enjikari

*Fraid so Kyle *

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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
One Change For Belgium Game

5.10.06

Just one change has been made to the San Marino squad as they prepare to take on Belgium in the Olimpico Stadium in Serravalle.

Alex Gasperoni has been recalled to the sqad now his suspension is over and his injury has healed. More good news was that Alessandro Francioni has shaken off a knock to keep his place in the squad.

San Marino are still looking for a first point in this qualifying campaign and, after the thrashing they recieved from Spain, they will probably be happy with a draw from the Belgium game.

The squad is listed in full below. Numbers show caps/goals <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">M. Bollini - GK - 0/0 N. Giardi - GK - 12/0 S. Molinari - GK - 2/0 M. Mancini - SW/D/DM C - 0/0 F. Bollini - D R - 12/0 E. Gerini - D RC - 2/0M. Giacobbi - D R - 2/0 S. Toccaceli - D RC - 2/0P. Cupi - D LC - 12/0 A. Della Valle - D LC - 15/0 A. Gasperoni - D LC - 10/0 A. Francioni - DM C - 12/0A. Raschi - DM C - 2/0 N. Chiaruzzi - M LC - 14/0R. Gasperoni - M L - 0/0 D. Rapanelli - M C - 3/0S. Celli - M C - 2/0 M. Gasperoni - M C - 0/0R. Moroni - AM RLC - 14/2 M. Zanotti - AMC - 13/1D. Biordi (U21 caps) - F RC - 0/0 A. Selva - S C - 27/10D. Conti - F LC - 11/3 G. Muratori - S C - 2/0</pre>

enjikari

San Marino vs. Belgium - European Championship Qualifying Section Group 1
Olimpico Stadium, Serravalle

San Marino - 4-1-3-2
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> D. Conti A. Selva ^ ^ ^ | | | | | | | | | | | | Subs: N. Chiaruzzi R. Moroni M. Zanotti A. Raschi M. Giacobbi S. Toccacelli E. Gerini N. Giardi ^ A. Francioni ^ D. Rapanelli | | D. Biordi | | | |A. Della Valle A. Gasperoni P. Cupi E. Gerini S. Molinari</pre>

Belgium - 4-4-2 Attacking
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ^ K. Vandenbergh E. Mpenza ^ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | B. Goor J. Blondel T. Buffel M. Hendrikx Subs: J-F. Gillet K. Vanderhaeghen P. Asubonteng Y. Vanderhaeghe X. Chen J. Cavens J. Van Damme Junior D. Van Buyten P. Collen S. Huysegems G. De Vlieger</pre>

enjikari

With the defeat to Spain now hopefully behind us, we now faced the visit of the Belgians, strong favourites to condemn us to our third straight defeat. Alex Gasperoni and Alessandro Francioni returned to the team, otherwise the same line-up took to the field for the match.

Both teams got off to a good start and it was us who had the first effort on goal, Selva forcing a good stop from De Vlieger, before Belgium had a chance of their own when Marc Hendrikx sent his shot inches wide of the post. We were getting plenty of possession and I was delighted when we made it count, as we took the lead in the tenth minute of the match. Andy Selva got clean through behind the defence only to see his shot blocked well by the legs of De Vlieger. He showed good composure though and tucked away the loose ball into the back of an unguarded net to give us the lead.

This goal seemed to spur on both sides, us to get another goal and Belgium to get an equaliser, and there was lots of exciting attacking play. Molinari produced a fantastic fingertip save after Blondel's header took a deflection and then Moroni came close at the other end with a long-range effort. Belgium had the next goal-scoring opportunity and this time they took it, levelling the match at one goal each. Buffel sent Vandenbergh clear with a lovely long ball and Vandenbergh continued his run to take it into the box. He looked up and chipped the ball right towards the direction of Emile Mpenza, who hit the ball into the roof of the net on the half-volley.

We didn't let this affect our game though and we continued to attack in the same fashion we had been doing all game. A good move involving Francioni and Bollini set up Selva to hit a shot just wide before Molinari produced another couple of fine saves from Vandenbergh's volley and Mpenza's header.

