San Marino, an Italian enclave of only 30,000 inhabitants, has a selection almost considered to be the worst rating in the world. On 14 November, his UEFA Nations League match against Gibraltar marked a historic moment for this passionate team.
The attack ended with tears of joy and disbelief, hugs and kisses worthy of a world-class victory, but the celebrations marked a 0-0 draw, an insignificant result for the leaderboards, but a record for San Marino.
The final score meant the first time San Marino did not lose two straight matches in the team’s history (in the last competitive match he tied 0-0 with Lichtenstein). Scenes of excitement followed, coaches jumped into the air and central defender Dante Rossi shed tears in his post-match interview.
The result would possibly seem bleak until we were told a little more about san Marino’s selection. If their football skills don’t win them much admiration, so do their passion, perseverance and sportsmanship.
San Marino players are usually fans who spend their days as bankers, dentists and accountants, and exercise as a team once a week. As such, the San Marino national team remained almost stationary at the back of the FIFA World Rankings.
The team has a poor gaming history. Prior to his two-match tie, he had lost his last 40 games. The team has so far conceded 730 goals and scored only 24. The only time he won a match in 2004 against Lichtenstein. San Marino fans, as passionate as they are, have come to settle for failure as a no-brainer. His selected motto is “Que una gioia”, never a joy.
It takes a remarkable strength of brain and character to keep walking in the box every time, knowing that the purpose is not so much to gain as to try to score as few purposes as possible. Head coach Franco Varrella told Sport Week mag how it was working with the team’s intellectual strength. “I brought other young people to the team to replace intellectuality. Previously, he went to an away game, scoring six goals and the next day going to the draws as if nothing had happened. As if taking blows was our inevitable destiny and that’s why, okay, at least we did an outside. Varrella was strict with the team, inciting professionalism and a preference for improvement.
“We have an absolutely different technique for matches compared to the past. Our challenge is what to do when we had the ball, thanks to Varrella, now we know,” said striker Nicola Nanni.
The team still has a lot of bad times to think about. “The worst memory,” defenseman Mirko Palazzi said, “is related to 0-13 against Germany in September 2006. They had just seen Italy win the World Cup on their own ground. “They came here thinking about the rematch, that we are in all Italian effects. They wanted to run us over. Without insults or taunts, they looked like robots, they got ahead of themselves and scored goals. “
The team has also been subjected to brutal and derogatory feedback from other football teams. After the team lost dramatically to Germany in 2016, Thomas Muller spoke strongly in his post-match interview, wondering “the interest of those unequal matches. “”I sense that it is special for them to play against world champions, I also perceive that they can only protect with misleading entries. That’s why, however, I wonder if those aren’t risk-bringing games. “
True to his character, however, the San Marino team quickly rejected the comments. Communications Director Alan Gasperoni wrote a long, sharp reaction detailing 10 reasons why the game was useful.
The merit of such continued violence is that moments of good luck are valuable and unforgettable. Matteo Vitaioli, who works as a graphic designer, recalls a purpose he noted five years ago against Lithuania. “It’s an equal purpose . . . I kicked with all the force I had in my body, the ball went under the bar. For two or three minutes there was general confusion, I buried myself through my companions, the first to jump on me my brother, an advocate. I still don’t know how they gave it to me before the others. “It was the first away goal the team scored in 14 years.
Determined and unwavering, the team perseveres in defeat after defeat, never wasting their love of the sport. As Zlatan Ibrahimovic once commented on the team, “don’t apologize, if you deserve it here. “
Now that they’ve won a historic streak of two undefeated games, victory is just around the corner. As goalkeeper Elia Benedettini pointed out at Sport Week, “Each of our matches is like writing a fairy tale. “
I’ve been writing about my country since I moved here five years ago after I graduated.
I’ve been writing about my country since I moved here five years ago after graduating from Cambridge University with a degree in art history.