Some fifteen miles from the Adriatic seaside resort of Rimini..........

enjikari · 07-02-2004, 03:33 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>Two Changes To Squad

7.10.04

San Marino have been forced to make two changes for the World Cup qualifying game at home to Turkey in a weeks time.

Julian Aliaj, a late call up last time, and Nicola Moretti, capped at u-21 level, have been moved into the squad to replace Michele Mancini and Roberto Gasperoni. Both Mancini and Gasperoni have suffered injuries at club level, but neither figured in the last couple of international games, so it should be no big loss.

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

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">M. Bollini - GK - 0/0 F. Gasperoni - GK - 24/0N. Giardi - GK - 2/0 F. Bollini - D R - 2/0 R. Gasperoni - D RC - 0/0 E. Gerini - D RC - 0/0M. Giacobbi - D R - 1/0 P. Cupi - D LC - 2/0A. Della Valle - D LC - 3/0 A. Gasperoni - D LC - 2/0N. Moretti (U21 caps) - D C - 0/0 D. Selva - D C - 1/0A. Francioni - DM C - 2/0 A. Raschi - DM C - 0/0N. Chiaruzzi (U21 caps)- M LC - 0/0 D. Rapanelli - M/FL - 0/0 J. Aliaj - M C - 0/0 M. Gasperoni - M C - 0/0R. Moroni - AM RLC - 2/0 M. Mariotti - AM LC - 0/0M. Zanotti - AMC - 3/0 G. Gatti - F LC - 2/0A. Selva - F LC - 18/3 M. Marani - S C - 3/0</pre>

enjikari · 07-02-2004, 04:01 PM

San Marino vs. Turkey - World Cup Qualifying European Section Group 3
Olimpico, Serravalle

San Marino - 4-1-3-2
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> A.Selva M.Marani ^ ^ ^ | | | | | | | | | | | | Subs: N. Chiaruzzi R. Moroni M. Zanotti G. Gatti M. Mariotti A. Raschi D. Rapanelli E. Gerini A. Francioni M. Bollini M. GiacobbiA. Della Valle P. Cupi A. Gasperoni F.Bollini N.Giardi</pre>
Turkey - 4-4-2 Attacking

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ^ S. Tuncay A. Serhat ^ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Hasan Sas Tayfun Tugay Nihat Subs: B. Recep B. Okan Y. Sergen Ü. Davala F. Sonkaya Ü. KaranH. Ünsal A. Emre Mustafa Dogan A. Fatih H. Sükür R. Rüstü</pre>

retired_brinker317 · 07-02-2004, 04:12 PM

I'd forgotten how much Olympico is like the Withdean

Superb stuff though. COME ONE A GOAL

enjikari · 07-02-2004, 06:15 PM

The first home game of our qualifying campaign was upon us, and our opponents would be Turkey, runners-up in the 2004 European Championships held in Portugal. They had a 100% record whereas we were yet to score a goal, so nobody expected much of a surprise.

Within minutes of the first whistle, we were under considerable amounts of pressure but we were battling hard to keep out the visitors. We tried to force some pressure of our own, but we kept losing possession in the vital areas of the pitch. We had won a throw-in quite close to the Turkish penalty area, but we gave the ball straight to Turkish right back, Akyil Fatih. He played a long ball forward that Della Valle failed to cut out, and this released Sanli Tuncay through on goal. He took it into the area before striking a venomous shot into the back of the net to give the away side the lead.

This gave Turkey a lift that they didn't necessarily need and they started to put us more and more pressure. Nihat and Tugay fired a couple of long range shots that brought out quality saves from Giardi, but it seemed only a matter before they would score a second. We were rarely on the ball and when we were, we were over-hitting the passes, just hacking away to relative safety. However, we were getting the ball, and we managed to get it right once, to score a shock equaliser.

Moroni had a free kick, and he hit a pass across the pitch to Francioni. Francioni tried to take on Mustafa Dogan, but couldn't get past him. He in swung a low cross anyway, and Andy Selva lost his man to latch onto the ball. He took one touch before hitting a scuffed shot, a shot that fooled the goalkeeper and sent him the wrong way, the ball trickling in the bottom right corner of the net. That was Selva's fourth goal for his country, only the countries eleventh goal ever, and it re-affirmed his status as the leading goal-scorer in San Marinese international football.

I was in shock, and unfortunately the players were in shock as well. So much infact, that within five minutes of levelling at one-all, we had gone three-one down. Mustafa Dogan robbed Selva and played an inch-perfect through ball to Nihat, who had all the time in the world to finish, which he did with great composure for Turkey's second goal. The third came just minutes later when Tuncay bore through the defence and drew the goalkeeper before sliding the ball to Akin Serhat, who had the easy task of putting the ball into an empty net, despite slight pressure from Della Valle and Paolo Cupi.