Belgium were beginning to stamp more authority on the game, however, and it came as no surprise when they took the lead on the stroke of half-time. Junior cut out a long ball by Gasperoni and headed it forward to Jonathon Blondel. Blondel turned well on the ball and played it long looking for Mpenza. He flicked it on to Vandenbergh who took it in his stride before scoring a with low drive down to the Molinari's left hand side.

This was a big blow right on half time, but all credit must go to us as well still came in level at the break as we equalised almost immediately. Conti played the ball back to Chiaruzzi from kick-off and Chiaruzzi took the ball over the half way line before passing to Raffaele Moroni. Moroni played it long to Selva and Selva headed the ball back to Zanotti who hit it first time to Francioni. Francioni played a superb through ball and it was Nicola Chiaruzzi who was bursting into the area, showing good control before beating De Vlieger to cap a wonderful move with his first goal for San Marino.

The second half started in the same way that the whole of the first half had been played with chance after chance being created for both sides. Unfortunately for us, Belgium wasted no time in regaining their lead and scored within two minutes of the restart. Buffel played a superb pass right into the ball of Kevin Vandenbergh's run and he wasted no time in smashing the ball in low, past the despairing dive of Molinari, for his second of the game.

I felt we could still come back into the game and my feelings were justified when first Moroni and then Zanotti came close with header that went just wide and just over. We were nearly gifted and equaliser when the communication between De Vlieger, thirty yards from goal, and Pieter Collen was non-existent but Daniele Conti could only watch as his effort curled towards the empty net before striking the post and bouncing out.

Mpenza, Hendrikx and Blondel all came close to sealing the win with a fourth goal for Belgium before Vandenbergh managed to get it to complete his hat-trick. Goor hit a vicious shot towards goal that Molinari did superbly to tip away but the ball fell straight to the feet of Vandenbergh who was left with the simple task of putting the ball into and wide-open net.

We still continued to attack, despite being seemingly out of the game, and both Selva and Conti came close to reducing our deficit before we were finally buried by a dubious penalty. Zanotti fell over, into Cavens, and the referee deemed this enough to award the visitors the spot-kick. Up stepped defender Pieter Collen, and he coolly tucked the ball away, giving the Belgians a five-two victory.

enjikari

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
San Marino Beaten As Belgium Emphasise Greater Class

14.10.05

San Marino 2-5 Belgium (European Championship Qualifying Group 1)

San Marino were eventually beaten by Belgium's greater class as they went down by five goals to two at their Olipmico Stadium.

It was San Marino, however, who took the lead when Andy Selva (10) fired home. Emile Mpenza (14) brought the visitors level before Kevin Vandenbergh (44) put them ahead. Nicola Chiaruzzi (45+) got his first international goal to level the scores again but goals from Vandenbergh (47, 75), to complete his hat-trick, and a penalty from Pieter Collen (88) saw the Belgian side take all three points.

In the end, it was probably a fair result as Belgium just shaded the game and deserved to take all three points. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">|No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|| 1 | Stefano Molinari | | 6 | || 1 | Geert De Vlieger | | 7 | || 2 | Fabio Bollini | | 6 | || 2 | Pieter Collen | | 8 | 1 | | 3 | Alessandro Della Valle | | 6 | || 3 | Jelle Van Damme | | 7 | || 4 | Paolo Cupi | | 4 | || 4 | Daniel Van Buyten | | 7 | || 5 | Alex Gasperoni | | 6 | || 5 | Junior |(sub 62)| 7 | || 6 | Alessandro Francioni | | 7 | || 6 | Marc Hendrikx | | 7 | || 7 | Raffaele Moroni (C) | | 7 | || 7 | Bsrt Goor (C) | | 7 | || 8 | Mirco Zanotti | | 6 | || 8 | Thomas Buffel |(sub 62)| 4 | || 9 | Nicola Chiaruzzi | | 7 | 1 || 9 | Johnathon Blondel | | 6 | ||10 | Daniele Conti | | 7 | ||10 | Emile Lokonda Mpenza |(sub 73)| 9 | 1 ||11 | Andy Selva | | 7 | 1 ||11 |* KEVIN VANDENBERGH | |10 | 3 ||-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------||12 | Andrea Raschi | | | ||12 | Jean-François Gillet | | | ||14 | Michele Giacobbi | | | ||14 | Kjell Vanderhaeghen | | | ||15 | Stefano Toccacelli | | | ||15 | Prince Asubonteng | | | ||16 | Elia Gerini | | | ||16 | Yves Vanderhaeghe | (on 70)| 7 | ||17 | Nicola Giardi | | | ||17 | Xavier Chen | (on 70)| 7 | ||18 | David Rapanelli | | | ||18 | Jurgen Cavens | (on 70)| 7 | ||19 | Davide Biordi | | | ||19 | Stein Huysegems | | | |</pre>

