This Week In Lazio History: July 20-26
This Week In Lazio History: July 20-26A few official matches in the week of July 20-26 in Lazio history as we remember one of the Microbes, Luigi Vettraino.Matches of the WeekDate: Sunday, July 20, 2014Venue: Stadio Rodolfo Zandegiacomo, Auronzo di CadoreFixture: Lazio Indonesia U23 2-0, Pre-Season FriendlyTwo goals, a missed penalty and three posts against the Indonesian U23Date: Saturday, July 21, 2007Venue: Lebring, AustriaFixture: Lazio West Ham United 2-0, Pre-Season FriendlyLazio beat West Ham in the first-ever encounter between the two teams with goals from Stendardo and PandevDate: Thursday, July 23, 2020Venue: Stadio Olimpico, RomeFixture: Lazio Cagliari 2-1Milinkovic and Immobile overturn Simeones goal to reach the Champions League dream.Date: Tuesday, July 25, 2000Venue: Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz (Liechtenstein)Fixture: Bayer Leverkusen Lazio 0-0,Pre-Season FriendlyLazio hold the Germans to a goalless draw despite absences and little training.Date: Sunday, July 26, 2020Venue: Stadio Bentegodi, VeronaFixture: Verona Lazio 1-5Three goals from Immobile take him closer to the European Golden Boot.In Memory: Luigi VettrainoIn July 1932, the Lazio manager Karl Strumer organized a draft for the under-14s. This was something unheard of in Italy at the time. The Microbes, as they were called, were kids born in 1920 and 1921, trained twice a week, had tactical and behavioural lessons and started playing and winning around Italy.They became so famous that on June 11, 1933, they were invited to Vienna for a game against Wacker. The match was played before a 45,000 crowd, gathered to watch the national Wunderteam play against Romania. It was a 40-minute game.The Microbes managed to draw the match and with a bit of luck might have even won it. The tiny little Biancocelesti against the much bigger Austrian youngsters left the stadium to an enthusiastic crowd. For the Italian media, it was a triumph and when the kids arrived in Rome they were overwhelmed by fans, relatives and the entire Lazio first team.Among the players in Vienna, there was the smallest of them all, only 1.34 metres and nicknamed Squirrel. His name was Luigi Vettraino.Vettraino was born on September 21, 1920, in Rome and the story that has just been described is how he started playing for Lazio. He later grew to 1.60 metres and was the ideal attacking partner for Silvio Piola, the legendary Italian forward. The Squirrel was fast, imaginative, a good dribbler, powerful and acrobatic.Unfortunately, in 1941 he got a very bad infection and had to stop playing. His career was over at just 26. He made 71 appearances with 18 goals for the Biancocelesti and died in Rome on July 25, 1998.Vettraino was probably one of the greatest players Lazio have ever had and would have reached incredible heights if he had not been so unlucky.Birthdays This WeekUmberto Lenzini, 20-7-1912, President 1965-80Bob Lovati, 20-7-1927, goalkeeper, Italy, 147 appearances (1955-61, manager, assistant and many other things!!!)Alfredo Cella I, 21-7-1895, forward, Italy, 37 appearances, 11 goals (1914-15, 1919-22)Corrado Giubilo, 21-7-1921, goalkeeper, Italy, 47 appearances (1939-48)Vincenzo Zucchini, 21-7-1941, midfielder, Italy, 30 appearances, 4 goals (1979-80)Jordan Lukaku, 21-7-1994, defender/midfielder, Belgium, 85 appearances, 1 goal (2016-20)Giuseppe Bigogno, 22-7-1909, manager 1951-53Alessandro Grandoni, 22-7-1977, defender, Italy, 50 appearances, 1 goal (1995-98)Giancarlo Oddi, 23-7-1948, defender, Italy, 135 appearances (1967-75)Orlando Rozzoni, 23-7-1937, forward, Italy, 101 appearances, 41 goals (1959-66)John Hansen, 24-7-1924, forward, Denmark, 27 appearances, 15 goals (1954-55)Dino Baggio, 24-7-1971, midfielder, Italy, 62 appearances, 1 goal (2000-03)Joao Fantoni I, 24-7-1905, forward, Brazil, 113 appearances, 39 goals (1930-35)Angelo Miceli, 25-07-1910, President 1963-64Ernesto Calisti, 25-7-1965, defender, Italy, 58 appearances, 1 goal (1984-86)Igli Tare, 25-7-1973, forward, Albania, 71 appearances, 5 goals (2005-08 and then sporting director 2009-2023)Antonio Bisigato, 26-7-1911, forward, Italy, 73 appearances, 13 goals (1932-36)Stephen Makinwa, 26-7-1983, forward, Nigeria, 56 appearances, 3 goals (2006-10)Maurizio Montesi, 26-7- 1957, midfielder, Italy, 37 appearances (1979-83)This Article Was Written by Dag Jenkins & Simon Basten from Lazio Stories. More Information on the Above Matches and Players can be found on LazioStories.com.