retired_destiny1124

15.11.06
San Marino (0) Kazakhstan (2)
San Marino- None
Kazakhstan- Y.Guseinov 12-P K.Martyanov 37
MOM- Victor Kusainov, Kazakhstan

It is hard enough for us to stay close in matches, let alone when we give chances away. Still, I can't fault Paolo Cupi, who appeared to cleanly head away a throw-in, only to be whistled and the penalty awarded when they said he jumped into Kirill Martyanov in the area. Yuri Guseinov had an easy time converting the penalty kick to give them the lead. Their second goal came when we lost defensive coverage while retreating into our end following a botched throw-in down in their end. Martyanov was left unmarked at the edge of the six yard box and blasted a shot past Federico Gasperoni. Offensively, we were disappointing as we had no ability at all to move up the pitch. We couldn't get the backline to make a good outlet pass to get us going and we wasted many passes out of bounds. It was a match best forgotten as we take a break until 2007 when we return to Qualifying play.

***

My conclusions remain the same as we end the year. We are making strides defensively, but still will go only as far as our keeper takes us. If any of our keepers play bad, you might as well stick a fork in us. Offensively, we just haven't found the players to really make much go. There is a bit of talent, but most of our midfielders are woefully overmatched by the National sides we are facing.

retired_destiny1124

7.2.07
Moldova (0) San Marino (1)
Moldova- None
San Marino- A.Gasperoni 75
MOM- Andrea Domeniconi, San Marino

A WIN!!
It may not have been a qualifier- but we got a win! I had scrapped my 442 diamond approach to go back to flat midfield 442 counterattacking approach- I had come to the conclusion we just didn't have the personnel to play my preferred tactic. It paid off today as it was not a cheap win, but a win well earned. Federico Valentini got the call in net and he was superb today. They came close several times in the first half, but either Valentini got his hand on the shot, or they missed high over the net. We had a few chances of our own, but wasted the best ones by hanging on to the ball too much in the area. The lone goal came when Alex Gasperoni struck a scorching 30 yard free kick that sailed just inside the left post. What was even better is how we played when we had the lead in the late stages- we tackled well, and we also got a couple nice counterattacks out of it- but we couldn't gain the clinching goal. It was a great trip back to Italy with a lot of celebrating on the plane as we had earned a road win.

shannon2007

A win :o

Excellent, well done

retired_destiny1124

Thanks PM7- but now back to reality *sigh*

***

Bad news, very bad. Carlo Valentini injured his ankle and will miss at least a month if not longer. With his loss, it means I will again include Roberto Selva on the National side.

***

Fabio Guerra will be out for the Scotland match, so I recalled Marco Domeniconi to the squad.

***

24.3.07
Scotland (5) San Marino (0) Euro Championships Qualifier Group 3
Scotland- J.McFadden 2,71 B.Ferguson 31 M.Wilson 65 S.Whitaker 82
San Marino- None
MOM- James McFadden, Scotland

The bloom of our win disappeared quickly as Scotland showed its class in handily defeating us 5-0. We were in trouble right away when we blew the coverage on a corner and James McFadden drilled his shot past Federico Valentini. Barry Ferguson added to our woes when his 40 yard shot dipped right into the net past a stunned Valentini. We kept the match close for awhile and though we didn't get any good scoring chances, we were able to move the ball a bit offensively. The roof caved in in the second half. Marc Wilson drilled a 25 yarder past Valentini and McFadden escaped marking again to volley a winner into the left side of the net for his 2nd goal of the match. We failed coverage on another corner and Whitaker deflected it past Valentini to finish off the loss. Our backline didn't play particularly well, but Valentini didn't play well at all and his poor play was a major reason the match wasn't closer.

retired_destiny1124

28.3.07
San Marino (0) Angola (1)
San Marino- None
Angola- Mawete Junior 32
MOM- Rui Correira, Angola

We may have lost the friendly to Angola, but it was a good match and I was mostly pleased with the way we played. We generated enough offense that their keeper earned MOM honours because he made four excellent saves to keep us off the scoresheet. Defensively, we played ok, but the one goal was directly the fault of the backline as they couldn't clear a loose ball out of our area and they finally made us pay when Mawete Junior rapped it past Federico Gasperoni. It is clear we are improving, but we still have little room for error and today was a demonstration of that.

retired_destiny1124

2.6.07
Poland (5) San Marino (0) Euro Championships Qualifier Group 3
Poland- K.Kosowski 7 A.Neidzeilan 9 E.Smolarek 16 M.Zurawski 29,39
San Marino- None
MOM- Maciej Zurawski, Poland