Half time came and went, and we had lost all belief in securing a point in the game. We sat back and let Turkey come at us, which was the downfall that led to the fourth goal. We had a chance to break through Marani, but he just hacked the ball away, giving it back to substitute Hasan Sas. Sas won a corner and Sergen took it, crossing for Tuncay, who rose above our own substitute Rapanelli to head home his second goal of the game.

We lost even more confidence after that goal, and Turkey scored an all most exact replica that allowed Tuncay to complete his hat trick. This time Dogan won the corner, and Sergen again crossed for Tuncay, who again beat Rapanelli in the air to score Turkey's fifth goal.

Turkey seemed to lost interest in the game after the fifth goal, and this allowed us have one more shot, the last attempt of the game. Rapanelli played a great ball through to Della Valle and he crossed it first time to Andy Selva. He jumped higher that Fatih in the box and powered a header at goal but Rüstü managed to save and hold the ball.

In the end, it was a slightly disappointing end to a match that had at one point, provided us with an amazing high. We now had a long wait before our next game, but it would be a game that we felt we could get at least a point from.

enjikari · 07-02-2004, 06:15 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>
San Marino Outclassed By Turkey

15.9.04

San Marino 1-5 Turkey (World Cup Quals (EUR) Grp 3)

San Marino continued on their run of defeats, suffering at the hands of a rampant Turkey side.

There were no surprises at the Olimpico stadium in Serravalla, as the far superior Turkey overcame San Marino by a resounding five goals to one. Sanli Tuncay hit a hat-trick (6, 64, 77) with Nihat (23) and Akin Serhat (27) adding to the tally. Andy Selva (21) scored the goal for the San Marinese.

The game went true to expectations as San Marino were, in the end, nowhere near a match for their opponents, Turkey. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">|No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|| 1 | Nicola Giardi | | 6 | || 1 | Reçber Rüstü | | 6 | || 2 | Fabio Bollini | | 5 | || 2 | Akyel Fatih | | 8 | || 3 | A. Della Valle | | 6 | || 3 | Hakan Ünsal | | 8 | || 4 | Alex Gasperoni | | 6 | || 4 | Mustafa Dogan | | 7 | || 5 | Goran Micevski | | 6 | || 5 | Asik Emre | Booked | 8 | || 6 | Alessandro Francioni | | 6 | || 6 | Nihat |(inj 56)| 7 | 1 || 7 | Raffaele Moroni (C) | | 6 | || 7 | Hasan Sas |(sub 56)| 7 | || 8 | Mirco Zanotti | | 3 | || 8 | Tugay (C) | | 8 | || 9 | Nicola Chiaruzzi |(sub 45)| 4 | || 9 | Tayfun | | 8 | ||10 | Andy Selva | | 6 | 1 ||10 | Akin Serhat |(sub 65)| 7 | 1 ||11 | Manuel Marani | | 6 | ||11 |* SANLI TUNCAY | |10 | 3 ||-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------||12 | Gianluca Gatti | | | ||12 | Biler Recep | | | ||14 | Massimo Mariotti | | | ||14 | Buruk Okan | | | ||15 | Andrea Raschi | | | ||15 | Yalçin Sergen | (on 56)| 7 | ||16 | David Rapanelli | (on 45)| 6 | ||16 | Ümit Davala | (on 56)| 7 | ||17 | Elia Gerini | | | ||17 | Fatih Sonkaya | | | ||18 | Michele Bollini | | | ||18 | Ümit Karan | | | ||19 | Michele Giacobbi | | | ||19 | Hakan Sükür | (on 65)| 7 | |</pre>

enjikari · 07-03-2004, 03:37 PM

*d_s - GGGGGOOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!

*
*jimbokav71 - It's San Marinese and I have no idea whether they are related. It would be pretty cool if they were though

*

--

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>
Experimental Squad Announced For Friendly

7.2.05

San Marino have announced an experimental squad for a friendly against Greece, a game which will provide the San Marinese players with much-needed international experience.

Players such as goalkeeper Federico Gasperoni, Marco Gasperoni, Andy Selva and Gianluca Gatti have all been forced to withdraw from the squad due to injury, which allows Michele Mancini and Julian Aliaj to return to the squad, with goalkeeper Stefano Guerra and two new strikers in Daniele Conti and Gabriele Muratori earning their first international call-ups.

Coming off the back of a 5-1 defeat to Turkey, San Marino will look for a confidence boosting result against Greece, but not much is expected. The most that they can probably hope for is to score another goal, the solitary strike against Turkey the first goal since a four-one defeat against Belgium in a World Cup Qualifying game on 6th June 2001. However, even a goal looks unlikely as, with Andy Selva not in the squad, no-one in the squad has an international goal to their name.

