Lichtsteiner: Lazio’s new hero?

When Lazio fans found out that Lichtsteiner was going to play for their team, they expected him to be a back-up for young prodigy De Silvestri: the 1.8 Million Euro Transfer fee was seen as evidence that the Swiss player wasn’t worth too much, together with the general prejudice in Italy that Swiss players are not sufficiently good for the local Championship (there have many disappointments: Vogel, Pascolo, Keller, Vonlanthen, Vega etc.). However, Lazio’s coach Delio Rossi has made the Swiss defender play 7 official games out of 8 and Stephan’s popularity is rising every matchday. His solid performances in defense (especially, a remarkable last-gap save on Cassano in the first minutes of Lazio-Sampdoria) which remind Lazio fans of Oddo and Nesta and his tireless runs on the wings, providing assists (such as that for Zarate’s wonder goal in Lazio-Sampdoria) and putting pressure on the other teams are making of him one of the best transfers in the Italian Serie A. He has relegated De Silvestri to the bench already and many Lazio fans congratulate the often criticized team management for such an excellent discovery.
Playing regularly for a team that is now in the top-4 in one of the world’s most competitive championships is certainly wonderful news for Ottmar Hitzfeld who can now count upon a player who is becoming more and more mature. Lazio fans admire Lichtsteiner’s commitment and seriousness and some even confess that they’re looking forward to buying their team shirt with Licht’s name on the back!
Furthermore, his transfer value has gone up by 177% according to La Gazzetta dello Sport: he’s now worth 5 Million Euros.
Keep up the great work Stephan! It looks as if Lazio fans are already forgetting Behrami!