We played terribly in losing to Poland 5-0. They scored five first half goals as we could not defend our end and Federico Gasperoni didn't play well in net. Poland pressed their huge height advantage as they bombarded us with balls in the air and we paid dearly as they scored on 4 headers. It was just a bad match all around and we will have to play much better as we continue on the road and now face Italy next.

retired_destiny1124

Another injury blow as we lost Raffaele Moroni on the eve of our match with Lithuania. I called up 24 year old AMC Luca Mariotti who is making his first appearance on the National roster. I am not sure who we will use in his place, but our midfield is now lacking two of our best talents- Alex Gasperoni and Moroni.

***

6.6.07
Lithuania (3) San Marino (0) Euro Championships Qualifier Group 3
Lithuania- A.Shirmelis 25 M.Cesnauskis 45-P D.Lapeikis 77
San Marino- None
MOM- Dainius Lapeikis, Lithuania

It was a loss, but one of those where we can build off of it. We managed little offensively, only a couple good shots when trying to rally from our 2-0 deficit, but we did move the ball up the pitch at times and that was encouraging given missing the midfielders that are hurt. Defensively, all three goals they scored were correctable mistakes (well, the penalty looked like a bad call- but nothing we can do about that). The first goal was caused when Nicola Cavalli tried to cover too much defensively- instead of sticking to his right wing. He ventured into the middle closing down and they swung the play down his wing which gave Andrius Shirmelis a wide open chance from just inside the area. It was one of those plays you cringe at when coaching, because you see it coming when a player abandons the carefully planned defensive scheme. Nicola Gasperoni made what looked to be a very good header to clear away a cross, but was surprised to be handed a yellow card and penalty kick for it. Trailing 2-0 after the penalty, we tried to press the tempo a bit in the second half and we did have Lithuania scrambling back a bit more. Their last goal was just an unfortunate one as two of our players just plain missed heading the ball away on a corner and Lapeikis was camped unmarked on the far corner of the net. The match was another example of how physically outmanned we are by most any other side- we lack height/heading ability so we rarely win headers offensively and we are almost always at a severe disadvantage pace wise which means we have a difficult time pressing the other side, while all too often we are pressed quickly on the ball. The player I was most disappointed in was Andy Selva- for being our highest valued player he has not contributed much to us of late.

shannon2007

Yeah. I mean ffs, losing to Scotland is embarrasing

retired_destiny1124

Supa- true, we haven't come close to playing that well since the win...

PM7- Scotland may be Scotland, but they are worlds better than us minnows

***

1.9.07
Italy (2) San Marino (0) Euro Championships Qualifier Group 3
Italy- A.Cassano 7,52
San Marino- None
MOM- Antonio Cassano, Italy

We managed no offense at all against Italy, they are just too big, too fast for us- but their fans gave us a round of grudging applause as we left the pitch after only losing to them 2-0. Alessandro Capicchioni had a stellar debut in net for us and considering they hoisted up 34 shots at him- he was the difference in only losing to them 2-0. He did get solid support from our backline- especially Roberto Selva and also midfielder Andrea Domeniconi- in helping limit them to only two goals. Both goals came from Antonio Cassano and both came after he escaped marking during free kicks. I would have liked to have seen a little offense, but they are just too good for us at this point.

retired_destiny1124

5.9.07
San Marino (0) Scotland (5) Euro Championships Qualifier Group 3
San Marino- None
Scotland- M.Wilson 7 P.Gallagher 16,30 J.McFadden 49 D.O'Riordan 53
MOM- Mark Wilson, Scotland

In a reverse of the Italian match, this match was not nearly as lopsided as the score would make it seem. Alessandro Capicchioni had no magic today- instead Scotland scored 4 "Bizarre" goals in a row after Mark Wilson had drilled a rebound in to give them the lead. Gallagher's pair of goals were both missed headers that then caught the corners of the net. McFadden's goal was an inswinging free kick from just inside the corner and O'Riordan's was a missed header that caught Capicchioni off balance and rolled past him into the net. You can't exactly write off 4 "Bizarre" goals- not without some fault to the keeper and Capicchioni's rating for the match mirrored that impression. We did manage to move the balls some against Scotland, but only managed a couple ineffectual shots. The match featured the first San Marinese player in many seasons to be under contract to a major side- as I had called up Nicola Giardi as an injury replacement and the 19 year old AMC is under contract with Inter.