Nothing cheap about Rossi's Lazio

After a sixth straight win yielded third place in Serie A at the weekend, S.S. Lazio can no longer hide behind their low profile. "Qualifying for the UEFA Champions League is our real goal," confessed the Rome team's president Claudio Lotito. "And we are already working on strengthening the squad for Europe next season."

Good housekeeping
Those words are not, however, an invitation for Euro signs to start flashing before supporters' eyes. Since rescuing Lazio from bankruptcy at the end of Sergio Cragnotti's Scudetto-winning reign as president, Lotito has instilled a good housekeeping policy at the club. A salary cap goes hand in hand with investment in youth, with the aim being "to build a team that is not only the Lazio of today, but also of tomorrow". "This Lazio side is a little jewel that is getting bigger," he has said.

Departures
The tight purse-strings approach has not won universal approval. Lotito's cost-cutting measures resulted in the sales last summer of Fabio Liverani and Ousmane Dabo as well as the departure of crowd favourite Paolo Di Canio. Then, in January, captain Massimo Oddo was transferred to AC Milan. Yet there is no arguing with the results on the pitch.

Team spirit
Coach Delio Rossi has forged a strong team spirit, and got the best out of summer signings Cristian Ledesma, Stefano Mauri, Massimo Mutarelli and Stephen Makinwa. Lazio share the best defensive record in Serie A with neighbours AS Roma – with just 22 goals conceded – while boasting one of the league's most feared attacking partnerships in Tommaso Rocchi and Goran Pandev.

Italy class
"We are doing great, but we cannot let our guard down, we must continue playing like this and keep our feet on the ground," said Rocchi, who scored his 13th goal in 26 seasonal appearances in Sunday's 3-1 home success against Empoli FC. Besides the three points, the 29-year-old's reward was a call-up to the Italy squad for next week's UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifier against Scotland.

Star performers
Pandev, a 23-year-old Macedonian international, is three behind on ten goals but consolidating a reputation as one of the division's brightest prospects. Chile playmaker Luis Jiménez, 22, has similarly impressed since arriving in midwinter from Ternana Calcio, while 21-year-old Swiss international Valon Behrami has dropped back effectively from midfield to fill the gap left by Oddo.

Olimpico dream
Yet although only FC Internazionale Milano and Roma are better off in Serie A, Rossi insists his charges "still haven't achieved anything". "We will be able to celebrate only at the end of the season and if we achieve our goals. Until then, my dream is to see the Stadio Olimpico packed with 70,000 fans backing this team. It will be proof that we have done a good job."