enjikari

Three games have been played by all teams in the group, and after these games Slovenia are the only team with a 100% record and with nine points. Spain and Belgium are undefeated but have just seven points whilst Macedonia have won one game and have three points. Kazakhstan and ourselves have yet to record a point within the group, but we are bottom on goal difference.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Group 1 P W D L F A PTS-----------------------------------------------------------------Slovenia 3 3 0 0 5 1 9-----------------------------------------------------------------Spain 3 2 1 0 9 1 7Belgium 3 2 1 0 9 5 7FYR of Macedonia 3 1 0 2 2 3 3Kazakhstan 3 0 0 3 3 7 0SAN MARINO 3 0 0 3 3 14 0</pre>


<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Results so far: | Saturday 9th Spetember 2006 | | FYR of Macedonia 2-1 Kazakhstan | SAN MARINO QUALIFYING RESULTS SAN MARINO 1-2 Slovenia | Turkey 1-1 Spain | San Marino 1-2 Slovenia | Spain 7-0 San Marino Wednesday 13th September 2006 | San Marino 2-5 Belgium | Kazakhstan - San Marino Slovenia 1-0 FYR of Macedonia | FYR of Macedonia - San Marino Spain 7-0 SAN MARINO | Slovenia - San Marino Kazakhstan 2-3 Belgium | Belgium - San Marino | San Marino - Kazakhstan Saturday 14th October 2006 | San Marino - Spain | San Marino - FYR of Macedonia FYR of Macedonia 0-1 Spain | Slovenia 2-0 Kazakhstan | SAN MARINO 2-5 Belgium |</pre>

enjikari

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
No Change For Friendly Trip

5.2.07

No changes have been made to the San Marinese squad ahead of their visit to the Ukraine for an international friendly.

Despite heavy defeats to both Spain and Belgium, the squad has been kept the same to allow the players to continue to add experince to their international game.

After this game, San Marino face trips to both Kazakhstan and Macedonia and they will be looking to earn their first points in these two games.

The squad is listed in full below. Numbers show caps/goals <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">M. Bollini - GK - 0/0 N. Giardi - GK - 12/0 S. Molinari - GK - 3/0 M. Mancini - SW/D/DM C - 0/0 F. Bollini - D R - 13/0 E. Gerini - D RC - 2/0M. Giacobbi - D R - 2/0 S. Toccaceli - D RC - 2/0P. Cupi - D LC - 13/0 A. Della Valle - D LC - 16/0 A. Gasperoni - D LC - 11/0 A. Francioni - DM C - 13/0A. Raschi - DM C - 2/0 N. Chiaruzzi - M LC - 15/1R. Gasperoni - M L - 0/0 D. Rapanelli - M C - 3/0S. Celli - M C - 2/0 M. Gasperoni - M C - 0/0R. Moroni - AM RLC - 15/2 M. Zanotti - AMC - 14/1D. Biordi (U21 caps) - F RC - 0/0 A. Selva - S C - 28/11D. Conti - F LC - 12/3 G. Muratori - S C - 2/0</pre>

enjikari

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
Ukraine Come Away With Expected Win

14.2.07

Ukraine 2-0 San Marino (Friendly)

In a game where a defeat was expected the Ukraine beat San Marino, but they only managed to score twice to win by two goals to nil.

