This Week In Lazio History: February 3-9 | OneFootball

Today we remember wins against Milan and Inter, a controversial draw with Juventus, ridiculous refereeing in a match against Bari, and the tragic death of Fantoni II

Matches of the Week

Date: Sunday, February 3, 1957 Venue: Stadio Comunale, Turin Fixture: Juventus Lazio 3-3 Lazio denied win in Turin by dubious penalty and a controversially disallowed winner

Date: Sunday, February 3, 1974 Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Vicenza 3-0 A 3-0 which does not tell the full extent of Lazio’s superiority. Goals from Chinaglia and Garlaschelli

Date: Sunday, February 5, 2017 Venue: Stadio Adriatico, Pescara Fixture: Pescara Lazio 2-6 Marco Parolo scores four as Lazio demolish Pescara.

Date: Thursday, February 5, 2004 Venue: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan Fixture: Milan Lazio 1-2, Coppa Italia Semi Final, First Leg Lazio go two goals up and then survive Milan comeback to take lead into second leg

Date: Sunday, February 6, 1994 Venue: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan Fixture: Inter Lazio 1-2 Lazio went from one down to 2-1 up in three minutes as Signori and Di Matteo turned the game around in the dying moments

Match In Focus

Date: Sunday, February 4, 1996 Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Bari 4-3

Lazio started the match very well and soon after kick-off Pierluigi Casiraghi hit the woodwork. The Biancocelesti were dominating but Bari scored in the 9th minute. Kennet Andersson headed the ball to Carmine Gautieri who beat the Lazio defence for speed and was allegedly fouled by Luca Marchegiani in the penalty box. Allegedly, because there were big doubts. But the referee, Daniele Tombolini, decided it was a penalty and Igor Protti made no mistake.

The ref must have realized he had made a wrong call because he then opted to compensate with a ridiculous decision: in the 22nd minute Francesco Pedone touched Alen Boksic who went flying to the ground. Penalty for Lazio, Beppe Signori scored. 1-1 but two wrongs certainly do not make a right, Mr. Tombolini.

Four minutes later penalty number three. This time it was a clear foul with Marcello Montanari tripping Aron Winter. Signori made it 2-1.

Lazio took control of the match and Boksic was unstoppable. The Croatian had a chance in the 30th minute but it was saved by Fontana. The ball got to Winter who passed it to Signori. 3-1 for Lazio. With these three goals Signori overtook Giorgio Chinaglia and became Lazio’s second highest scorer in Serie A, behind Silvio Piola.

In the second half Bari manager Eugenio Fascetti understood there was a need to speed things up a bit and make more use of Andersson and this is exactly what happened in the 64th minute. Gautieri had no problem in beating Dario Marcolin on the right and crossed for the big Swede. The ball went over Marchegiani’s head and Andersson headed the ball in comfortably.

At the one end, there was Gautieri unstoppable on the right while Protti was driving Alessandro Nesta nuts and all the crosses were Andersson’s. At the other end Boksic, Casiraghi and Signori were creating havoc in the Bari penalty box.

Andersson had a chance via a free kick but it was well saved by the Lazio goalkeeper. Boksic dribbled past a number of Bari players and passed to Casiraghi who hit the woodwork. In the 78th minute the Croatian decided to go solo and made it 4-2 for Lazio.

Tombolini, who was a bit upset that he was no longer the protagonist of the match, decided it was time for another penalty. So in the 81st minute Protti scored his second goal. No idea on why the ref decided it was a penalty.

The referee’s masterpiece however came with one minute to go. Casiraghi, unmarked, thirty metres from the goal with the Bari goalkeeper outside the penalty box, decided to shoot. Fontana clearly saved it with his hands. The referee whistled. Foul. Everybody was expecting a red card but Fontana claimed the ball hit his leg, Casiraghi confirmed it, so the ref decided on a dropped-ball.

Lazio managed to keep the slim lead and win a very difficult match. Tombolini should have seriously considered giving up refereeing.

By the way, Tombolini is currently a consultant for Italian TV and journalist. An “expert” opinion in all matters concerning refereeing…

In Memory: Octavio Fantoni II

Today we remember the tragic death of Octavio Fantoni II.

He was born in Belo Horizonte, on April 4, 1907. In Brazil he played for Palestra Itália (the club now owned by Ronaldo). He won two Mineiro titles with “A Raposa” (The Fox) and in 1930 he was signed by Lazio along with one of his cousins, Joāo Fantoni I. He became known as Ottavio

In Rome he immediately made it into the first team squad. In 1930-31 the manager was first Ferenc Molnár, then Cesare Migliorini and finally Amílcar. Lazio finished 8th and Ottavio played 10 league games. Lazio’s best results were beating Ambrosiana Inter 1-0 and Juventus 2-1 both at home while both derbies ended up in draws.

In 1931-32 Lazio finished 13th under player-manager Amílcar. Ottavio played more regularly making 28 league appearances with 2 goals (Triestina and the winner against Fiorentina). Lazio’s best result was a 2-1 away win at Juventus while both derbies were lost.

In 1932-33 the manager was Austrian Karl Stürmer and Lazio finished 10th. Ottavio played 26 league games with 1 goal (Pro Patria). He was also joined by another of the cousins, Leonízio Fantoni III. Lazio’s best results were beating Inter 2-1 in Milan, the first derby 2-1, Alessandria 6-0, Juventus 1-0 and Milan 2-0 all at home.

In 1933-34 Stürmer stayed on and Lazio came in 10th again. Ottavio Played 31 league games with 1 goal (Casale in 2-1 win). The highlight was a 4-0 home win over Milan while Lazio lost the first derby and drew the second 3-3 after being 0-3 down.

In 1934-35 Czech manager Walter Alt arrived at Lazio. A certain Silvio Piola also arrived from Pro Vercelli. It would however be a tragic year for Lazio and Ottavio Fantoni in particular. On January 20, in a home game against Torino, he wounded his nose. He was forced off but came back on five minutes later and even contributed to Silvio Piola’s equaliser. It did not seem anything too serious but then it got infected and he was hospitalised with a high fever and a knee full of pus; two weeks later he was dead. An awful tragedy. He was only 27 and left two daughters of eight and seven who had already lost their mother.

In his last tragic season Ottavio had played 13 league games with 1 goal (Fiorentina). Lazio finished a positive 5th beating Juventus 5-3 and drawing both derbies.

Fantoni’s premature death is one of many sad stories in Lazio’s history.

Ottavio Fantoni also played for Italy, thanks to his Tuscan origins (his parents were from Arezzo). He won one cap against Greece, on March 24,1934, in a 4-0 victory.

The Fantoni legacy is an important one at Lazio. Ottavio played 109 games with 4 goals, Joāo 113 with 38 goals, Leonízio 25 with 9 goals and some years later Orlando 8 with 2 goals.

Ottavio Fantoni was an extremely popular player at Lazio. He was a midfielder who combined quantity and quality. He was elegant, technical but also incredibly hard working. The fans loved him for his fighting spirit.

In Brazil he was known as Nininho while in Italy as mentioned he became Ottavio. He was known as Fantoni II because he had three cousins who were also footballers.

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