::The Signori Era:: source -www.lazioclubmalta.comThe arrival of Sergio Cragnotti gave new impetus to Lazio as shown in the Summer 1992 transfer market, during which the club purchased established players like Cravero, Signori, Winter and Fuser, and picked up talented youngsters as Luzardi, Favalli, Bonomi and Marcolin. Apart from these there was the much-awaited debut of Gascoigne, after being out for a whole season due to injury. On the other hand one has to register the sale of Uruguayan striker Ruben Sosa. The club's declared goal was to clinch a Uefa cup berth that had been missing at Lazio for the past 15 years.
Lazio commenced the season with four consecutive draws with Signori as protagonist scoring four goals. At the end of the season the agile striker totalled 26 goals, a record for Lazio and was crowned Serie A top scorer. The squad led brilliantly by Dino Zoff at end managed to win the fifth spot in table securing a place in Europe and having the best forward line (65 goals) together with reigning champions Milan. The much-awaited Gascoigne alternated good performances to disappointing ones scoring 4 goals out of 22 matches. His first goal for Lazio wrote history as he headed in a derby equalizer with just a couple of minutes to go, becoming an instant hero. However, his best goal with Lazio was surely the opener scored at Pescara in which he dribbled all defence before delivering the ball in the net.
Lazio also had the satisfaction that after 7 years a Lazio player vested the Italian National kit. Infact, Signori and Fuser were selected by Sacchi to play for the "Azzurri". As well after 14 years, Lazio finished the league above city-rivals A.S. Roma. In the Coppa Italia, the "Eagles" reached the quarterfinals eliminating on their way Ascoli and Cesena before surrendering to Torino. Once again Signori was Lazio main scorer totalling 6 goals out of 6 matches.
In the Summer 1993, Cragnotti continued to strengthen the squad with the signings of goalkeeper Marchegiani, the striker Casiraghi, the perfect unknown Swiss-Italian Di Matteo and the Croatian forward Boksic. This boasted the fans that subscribed a record 36,000 season tickets. Signori although missing ten matches, confirmed himself once again as a formidable striker totaling 23 goals thus winning again the top scorer chart. His most important goal was surely that scored after just six minutes in the second round derby that also saw Marchegiani saving a penalty kick from Roma's captain Giannini. English ace Paul Gascoigne had an opaque season in which he missed half of it due to injury. In seventeen outings he found the net only in two occasions. Another aspect to highlight this season was the debut in Serie A of the much-promising youngster Alessandro Nesta and the surprising Di Matteo that not only became a regular in the squad but was also called with the Italian national squad.
The return in Europe started with an easy qualification over Bulgarian squad Lokomotiv Plovdiv but ended prematurely in second round against Boavista. Lazio won 1-0 the first leg thanks to a Winter strike but lost 2-0 in Oporto. In the Coppa Italia, Lazio's adventure ended abruptly in the first round as it was knocked out surprisingly by Avellino. In the domestic league, Lazio finished fourth thus qualifying once again for the Uefa Cup.
After the World Cup held in the USA, with Beppe Signori representing S.S.Lazio, the season 1994-95 started a new era in Italy since the three-point per victory rule was introduced. This was perceived to change the Italian defensive mentality as a draw was not anymore a gained-point but a two-point loss. It was time for offensive football. Cragnotti wanted a spectacular Lazio and decided to change the coach and opt for the offensive football mentor and highly appreciated Zdenek Zeman. The Czech coach had done very well in the previous seasons with Foggia, making the Puglia side the most spectacular squad in Italy made up of mostly unknown players. Now it was time for Zeman to prove his qualities in a big club. Dino Zoff, after four seasons as coach, accepted the post of managing President offered him by Sergio Cragnotti who limited himself as major shareholder.
