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Roma 3-0 The Biancocelesti destroy the Giallorossi in a memorable derby with goals from Ledesma, Oddo and Mutarelli

Date: Sunday, December 12, 1993 Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Juventus 3-1 Boksic and Gazza give Lazio a rare and prestigious win against the “Old Lady” of Italy

Date: Sunday, December 13, 1992 Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Inter 3-1 An impressive Lazio crush Inter with goals from Fuser, Winter and Signori

Date: Wednesday, December 13, 1998 Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Sampdoria 5-2 A hard fought game despite final score is decided by a Mihajlovic freekick hat-trick, Stankovic and Salas

Match In Focus

Date: Sunday December 9, 1973 Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Roma 2-1

A grey, autumnal day witnessed the 97th Roman derby. It was announced as a sell-out but high ticket prices and the world oil crisis (no cars allowed in Rome today) meant the crowd was “only” about 60,000.

Roma were keen to avenge the previous season’s two derby defeats but it was Lazio who had the first chances. One of last year’s derby heroes Franco Nanni shot just high and then Renzo Garlaschelli forced keeper Conti to tip the ball over the bar with a venomous curling cross come shot.

Roma held their own and had periods of pressure but mainly crosses which came to nothing. It was Lazio who threatened again but Giorgio “Long John” Chinaglia‘s shot went wide.

In the 24th minute young Vincenzo D’Amico was elbowed by Giorgio Morini and never really recovered. He went off for several minutes and then came on again but did not look himself.

In the 34th minute however Roma took the lead with a superb goal. Piergiorgio Negrisolo picked up the ball outside the area on the right and dribbled past three Lazio players (including a groggy D’Amico) and once inside the box fired a low left-footed shot past Felice Pulici. A great solo effort, Lazio 0 Roma 1.

Lazio reacted and Chinaglia freed himself in the area but his powerful shot was blocked by Alberto Batistoni. Halftime Lazio 0 Roma 1. A balanced game so far decided by a moment of brilliance by Negrisolo.

For the second half D’Amico did not reappear after his first half problems and was replaced by Paolo Franzoni.

The replacement took only a minute to get his name in the Lazio history books. In the 48th minute Mario Frustalupi found Garlaschelli on the right side of the area near the by-line and, despite being challenged by two defenders, he managed to square a cross into the middle where Franzoni twisted and dived, heading in Lazio’s equaliser. Lazio 1 Roma 1.

From now on it was more Lazio than Roma. Chinaglia had a thundering free kick saved by Conti and then Sergio Santarini had to clear another Franzoni header off the line, following a clever Luciano Re Cecconi cross with the outside of his foot.

Lazio attacked but Roma occasionally eased the pressure on the break. Francesco “Kawasaki” Rocca went on one his customary runs down the left and crossed to Domenghini on the right inside the area, the former Cagliari controlled it well but then fired over the bar.

It was Lazio again who went closer. Gigi Martini, who had an excellent game, put a low through ball to Chinaglia in front of goal on the left but Conti came off his line and dived, saving Long John’s shot with his feet.

Roma then had another counterattack. A good run by Renato Cappellini who jiggled through Lazio’s defence and teed up Batistoni in the heart of the area but his shot was weak and comfortably saved by Pulici.

In the 68th minute Lazio’s pressure paid off. On a Re Cecconi cross from the left Chinaglia and Conti jumped up for the ball, the keeper touched it but could not hold onto it and it bounced free, Chinaglia with his back to the goal twisted and got a shot in that then bounced, deceiving both the keeper and a defender on the line. Not a pretty goal but an important one for the Biancocelesti. Lazio 2 Roma 1. There followed some controversy as the Giallorossi claimed Chinaglia had fouled Conti on the aerial challenge but there was nothing in it, as the evening TV analysis later confirmed.

Roma predictably piled forward desperate to avoid a third consecutive derby loss. They went close twice. First Pierino Prati tried an acrobatic bicycle kick which went just wide of the left post and then, with only three minutes remaining, Ciccio Cordova found Domenghini unmarked in the box and his low strike hit the post, came back to him but this time he sent it over the bar.

After the scare the last chance was for Franzoni. The unexpected protagonist of the derby was teed up by Chinaglia in front of Conti but on the right, he went for power over precision and hammered the ball which got stuck between the keeper’s legs. Final score Lazio 2 Roma 1.

A hard fought, balanced and entertaining game had gone Lazio’s way again. Three in a row now and the Biancocelesti were keeping up with the front runners but today it was all about winning the “Stracittadina” , always a huge satisfaction in Rome against the bitter rivals known as “i cugini” (the cousins).

Remembering Ernesto Brivio

Ernesto Brivio is one of the most picturesque presidents Lazio have ever had.

Born in Milan in 1915, in his youth he moved to Rome and in 1945 he joined the Black Brigades organized by the Fascist party in the south of Italy. He was the one who with four hand grenades and a machine gun attacked the Motta factory. Arrested and sentenced to years in jail, in 1947 he emigrated to South America and became the right-hand man of the Cuban dictator Fugenzio Batista. He came back to Italy after the Fidel Castro revolution. Back at home he became a movie producer, owned horses, was a property developer and financed the newspaper Telesera. He was famous for going around the nightlife of Rome with a baby lion.

In 1962 the Lazio commissioner, Massimo Giovannini, declared that the club’s debt was of 500 million lire despite the fact that a few days earlier it had been certified that it was double that amount. Giovannini had been chosen to oversee the club by the Lega Serie A, the governing body that runs the major professional football competitions in Italy. He was confirmed for another three months on June 14, but the Lega said no. On September 27, Brivio was elected president much to everyone’s  surprise. In the meantime, he had become a member of the Italian Social Movement, a neo-fascist party, and had been elected locally for the Rome city council. It appeared that he had a lot of money, something much needed by the club, but nobody knew how much. He promised he would pay all the club’s debts thanks to his winnings at the casino.

The first thing Brivio did was to sack Carlo Facchini and choose Juan Carlos Lorenzo as head coach. In the winter transfer window, he sold Dimitri Pinti and Paolo Carosi and signed Gianfranco Garbuglia and Orlando Rozzoni.

Lazio were doing well but Brivio was nowhere to be seen, apparently abroad. When he came back he promised the scudetto and if Lazio had had a comfortable advantage he would have played tennis champion Nicola Pietrangeli and actor Maurizio Arena in the final games of the season. In February he was shot and injured a finger. It was not clear what actually happened, whether it was self-inflicted or not. This incident created a rift on the club board of directors and Leonardo Siliato, Angelo Miceli and Giovannini quit during the board meeting of February 12. “I will pay all I have to or I will leave”, he said and the three continued. He left on February 21. Lazio then managed to find a group, Gian Chiaron Casoni, Dino Canestri and Fernando De Sando, who managed to partially mitigate the dire financial situation and hand the presidency to Angelo Miceli.

Not a lot is known about what happened to Brivio after. He was arrested in Lebanon in June 1963 but was able to avoid being sent back to Italy where he had been sentenced to jail for fraudulent bankruptcy. He was later acquitted on appeal.

He died in Como, on December 11, 1976.

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