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 - 3/0 S. Guerra - GK - 0/0 M. Mancini - SW/D/DM C - 0/0 F. Bollini - D R - 3/0 R. Gasperoni - D RC - 0/0E. Gerini - D RC - 0/0 M. Giacobbi - D R - 1/0P. Cupi - D LC - 3/0 A. Della Valle - D LC - 4/0A. Gasperoni - D LC - 3/0 D. Selva - D C - 1/0A. Francioni - DM C - 3/0 A. Raschi - DM C - 0/0N. Chiaruzzi - M LC - 3/0 R. Gasperoni - M L - 0/0D. Rapanelli - M/FL - 1/0 J. Aliaj - M C (U-21 Caps) - 0/0R. Moroni - AM RLC - 3/0 M. Mariotti - AM LC - 0/0M. Zanotti - AMC - 4/0 D. Conti - F LC - 0/0M. Marani - S C - 4/0 G. Muratoria - S C - 0/0</pre>

enjikari · 07-03-2004, 04:11 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>
San Marino Take Full Advantage

16.2.05

San Marino 3-2 Greece (Friendly)

San Marino recorded their first ever win, albeit in a friendly, with a three-two victory over a highly unlucky Greece side.

San Marino took full advantage of Greece's bad luck, bad luck which cost them both of their goalkeepers in the warm up, meaning striker Zisis Vrysas and later Vasilis Lakis were forced to go in goal. It showed that they weren't goalkeepers, and by half-time, Raffaele Moroni (33), Daniele Conti (38) and Manuel Marani (45) had put the San Marinese three goals up at half-time. Greece fared a lot better in the second half and goals from Ioannis Amanatidis (50) and Fanouris Goundoulakis (pen 88) meant they came back into the game, but San Marino held out for the win.

People in San Marino are split as to whether this is infact a great occassion or whether they should wait until they win a competitive, or non-comeptitive match, where the opposition have a goalkeeper.

As a sidenote, congratulations should be given to San Marino's defensive midfielder Alessandro Francioni, who has just secured a move to Spanish club Espanyol. He is the only player to play outside of Italy/San Marino, and everyone at his previous club San Giovanni wishes him well. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">|No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|| 1 | Nicola Giardi | | 7 | || 1 | Zisis Vrysas (C) | | 7 | || 2 | Fabio Bollini |(sub 45)| 5 | || 2 | Loukas Vyntra |(sub 50)| 7 | || 3 | Alessandro Della Valle | | 7 | || 3 | Traianos Dellas (Bkd) |(sub 74)| 7 | || 4 | Alex Gasperoni |(sub 45)| 6 | || 4 | Nikos Dabizas (Bkd) |(sub 65)| 6 | || 5 | Goran Micevski | | 8 | || 5 | Christos Patsatzoglou | | 7 | || 6 | Alessandro Francioni | | 8 | || 6 | Vangelis Tsiolis |(sub 65)| 7 | || 7 |* RAFFAELE MORONI (C) | | 9 | 1 || 7 | Alexandros Tziolis |(inj 27)| 6 | || 8 | Mirco Zanotti | | 8 | || 8 | Giorgos Karagounis | | 7 | || 9 | Nicola Chiaruzzi |(sub 45)| 7 | || 9 | Dimitris Petkakis |(sub 65)| 7 | ||10 | Daniele Conti | | 7 | 1 ||10 | Ioannis Amanatidis |(sub 65)| 7 | 1 ||11 | Manuel Marani |(sub 45)| 7 | 1 ||11 | Demis Nikolaidis |(sub 74)| 5 | ||-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------||12 | Gabriele Muratori | (on 45)| 6 | ||12 | Dimitris Salpingidis | (on 74)| 7 | ||14 | Massimo Mariotti | | | ||14 | Anestis Agritis | (on 88)| 6 | ||15 | Andrea Raschi | | | ||15 | Panagiotis Lagos | (on 50)| 7 | ||16 | David Rapanelli | (on 45)| 6 | ||16 | Vasilis Seretis | (on 65)| 7 | ||17 | Elia Gerini | | | ||17 | Tasos Thanos | | | ||18 | Michele Bollini | | | ||18 | Ilias Eleftheriadis | | | ||19 | Michele Giacobbi | (on 45)| 5 | ||19 | Paraskevas Antas | (on 74)| 7 | ||20 | Roberto Gasperoni | | | ||20 | Giourkas Seitaridis |(sub 88)| 7 | ||21 | Davide Selva | (on 45)| 5 | ||21 | Fanouris Goundoulakis | (on 65)| 7 | 1 ||22 | Michele Mancini | | | ||22 | Nikos Arabatzis | (on 65)| 7 | ||23 | Julian Aliaj | | | ||23 | Vasilis Lakis | (on 65)| 7 | ||24 | Ricardo Gasperoni | | | ||24 | | | | |</pre>

*I'm not quite sure why they had no goalkeeper, so I wasn't really interested in writing a full match report due to the fact it was highly unfair.