With the arrival of Zeman, Rambaudi and Chamot (two ex-Foggia players) joined Lazio. Moreover, Zeman at Lazio found back Signori his former forward at Foggia. Expectations were high and some pundits even inserted Lazio among the title favourites. Lazio had a positive season, which though was dominated by Juventus who won the title after a nine-season drought. Zeman's boys clinched a second place on par level with Parma, alternating excellent performances to disappointing ones. One cannot forget the team's big wins, mainly at home, against Fiorentina (8-2), Foggia (7-1), Padova & Napoli (5-1), Inter (4-1), Milan(4-0) and away against Juventus (0-3). The team's worst performance was undoubtedly the first round derby lost 3-0, which however was vindicated in the second round encounter with a 2-0 victory. Lazio totalled a record of 69 goals; with Signori (17 goals), Casiraghi (12 goals) and Boksic (9 goals) forming an outstanding attacking trio.
Lazio even wrote its history as for the first it reached a quarterfinal of a European cup. In the Uefa Cup Lazio had to surrender to Borussia Dortmund with the ex Lazio forward Karl-Heinz Riedle scoring a decisive last minute goal in the return leg. Lazio had won the first leg through an own goal. In the return leg the Germans helped by a controversial referee won 2-0. In the previous rounds, Lazio had eliminated Dinamo Minsk, Trelleborg and Trabzonspor. In the Coppa Italia, it was eliminated by Juventus in the semi-finals.
In June 1995 Cragnotti reached a verbal agreement with Parma patron Calisto Tanzi to transfer Signori to the "gialloblu" for a record transfer fee. However, following heavy protests by the Lazio fans that adored the blonde forward, the deal was abandoned. While Signori stayed, Gascoigne left after three not much-impressive seasons. Lazio played the whole season 95/96 with just two foreign players, i.e. Winter and Boksic. After a very positive start that saw its climax with the 4-0 crashing of reigning-champions Juventus, Lazio had a decline especially following the injury of its goalkeeper Marchegiani who was replaced by Zeman's fellow Mancini. In the last eight matches, Lazio earned 20 points and climbed to third place, however 14 points adrift Milan who won the title. The talented home-product Nesta had became regular in the squad's defensive set-up and was even called to form part of the national team for the Euro 1996 expedition. Signori, once again won the top scorer table on par level with Bari's Igor Protti.
In the Coppa Italia, Lazio was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Inter after having eliminated Chievo and Udinese in the previous rounds. Even in the Uefa Cup, Lazio was knocked out early. Infact, after qualifying easily for the second round at the expense of Omonia Nicosia with Signori scoring his first Eurogoal with the Lazio shirt, Zeman's squad did not manage to overcome Lyon's challenge. The French won both matches qualifying with an aggregate score of 4-1.
In the summer 1996 transfer market Lazio was a main protagonist. Boksic was sold to Juventus, Winter to Inter while Di Matteo surprisingly joined Chelsea. On the other hand, the services of the previous season top scorer Protti were acquired together with the Australian midfielder Paul Okon, the South African defender Mark Fish and the Euro 96 revelation Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved following a bureaucratic debate with Feyenoord, with whom the player had already reached a verbal agreement to join them from Sparta Prague. In the first round Lazio had a couple of poor outings that was reflected in a poor league standing. To add insult to injury the team was eliminated in both the Uefa Cup and the Coppa Italia in absurd way and mostly due to Zeman's too-much offensive tactics. In the Uefa Cup, after eliminating Lens on a 2-1 aggregate score, thus taking revenge of the 1978 cup tie that had seen Lens crashing Lazio 6-0 in the second leg to overturn the first round 2-0 defeat in Rome, Lazio was knocked out by Tenerife. The side from the Canary Islands lost 1-0 in Rome through a Nedved's goal but managed to overturn the aggregate score at home wining 5-3.
In the Coppa Italia, after knocking out Avellino and Verona, Lazio was eliminated by Napoli in the quarter-finals, with the opponents finishing the return leg with nine players.
After 18 league matches and following two consecutive home defeats against Juventus and Bologna, Zeman was sacked and replaced by Dino Zoff. Under Zoff's cure the team collected an impressive run that saw Lazio ending in fourth place securing a Uefa Cup berth
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DOH Sile! Didn't you read his request? 