There were no surprises as Ukraine took the lead through Andriy Shevchenko (63) and then secured the win with a goal from subsitute Anatoliy Tymoschuk (87).

San Marino weren't dominated throughout the game however, they still put in a good team performance, and they will take hope from this game as they move on to face Kazakhstan and Macedonia in Euro 2008 qualifiers. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">|No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|| 1 | Olexandr Shovkovskyi | | 7 | || 1 | Stefano Molinari | | 7 | || 2 | Dmytro Parfenov |(sub 73)| 8 | || 2 | Fabio Bollini | | 6 | || 3 | Sergiy Fedorov |(sub 80)| 7 | || 3 | Alessandro Della Valle | | 6 | || 4 | Vladyslav Vaschuk |(sub 60)| 7 | || 4 | Paolo Cupi | | 8 | || 5 | Gennadiy Zubov |(sub 60)| 7 | || 5 | Alex Gasperoni | | 5 | || 6 | Olexandr Aliev |(sub 73)| 8 | || 6 | Alessandro Francioni | | 7 | || 7 | Andriy Husin (C) | | 7 | || 7 | Raffaele Moroni (C) | | 7 | || 8 | Sergiy Zakarlyuka |(sub 80)| 8 | || 8 | Davide Biordi | | 6 | || 9 | Vyacheslav Omelchenko |(sub 63)| 7 | || 9 | Nicola Chiaruzzi | | 7 | ||10 |* ANDRIY SHEVCHENKO |(sub 87)|10 | 1 ||10 | Daniele Conti | | 7 | ||11 | Andrei Pereplyotkin |(sub 60)| 6 | ||11 | Andy Selva | | 6 | ||-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------||12 | Maxym Levytskyi | | | ||12 | Andrea Raschi | | | ||14 | Gennadiy Moroz | (on 60)| 7 | ||14 | Michele Giacobbi | | | ||15 | Taras Kabanov | | | ||15 | Stefano Toccacelli | | | ||16 | Sergiy Zhdanov | | | ||16 | Elia Gerini | | | ||17 | Olexandr Yatsenko | (on 73)| 6 | ||17 | Nicola Giardi | | | ||18 | Sergiy Shyschenko | (on 80)| 6 | ||18 | David Rapanelli | | | ||19 | Sergiy Rebrov | (on 87)| 6 | ||19 | Simone Celli | | | ||20 | Olexandr Rykun | (on 63)| 7 | ||20 | Marco Gasperoni | | | ||21 | Sergiy Puchkov | (on 80)| 7 | ||21 | Gabriele Muratori | | | ||22 | Oleg Venglinskyi | (on 73)| 7 | ||22 | Michele Bollini | | | ||23 | Olexiy Belik | (on 60)| 7 | ||23 | | | | ||24 | Anatoliy Tymoschuk | (on 60)| 7 | 1 ||24 | | | | |</pre>

enjikari

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
Squad Kept For Trips To Kazakhstan and Macedonia

22.3.07

The San Marinese squad has been kept unchanged ahead of their visits to both Kazakhstan and Macedonia for two crucial Euro 2008 qualifiers.

A good performance a month ago in a friendly against the Ukraine may have given the squad confidence ahead of the upcoming games.

San Marino have yet to chalk up a point in their qualifying group, but neither have Kazakhstan, so that may be the more important of the two games.

