Limited, Yet Spirited

By: cathal | September 12th, 2009

Lazio put up a brave, spirited performance tonight yet eventually succumbed to a 2-0 loss at the hands of Juventus. For all our effort and endeavour, we got nothing from the game other than a performance that oozed Lazialita’; which in itself is something to be proud about. If you thought we had been riding our luck up until this game, I’m sure you now believe that luck just came back and gave us a rather painful bite on the backside tonight. I rarely make excuses for a loss and I can’t hold the win against the Bianconeri but let’s be certain of one thing; serious questions need to be asked of that referee.

The first half was a contest with both sides showing flashes of what they will be capable of this season. We had chances, they had chances and as the half time whistle approached, it looked like the opening period would remain scoreless and it did but it should not have done; Mauri had a perfectly legit goal ruled out. I’m not going to call for the head of Gervasoni (the referee) but a goal directly before half time would have been a major psychological blow for Ferrara and his boys and it would have gave us the momentum going into the second half. Instead, we lost some confidence and belief and credit to the Turin giants, they put us to bed and turned off the lights as you would expect them to do. A very harsh result on us but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

I have been reading comment after comment from our tifosi since the game ended and while many say this was a standout peformance that somehow culminated in an unfortunate result, many others mentioned a lack of confidence. I believe it was a combination of the two. The performance was there and our guys were fired up but when things started to go against us, I think they began to believe that it was not going to be their day. That is a natural instinct but one we should try and curb. We never gave up in the Coppa last year even when we appeared to be down and out and at no stage during the Supercoppa did we look like we were certified losers. I don’t think we have lost the fight and I don’t think you lose the belief in a ninety minute period but we will have to address this game and make sure that we believe in ourselves for the duration of the next tie against a big gun. Forza Lazio!

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Reaction:

“From where I was, Mauri’s goal looked legal. I’m not sure what happened.”

“Juventus don’t keep possession, they like to use their strength and power. We have to get the ball up the field quickly to create chances.”

“Baronio is a great reader of the game and has great ability whereas Kolarov will become one of the best full backs in the world.”

“The result does not reflect the performance. Lazio have been getting results and we must continue on this path.” – Davide Ballardini

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“Compliments are good but wins are important. We can now assume that we can play and match up to anyone. Inter and Juve have great players and we can not compare with them (in terms of squad) but when we are on the field, from the first minute, we match with anyone.”

“Fourth place? We are here to try, even if on the third day, it seems premature to discuss this. The best thing today was the tifosi who came to see us because they believe in us.”

“I’m happy. I think I played well today and I hope to continue to feel good because this is the important thing.” – Roberto Baronio

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Highlights:

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Pictures: http://www.lazialita.com/VisualizzaSezione.asp?IdArticolo=5384

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Player Ratings: I have to agree by and large with Mitar’s ratings and also goal.com’s ratings; http://www.goal.com/en/news/10/italy/2009/09/12/1496989/player-ratings-lazio-0-2-juventus. I would give Baronio a higher rating and a special mention; he has been doing a stellar job in the absence of Ledesma and I think any criticism he has faced has been unjust. Keep up the admirable work Roberto.