This Week In Lazio History: May 12-18 | OneFootball

The week of triumphs in Lazio history. Two Scudettos and the Coppa Italia three times is what happened between May 12-18. We also remember Gino Lamon.

Matches of the Week

Date: Sunday, May 12, 1974 Location: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Foggia 1-0 By beating Foggia 1-0 Lazio win their first scudetto. An amazing feat. Lazio played the most exciting football, had a bunch of wild players who were all stars and fit perfectly together, managed by the Maestro Tommaso Maestrelli

Date: Wednesday, May 12, 2004 Location: Stadio delle Alpi, Turin Fixture: Juventus Lazio 2-2, Coppa Italia Final, Second Leg Juventus cancel Lazio’s two goal lead inside 47 minutes, but the Biancocelesti fight back with Corradi and Fiore to clinch the trophy.

Date: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 Location: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Samp 1-1 (6-5 on penalties), Coppa Italia Final A seemingly endless penalty roulette goes Lazio’s way after a 1-1 draw.

Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2019 Location: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Atalanta Lazio 0-2 Coppa Italia Final Milinkovic-Savic and Correa bring Lazio cup glory and their 7th Coppa Italia.

Date: Thursday, May 18, 2000 Location: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan Fixture: Inter Lazio 0-0, Coppa Italia Final, Second Leg Lazio clinch a historic double by winning the Coppa Italia following a goalless draw against Inter.

Match In Focus: A Rainy Afternoon in Perugia

Date: Sunday, May 14, 2000 Locations: Stadio Olimpico, Rome & Stadio Renato Curi, Perugia Fixtures: Lazio Reggina 3-0, Perugia Juventus 1-0

An early summer afternoon in Rome and Perugia. With one match to go to the end of the season, Juventus had a two point advantage over Lazio. The previous Sunday, Parma, who were losing in Turin against the Bianconeri, had equalised but the referee had inexplicably decided to disallow it. To this day nobody knows why. This was the talking point in Italy for the entire week. Juve had already won a controversial Scudetto a couple of years earlier when a clear penalty on Ronaldo was not given to Inter in Turin. Lazio had to play Reggina at the Stadio Olimpico and Juventus were hosted by Perugia.

It was hot in Rome, but Lazio, with two penalties, one by Simone Inzaghi and another by Juan Sebastian Veron, had already closed the game after 45 minutes.

In Perugia, it was also baking, but a massive black cloud arrived over the Umbrian town and it started raining. The first 45 minutes had ended goalless, but during the interval the heavens opened. Referee Pierluigi Collina tried a number of times to see if the ball would bounce on the waterlogged pitch, but no. There was a problem. If the game was abandoned they would have to start from scratch the next day. With what had happened in the previous match, the Italian referee felt that the repetition of the game would have been unfair. So he insisted.

The games should have been taking place at the same time so as to not give an advantage to either team, so at the Stadio Olimpico they waited to see what would happen in Perugia. After a quarter of an hour, the match in Rome started just the same. At Perugia, they waited. Diego Pablo Simeone made it three and Roberto Mancini played his last match and retired.

Back in Umbria, when they were about to give up, the rain stopped. The pitch was not in ideal conditions, but playable. The second half could recommence, an hour later than it should have.

At the Stadio Olimpico some of the fans had run onto the pitch, some had stayed in the stands looking to find somebody with a radio. At the moment, there would be the need for a Scudetto play-off. But then, the impossible became possible. Perugia scored with Alessandro Calori and Lazio were virtually champions. At the Stadio Olimpico, the news spread like a slow fire and the fans went absolutely crazy. Just like they did in the rest of the city and worldwide. But there were 33 minutes left to play in Umbria. Fans with radios became extremely popular and were crowded by anxious fans. Many wept for the tension, others gnawed their fingernails down to the bone. The RAI radio commentary started to blare out on the stadium tannoy, so now everybody could listen to the match. The commentator was Riccardo Cucchi who later when he retired confessed that he was a Lazio supporter. A famous TV program also did the same so those who were at home could listen to the game via the tube.

Juventus had a few chances to equalise but couldn’t. Nerves took over and the wet pitch did not help. Luca Zambrotta got two quick yellow cards and was sent off. The clock was ticking.

Collina gave five minutes of injury time. Too many for the fans in Rome who booed. All people had left were prayers. Even the non-religious prayed.

Collina closed the game with over six minutes of injury time. Cucchi announced “it is 18.04 on May 14, 2000. La Lazio è Campione d’Italia”, Lazio are Italian Champions!

Four days later Lazio won the Coppa Italia. An unforgettable season.

In Memory: Gino Lamon I

Gino Lamon was born in Castelfranco Veneto, on May 18, 1903.

He was known as Lamon I as he had three younger brothers who all played football.

He started playing football with Giorgione between 1921-23.

In 1923 he joined Andrea Doria (a team from Genoa which would later merge into Sampdoria) in the first division B group.

In 1924 he moved across town to Genoa in the first division group A. He played 13 games with 2 goals over two seasons. In 1925 the “Grifoni”, who were reigning champions, lost the Scudetto final against Bologna.

In 1926 he joined Treviso in the first division group B. He made 18 appearances with 4 goals.

In 1927 he arrived in the capital to play for Lazio. In his first season, under Franz Sedlacek, Lazio came 10th in the A group but avoided relegation as the league format was to be expanded. Lamon scored 4 goals (including a brace against Milan) between League and Coppa Coni.

In 1928-29, under four different managers (Sedlacek, Fernando Saraceni, Augusto Rangone and Ferenc Molnár), Lazio finished 8th and gained access to the following year’s first single Serie A competition. Lamon had a good season and scored 9 goals (including winners against Ambrosiana and Juventus).

In total in his two seasons with Lazio he played 45 games and scored 13 goals.

In 1929 he joined Padova in Serie A. The “Euganei” had an English manager, Herbert Burgess, but he was sacked after seven games and in came Aldo Fagiuoli. The “Patavini” however got relegated in 17th place. Lamon played 33 games and scored 8 goals (Brescia, Alessandria, Pro Patria, Livorno, Pro Vercelli x2, Juventus, Napoli).

In 1930 he returned to Lazio for a season. Lazio had a decent season and finished 8th. Managers came and went: Molnár to Cesare Migliorini to Amilcar. Lamon played 18 league games but with no goals.

In 1931 he joined Robur (Siena) in the first division (below Serie A). Robur came 9th in the E group. In 1932 he joined Serenissima (Venezia) in Serie B. The “Lagunari” (The Lagooners) finished 11th.

At 30 he retired. He returned to Rome where he opened a tailor’s shop.

Lamon was a midfielder but could score goals, 28 in his career. He enjoyed good spells especially at Lazio where he scored winners against Juventus and Inter plus a brace against Milan. He also had the satisfaction of playing in the first ever Serie A in his year with Padova.

Gino Lamon died at 72 on May 15, 1975, in Castelfranco.

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