This Week In Lazio History: February 17-23 | OneFootball

In a week with fantastic wins against Juventus, Milan and Inter, we also remember Lanna’s derby, a draw with Real Madrid and the great Arne Selmosson.

Matches of the Week

Date: Sunday, February 18, 1996 Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Roma 1-0 A senseless handball by Lanna gives Lazio a vital win

Date: Sunday, February 18, 1979 Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Fiorentina 4-0 Best Lazio of the season so far annihilate Fiorentina thanks to Giordano and D’Amico

Date: Sunday, February 19, 1995 Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Milan 4-0 After a 17-year wait Lazio beat Milan at home and do it in style with clinical attacking duo Signori-Casiraghi.

Date: Wednesday, February 21, 2001 Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio-Real Madrid 2-2, Champions League, Second Group Phase Lazio denied win against mighty Blancos by two crossbars and two defensive mistakes

Date: Sunday, February 22, 1998 Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Inter 3-0 The Biancocelesti thrash 2nd placed Inter 3-0 with goals by Fuser, Boksic and Casiraghi.

Match In Focus

Date: Sunday, February 17, 1974 Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Juventus 3-1

Today was a massive game. Lazio had 25 points and were top of the table. The scudetto race was approaching the decisive moments, their main rivals seemed to be Juventus (as the previous year) two points behind and Napoli (instead of Milan) three points behind. The Biancocelesti could make a statement, win and go four points clear of their most dangerous rivals or Juventus could go joint top and show they had no intention of abdicating.

A grey, rainy day but a packed stadium with a crowd of 76,000. The gates opened at 10 o’clock for a 2.30 kick-off.

Lazio made it clear from the start that they were determined to win this match. They attacked furiously from the word go.

In the 5th minute they were already in the lead. Giorgio Chinaglia tried a shot but it was blocked by defender Francesco Morini, the ball reached Franco Nanni who had a go himself but again the ball was blocked and ricocheted out on the right side of the area where Renzo Garlaschelli, third time lucky, beat Dino Zoff with a cross goal strike. Lazio 1 Juventus 0.

A dream start by the Biancocelesti who were rampant and continued attacking.

In the 15th minute Lazio were denied a clear penalty when Chinaglia, teed up by Vincenzo D’Amico was fouled by Morini but not according to the referee.

In the 20th minute after a one-two between Sergio Petrelli and Nanni, the fullback shaved the post with a low strike.

In the 28th minute Lazio scored again. A blistering Chinaglia low free kick gave Zoff no chance. Lazio 2 Juventus 0.

The visitors at this point tried to react but it was not until just before halftime that they actually had a shot towards goal. A Pietro Anastasi effort hit the side netting.

Then it was Lazio again but D’Amico was too altruistic and instead of shooting from a good position he tried to find Chinaglia and the chance was wasted.

Two nil at the break and Lazio went off to enthusiastic applause from their supporters.

For the second half Juventus took off a worse for wear Giuseppe Furino and put on a more attacking midfielder, Fernando Viola.

The game restarted with an immediate potential game changer. Petrelli mishit a pass and gave the ball away to Claudio Gentile, the Libyan born defender was then fouled by Giuseppe Wilson just before entering the area but then falling inside it. The referee however incredibly pointed to the penalty spot amid protests by the Lazio players. Antonello Cuccureddu hit a central spot kick, hoping Felice Pulici would dive one way or the other, but Felix stayed put and saved into corner with his knee and then, realising the ball was not in the back of the net, celebrated wildly.

In the 51st minute Chinaglia got past Morini and shot on the far post but Zoff was safe.

In the 55th minute the referee Panzino decided to be a protagonist again. He blew up for a penalty to Juventus for Petrelli lightly tugging José Altafini’s arm. One Lazio fan was so angry he invaded the pitch but was promptly “looked after” by the Carabinieri. This time Anastasi stepped up and placed a good, medium height shot to Pulici’s left. Lazio 2 Juventus 1.

Lazio reacted as if they had suffered a huge injustice and attacked head down. Chinaglia beat Zoff with a low shot but Sandro Salvadore cleared on the line and then Zoff conquered the ball.

In the 65th minute it was Lazio who were awarded a slightly generous penalty. Chinaglia was challenged by Morini and went down, the referee judged it a foul and pointed to the 11-metre spot. It was obviously “Long John” who took the ball and he then placed a low, central shot past Zoff. Lazio 3 Juventus 1.

The game remained lively and hard-fought despite there not being real goal scoring opportunities.

In the 72nd minute Petrelli limped off injured and was replaced by Luigi Polentes.

Juventus attacked but Lazio defended well. The only risk was in the 85th minute when Giancarlo Oddi saved brilliantly on the line from an Anastasi effort. Final score Lazio 3 Juventus 1.

A massive win for Lazio. There were still many games to go but the Biancocelesti had shown they were superior to the “Old Lady”, at least today. They had dominated the first half and in the second had controlled Juventus’ comeback well. The defence had been almost perfect, led by a superlative Pino Wilson.

At the end of the game both managers agreed it was still 50-50 for the title but Lazio now had a four-point advantage and the knowledge they were as good if not better than the Zebras. The Biancocelesti still had to watch Napoli too who were only three points behind.

In Memory: Arne Selmosson

Arne Selmosson was born in Götene, Sweden, on March 29, 1931.

His first club was Jönköpings Södra in his homeland. He played 80 league games over three seasons and scored 33 goals. In this period, he served his obligatory military service in the Fire Brigade and he remained fond of the force forever more.

