Lazio: Coppa Italia Winners 2009

By: cathal | May 15th, 2009

This is the most in-depth post I have ever made here at The Offside to celebrate what has undoubtedly been the greatest achievement since I began blogging here. Wednesday will go down forever in the history of Lazio. The occasion was big, the atmosphere was incredible and the circumstances of our triumph was breathtaking. For five years, we have waited on silverware and finally the fruits of Lotito’s era are beginning to emerge. Whether we love the guy or hate the guy, now he has something to show for his time here. We are winners again and let’s hope this victory will be the first of many to come. I’d like to dedicate the win on behalf of everyone here to Gabbo, Ugo Longo and every fan who wasn’t able to be a part of such a wonderful night. This is for them.

There are few words for nights like these. The images, the videos, the enthusiasm; they all tell the story and more. For that reason, I won’t talk too much about the game. However, I will say we had fourteen lions on the pitch at various times, a coach who wore his heart on his sleeve and let it all pour out after the game and a president who had the pride of a lion, if not the heart. We all know soccer is a business as well as a sport but Wednesday night was a game where friends fought together and won together. The Curva did their bit, as you would expect and from the neutral onlookers I have spoken to, we gave the impression of a great club with a great team who can do great things. In a sense, that is as good as the victory.

Where do we go from here? Well, first there is the Supercoppa in the summer which will be played in Beijing no less. The Supercoppa may have little value but we have a strong fanbase in Asia which is a great opportunity for the fans out there and of course we have the Europa League to look forward to next season. Busy times lie ahead. Watch the transfer specualtion go through the roof in the coming days. I’ll round that all up in the near future but until then, enjoy the celebrations. Forza Lazio! Together, we deserve this.

Reaction:

“It is a great joy for those who have supported us.”

“For four years, we have been executing a plan in which we live for professional values rather than economic interest. This is the reward for everyone who has given their support to the club.” - Claudio Lotito

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“It is a fantastic emotion. It is an extraordinary victory for the city and our fans. Confidence in our coach will be regained. This is an important triumph for us.” – Simone Del Nero

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“The evening has been touching as I made two saves.”

“However, this victory is not for me, but for the fans. In the difficult moments, I have remained serene. My family are far away and have suffered, but tonight, this is a triumph for our fans.” – Fernando Muslera

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“I wanted this a lot and credit to the boys, they have made many sacrifices this season to win this.”

“We have made sacrifices all season long for this, all to play one game and it is beautiful to win, right?”

My tears? They show my passion towards this club and the desire to win for the city. My future? We will see. – Delio Rossi

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“The players are happy, happy for the city and the fans.”

“It is a great joy of incredible satisfaction. It was a test but we held the right to fight.”

“The true hero of the night has been Muslera. He was the best and made incredible stops. We are happy and this victory is beautiful.” – Mauro Zarate

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“To win this, in our arena, in front of our fans, it is beautiful, an indescribable joy. We gave everything and are happy.”

“I have studied penalties and had full concentration. I was powerful and precise and it came good. Then we had Muslera, he was the best.” – Aleksandar Kolarov

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Highlights (and other videos):

The penalties, in full, as they happened.

The aftermath.

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Pictures:
If you want to see De Silvestri and Del Nero in their underpants among other things, I suggest you pay a visit here.

For crowd photos, go here.

To see pictures of ‘that’ t-shirt, go here.

Post-game antics can be found here.

To see basically everyone in their underpants, go here.

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Player Ratings:

Muslera – 9: I can’t give him anything less really, he had very little to do all game but he made the saves that won us the penalty shootout. Remember, Sampdoria didn’t miss; Fernando saved the day.

Kolarov – 7.5: Another solid display, he was a constant threat on the left going forward and did a good job at the back. No complaints about his performance and his penalty rounded off his night.

Rozehnal – 7: I’ve seen better defensive performances but it was decent nonetheless. Arguably at fault for the first goal although it’s difficult to blame him but he made amends with a well-taken penalty.

Siviglia – 7: One of the best games I have seen him play all season. Struggled with Cassano from time to time but that was to be expected.

Lichtsteiner – 6.5: He had a tough game keeping Cassano at bay and I think the Samp man had the better of him more often than not. Nevertheless, his penalty kept us in the game so he deserves a firm pat on the back. He’s been a revelation this season.

Foggia – 7: Having come off in the second half, I question how fit he really was prior to this game. He was tireless, full of running and made some useful darts down the pitch. A threat as always but he lacked the killer instinct.

Ledesma – 7.5: The hardest working player on the pitch by quite a stretch. He was falling over with fatigue at the end of extra time and this was a guy who had the weekend off. Not very creative but helped keep Pazzini anonymous for most of the game.

Dabo – 7.5: In my opinion, he has been relatively poor when he has featured this season but he stepped up to the task on Wednesday showing his defensive skills, his ability to move the ball around and the handy task of being able to dispatch match-winning penalties.

Brocchi – 6.5: An old man in the footballing world but he still runs as if he is a teenager. perhaps he didn’t affect the game as much as he has recently but his work rate is an asset in every game he plays.

Pandev – 6: Was he fit? I’m not sure, in the last few months he has been a shadow of his former self and he spurned a glorious opportunity to put us two ahead in this game before he was brought off in the second half. His inability to finish could have cost us in the end.

Zarate – 8.5: He had a speelbinding opening to the game, did the same damage he did against Samp earlier in the season but he did go missing at times before firing in a penalty to keep us in the game. A champion. A dragon.

Subs

Rocchi – 6: I’d love to know what’s wrong with captain Balboa these days. Some say he is still recovering from his injury, personally I feel age is catching up with him but he was barely noticeable when he came on and didn’t look the happiest when we won. Has he been told to pack his bags? I wonder…

Del Nero – 7: Did absolutely nothing for us until the last five minutes in extra time when he clearly realised Ledesma was tired and tracked back to win balls and help us out. Had he not have done this, Samp may have got a few more chances to score before the game went to penalties.

De Silvestri – 6.5: Glad to see him replace Brocchi and not Lichtsteiner. His defensive weakness could cost us in big games like these but he slotted into midfield and used his legs to keep possession. Did what he had to do.

Check out the previous post for other ratings by visitors to this blog.

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Facebook:
Now seems like the perfect time to set up a Facebook group for our Offside page. The idea of the group is to attract some new fans over here, keep the current fans updated and perhaps make available material that I have posted here and archive it in another form. If you wish to join the group, please do so here. The more, the merrier. Also feel free to add any interesting media you find to the group and I will be sure to take a look at it and post it here if I feel it is relevant. The wall function is disabled for the sole reason that I want all comments to be on this blog, however, the discussion board is open for the timebeing so feel free to make use of that. I will evaluate how that works and make a permanent decision about it in the near future. As for other suggestions peeople have made to me and other ideas I have come up with, I will be using the remainder of the season to test these out.

Preview tomorrow.