July 29 - Aug 5

Lazio catching up with the rest   by Mehrdad Masoudi Lazio supporters were only just getting over the humiliation of seeing their arch rivals AS Roma win Serie A and literally paint the town red (and yellow) for a week in celebration. They bit their lips as a million Roma fans invaded the Circus Maximus for an immense concert and thought about getting even. After all they hadnt fared badly last season. Lazio lost the title but maintained a credible third place. The passport scandal, which plagued other Italian clubs, had seen their Argentine Juan Sebastian Veron and club president Sergio Cragnotti involved. After a flirt with Juventus, Czech player Pavel Nedved was reconfirmed for the next season and the shameful one-day suspension imposed on the club because of racist slogans and chants was already a fading memory. Yet in less than a month the club and their followers have been plunged into crisis. Two of Lazios world-class players have been signed by other clubs. The extremist fringes in the supporters have challenged Cragnotti, who announced that he wanted out of Lazio, and the club has had to make a last dash to buy new talent when all the best deals had already been clinched. Fans are wondering how it all went so badly wrong. The first blow was the news that 26-year-old Veron had signed a five-year contract with Manchester United for 40-million U.S. dollars the biggest fee in Britains soccer history. United broke their own previous record, the US$27-million paid for the Dutchman Ruud van Nistelrooy. Alex Ferguson justly noted that Veron was a world-class player just coming to his peak years and said he hoped that Veron could take Manchester United to the top on the continent, not just at home. But while supporters regretted the loss of Veron, they could console themselves that defender Alessandro Nesta had rejected a lucrative offer from Real Madrid and Nedved had opted to stay, after supporters protests. He had re-signed for Lazio and the Juventus contract was to be considered null and void. That was until Nedved and his family came back from Prague on a private plane of the Agnelli family (owners of Juventus) and it emerged that they had paid him 80 billion lire (37-million US dollars). Cragnotti and club officials were furious and accused Juventus of misbehaving. The head coach Dino Zoff tried to reassure supporters that they would still have a competitive line-up but few were convinced, least of all the hardliners from the Curva Nord. Nedved was not simply a spectacular and committed player, he was in a sense the soul of the team. The culprit, in their eyes, was Cragnotti, with whom they have always had a difficult relationship. Yet not even they were prepared for the shock announcement of a livid Cragnotti that he had better things to do with his life, that soccer was a game and he wanted out. Offensive graffiti on the wall and garbage dumped at the entrance of his familys villa, as well as threats to his relatives, were the last straw for Cragnotti. "Im not going to allow four degenerates to come to my house, threaten my family. If this is soccer, I do not need this," he said. The Italian medias favourite adjective for the silver-haired food magnate is "vulcanico", underlining his short temper, but his anger was comprehensible. With his dynamism and investment Cragnotti has made Lazio players in world soccer for the first time, helping them win a number of Italian and European titles. After Cragnottis announcement, Lazio shares dropped five percent. The club rejected his resignation and Cragnotti agreed to remain in place until September, partly because no one is waiting in the wings to buy the Rome side. However, he repeated that he had not changed his mind. His dramatic gesture, which those close to him say was no publicity stunt, has had the effect of consolidating supporters. There was a huge pro-Cragnotti mobilisation via phone, fax, radio and internet, a candlelit procession past his house, and a peaceful invasion of the Lazio training ground at Formello. More than three thousand fans turned out, but the hard-liners were there too stones were thrown and a police car burnt. Lazio found themselves with a large amount of cash from the exit of Veron and Nedved, but behind in terms of buying just as the powerful northern clubs were on spending sprees to regain dominance. Lazio officials moved belatedly to secure the Portuguese playmaker Rui Costa from troubled Fiorentina but, after a telephone call from Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Rui Costa went to Milan. Valencias Kily Gonzalez is being courted, and Lazio are hoping to secure Fabio Cannavaro from Parma. Sergio Cragnotti vowed that he would pull something out of the hat, not just to keep hot-headed fans at bay, but to ensure that the club he has built up does not return to the days when it was disparagingly known as Lazietta (little Lazio). Gaizka Mendieta wanted to leave Valencia. With Real Madrid showing a keen interest, Lazio seemed not to have had any chance whatsoever. However, with Valencias refusal to even negotiate with Real, Mendieta had no choice but to give serious consideration to Lazio. And eventually Valencia and Lazio agreed to a U.S. $41.5-million transfer for Spanish midfielder Gaizka Mendieta to the Serie A club last week. As a result, playmaker Mendieta has become the most-expensive Spanish player in history and the Worlds fourth most-expensive ever. The 27-year-old, who signed the four-year contract last Wednesday after Mendietas agent and the Rome club had finalized details, will earn U.S.$3.6 million a year. The agreement for the deal came after Valencia director general Manuel Llorente and financial director Javier Gomez went to Rome to meet Lazio president Sergio Cragnotti. Mendieta has been one of Valencias most influential players over the last two seasons when it twice reached the European Champions League final and he now hopes to achieve the ultimate prize in European club competition with Lazio. The 10 most expensive transfers in soccer history following the recent wave of transfer of players: 1. Zinedine Zidane (Frace), from Juventus (Italy) to Real Madrid (Spain) 2001/2002 pre-season: $64.8 million 2. Luis Figo (Portugal), from Barcelona (Spain) to Real Madrid (Spain), 2000/2001 pre-season: $53.2 million 3. Hernan Crespo (Argentina), from Parma (Italy) to Lazio (Italy), 2000/2001 pre-season: $48.8 million 4. Gaizka Mendieta (Spain), from Valencia (Spain) to Lazio (Italy), 2001/2002 pre-season: $41.5 million 5. Juan Sebastian Veron (Argentina), from Lazio (Italy) to Manchester United (England), 2001/2002 pre-season: $40 million 6. Rui Costa (Portugal), from Fiorentina (Italy) to AC Milan (Italy), 2001/2002 pre-season: $37.7 million 7. Christian Vieri (Italy), from Lazio (Italy) to Inter Milan (Italy), 1999/2000 pre-season: $36.8 million 8. Filippo Inzaghi (Italy), from Juventus (Italy) to AC Milan (Italy), 2001/2002 pre-season: $35.5 million 9. Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), from Parma (Italy) to Juventus (Italy), 2001/2002 pre-season: $34.5 million 10. Lilian Thuram (France), from Parma (Italy) to Juventus (Italy), 2001/2002 pre-season: $31.5 million All amounts are in U.S. dollars.

 

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