The squad is listed in full below. Numbers show caps/goals <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">M. Bollini - GK - 0/0 N. Giardi - GK - 12/0 S. Molinari - GK - 4/0 M. Mancini - SW/D/DM C - 0/0 F. Bollini - D R - 14/0 E. Gerini - D RC - 2/0M. Giacobbi - D R - 2/0 S. Toccaceli - D RC - 2/0P. Cupi - D LC - 14/0 A. Della Valle - D LC - 17/0 A. Gasperoni - D LC - 12/0 A. Francioni - DM C - 14/0A. Raschi - DM C - 2/0 N. Chiaruzzi - M LC - 16/1R. Gasperoni - M L - 0/0 D. Rapanelli - M C - 3/0S. Celli - M C - 3/0 M. Gasperoni - M C - 0/0R. Moroni - AM RLC - 16/2 M. Zanotti - AMC - 14/1D. Biordi (U21 caps) - F RC - 0/0 A. Selva - S C - 29/11D. Conti - F LC - 13/3 G. Muratori - S C - 2/0</pre>

enjikari

Kazakhstan vs. San Marino - European Qualifying Section Group 1
Central, Almaty

Kazakhstan - 5-3-2
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> &lt;-------------S. Kim A. Gorbunov-----------&gt; ^ V. Guseinov V. Pak Y. Zarechny ^ | | | | Subs: | | A. Volkov | | Y. BaisakovA. Kusainov S. Moskalenko V. Iskakov E. Iskakov A. Loria M. Shibalaev &lt;-------M. Moskalenko D. Zarechny O. Loria-------&gt; A. Finonchenko V. Vikhlyanov</pre>

San Marino - 4-1-3-2
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> D. Conti A.Selva ^ ^ ^ | | | | | | | | | | | | Subs: N. Chiaruzzi R. Moroni M. Zanotti A. Raschi M. Giacobbi S. Celli E. Gerini N. Giardi A. Francioni D. Rapanelli D. BiordiA. Della Valle M.Mancini S.Toccacelli F. Bollini S. Molinari</pre>

enjikari

We faced our trip to Kazakhstan next and we were hopeful of a win because, like us, they had yet to get a point within the group and were clearly as weak as ourselves. We took a huge blow in the warm-up, however, when we lost both of our central defenders in Paolo Cupi and Alex Gasperoni, meaning that Stefano Toccacelli and Michele Mancini had to deputise.

Both teams looked nervous and played cautiously early on, not wanting to make the first mistake, and there were few chances in the opening fifteen minutes of the game. Selva had a header saved by Vikhlyanov for our best chance and Yury Zarechny hit a shot just over the cross bar for the home side's best chance.

The home side seemed to be lifted by this as it showed them we were weak in defence with a new partnership, and they took full advantage when they took the lead. Gorbunov and Sergey Moskalenko linked up well to draw a foul from Toccacelli, who was out of position and was left with no choice but to concede a free kick. Dmitry Zarechny was the one who took it and he fired in a curling shot that went straight into the bottom corner.

We looked shaken by this goal and Kazakhstan came close to furthering their lead twice through Kim, but on both occasions Molinari produced good saves to keep the ball out of the back of the net. These two close shaves woke us up however, and we got back into the game with only our second decent chance. Raffaele Moroni picked the ball up on the halfway line and outpaced the fullback to get in behind the defence. He got to the area and cut inside, looking up to find Conti in support. Moroni played the ball across after drawing the goalkeeper and Daniele Conti was left with a simple finish to level the scores at one each.

This goal had the reverse effect to the Kazakh's opening goal, as we now looked full of confidence and the Kazakh's looked like they weren't sure what to do next. Conti, and then Zanotti, troubled Vikhlyanov before half time and then as the second half resumed, Moroni brought an early save from the Kazakh keeper as we continued in the same attacking vain that we had closed the half with.

A poor goal kick from Molinari let Kazakhstan create themselves two good chances to regain the lead, but he made up for himself when he kept out a shot from Yury Zarechny and then a header from Oleg Loria. They did regain their lead moments later, however, and our defence frailties were shown once again. Kusainov went down the wing and got to the byline un-challenged and Guseinov met his cross. Guseinov was not challenged as he rose for his header and he had plenty of time to guide the ball past Molinari into the back of the net for two goals to one.

Despite Moroni coming close to levelling the scores with a free kick, things got from bad to worse for us as we had Fabio Bollini red carded for kicking out at Kim. This effectively ended the game as a contest, and we weren't able to launch and sort of attack in the final few minutes, meaning we were now clear at the bottom of the table.