He arrived in Italy in 1954, brought by Udinese for 150 million lire. The Friulani’s manager was former Lazio Giuseppe Bigogno and they had a great season on the pitch finishing 2nd behind Milan. The Zebrette went unbeaten from December 12 until the end of the season. Selmosson played 34 league games and scored 14 goals. His attacking partner was future Lazio Lorenzo Bettini. Udinese’s second place was however ruined by the emergence of some illegal match fixing by players and directors dating back to the 1952-53 season. Udinese were punished with relegation to Serie B.

Selmosson however stayed in Serie A joining Lazio while Alberto Fontanesi and Norwegian Per Bredesen went up to Udine. The manager was Luigi Ferrero for the first 14 games and then Englishman Jesse Carver. The Biancocelesti had a good season finishing 3rd. The highlights were beating Inter 3-2 and Milan 3-1 both away, Juventus 2-0 at home and the derby 1-0 (the other was 0-0). Selmosson played 34 league games with 10 goals plus 2 games in the President of the Republic Cup with 1 goal.

In 1956-57 Carver stayed on and Lazio finished 3rd again. Selmosson scored his first goal in a local derby, the equaliser in a 2-2 draw. He played 34 league games with 12 goals and 1 game in the President of the Republic Cup.

The 1957-58 would be his last with Lazio. The Biancocelesti started with Milovan Ćirić for twenty games and then finished with Alfredo Monza. Lazio finished 12th and Selmosson played 33 league games with 9 goals. He scored in the 2-1 victory against Roma in March but unfortunately the Giallorossi would be his next team.

Lazio were in financial difficulty and had to sell their star striker to the highest bidder, who turned out to be bitter rivals Roma, for 135 million lire. Selmosson himself was not too pleased but had no choice. It was a hugely controversial event in Rome and such was the Swedes popularity that some people even changed allegiance just so they could watch “Raggio di Luna” (Moonbeam) as he was nicknamed. One such defector was future Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema, it is probably fair to say many of the fickle team swappers were of non-Roman origins.

So Selmosson joined Roma and missed out on being part of the Lazio team that lifted the club’s first historic silverware, in September 1958 under Fulvio Bernardini. He had played 101 league games and scored 31 goals for Lazio.

Selmosson stayed three seasons on the other side of the Tiber and in fairness did pretty well. He played 87 league games and scored 30 goals (3 against Lazio…). He became the first player to have scored for both Lazio and Roma in local derbies (since emulated by Aleksandar Kolarov and Pedro). Roma finished 6th, 9th and 5th and won the Fairs Cup in 1961. His managers for the “Lupi” were fellow countryman Gunnar Nordahl for the first season and Alfredo Foni for the next two seasons (another former Lazio player, 1929-31). In his third season he played less and only scored 1 goal and decided to leave.

In 1961 he returned to Udine for three more seasons.  In the first the Bianconeri were relegated under Luigi Bonizzoni, then Sergio Manente and finally Alfredo Foni again. Selmosson played 23 league games and scored 6 goals. One of his teammates was a young keeper called Dino Zoff.

He stayed in Udine in Serie B and the Zebrette finished 14th under Alberto Eliani. Selmosson played 21 league games and scored 7 goals.

Selmosson’s last year of football ended in another relegation. In 1963-64, under Eliani and then Armando Segato, Udinese were relegated to C1. Selmosson played 29 league games with 5 goals.

He then retired at 33. He returned to Sweden and continued playing at amateur level for Skoevde AIK and then coached minor leagues. He then settled in Götene and, like many players of his generation, he opened a sports shop. In 2009 a monument in his honour was put up in his hometown.

At international level he won 4 caps for Sweden with 1 goal. He played in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden winning a silver medal (losing to 17-year-old Pelè’s Brazil 2-5).

Selmosson was a forward and is considered one of the best Scandinavian players ever. He was 1.78 and 73 kilos. He was exceptionally quick but also very skilful. He usually played on the left side of attack from where he started his famous dribbling movements finishing with a shot or an assist for his attacking partners. He was also excellent in the air with perfect timing. He was well known for being a model sportsman and after scoring for Roma a derby against Lazio he refused to celebrate but instead walked back head down, earning the respect of both sets of fans (this is commonplace now but was unheard of at the time). He was a placid, laid back and shy character and this led to maybe his only weakness in that in the physical and sometimes dirty games in the provinces he was occasionally a bit out of the game.

As mentioned, he was nicknamed “Raggio di Luna”, Moonbeam, for the colour of his hair and pallor of his skin. It was first coined in Udine but it stuck in Sweden too as “Månsträlen”. His footballing talent and his “defection” to Roma have entered into Italian popular culture. Famous playwrights Giovannini and Guarinei wrote a play about him and Nils Liedholm who became a respected wine producer named a spumante after him. In Udine he has had a street entitled to him.

He was immensely popular at Lazio. His sale to Roma was a trauma for many. He stated he wanted to stay with the Biancocelesti but had no choice. Some Lazio directors had to resign and some could not leave their houses for a while. Fans threatened not to renew their season tickets and some took to the streets in protest and there were scuffles with the police. The worst hit however were the kids, many already had one of the first colour posters of their idol Selmosson in light blue and white, distributed by a local sport weekly only a week before his sale. He had been especially good with the Lazio youth kids, often appearing at their training sessions at Acqua Acetosa.

These fan protest scenes were seen again 30 years later when Sergio Cragnotti tried to sell Beppe Signori to Parma but this time the fans’ protests were successful.

He is one of the few players who, after playing for both clubs, is respected on both sides of the Tiber, another being Fulvio Bernardini.

Arne Selmosson died on February 22, 2002.

Birthdays This Week