retired_brittni10

Thoroughly deserved

KUTGW!!

enjikari

*Cheers B_o_N, Rap and Wag - obviously, I'd like to thank my parents, my producer...blah blah blah. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to celebrate the only way that San Marino knows how

----

We took to the field in Slovakia full of hope and confidence, almost certain we could come away with at least a point. Indeed, some of the players were confident that we could take all three and if we could do that, there was a possibility that we could go up to third in the group behind group leaders Norway and Turkey. However, after just one minute of play, the hopes of third place were no longer there.

Gasperoni looked to play a long ball forward out of defence but Konecny cut it out. He played the ball to Vittek and Vittek jinked past the now out-of-position Gasperoni and chipped the ball into the area for Oravec. Oravec showed good movement to make himself the space he needed and he hit the ball left-footed on the half volley for the opening goal in the opening minute.

We couldn't so much as a touch on the ball in the opening stages and we barely had time to recover before things got worse sooner rather than later. Martin Petras played a wonderful ball forward for Marian Kurty, who showed good control before aiming a cross from the right towards the near post. The ball evaded the head of Gasperoni, desperate to clear the danger, and Breska flicked the ball onto Vittek. Vittek drove the ball first time right footed and the shot went in the bottom corner, just out the reach of Giardi in goal.

Things picked up for us almost immediately when Daniele Conti showed some quality to have our first shot of the game. He ran from the centre circle, skipping past the challenge of Strba on his way to the edge of the area. He continued his run, taking the ball into the box, before hitting a shot hard and low towards goal and he was highly unlucky to see the shot go inches wide of the post.

That was one of our very few highlights in the game however, and Slovakia showed us minutes later they were more than happy to continue attacking to add to the two goals they had already. Chiaruzzi slid in on Karhan with a superb tackle to win the ball in midfield but Kurty nicked in to win the ball with Chiaruzzi still on the floor. Kurty played the ball to Oravec and he played it into the six-yard box, but Gasperoni was on hand to clear the danger. Or so I thought. Breska took control of the loose ball and crossed the ball straight back into the area and Oravec headed towards goal. Selva, in the team only because Cupi stubbed his toe in the warm up, swung at it to hack it clear and sliced the ball straight into the top corner of his own net to give the home side a three-goal lead after just twenty minutes.

I was now hoping to just survive until half time and for ten minutes we held our own on the pitch, having more than our fair share of possession, but we failed to create ourselves any chances to get back in the game. Slovakia then went up a notch to get a fourth goal and to make all our possession meaningless. Varga hit the ball forty yards forward to Martin Petras who took one touch before playing a defence-splitting pass to Vittek. Vittek had plenty of room, plenty of time and was left with a simple finish to cap an excellent move and get his second of the game.

We got to half time, but we were four down and I couldn't see anyway back in the match. I just sent them back out with the instruction to try and keep the score as low as possible, but this seemed near impossible as soon as the second half started. Only a fantastic last-ditch tackle by Gasperoni denied Vittek and Giardi did well to keep out a header from Petras but it seemed only a matter of time before we were to concede the fifth. Unfortunately, it was.

Davide Selva beat Oravec in the air to clear for a throw-in that Petras was to take. He took it quick to Oravec, putting him in behind Della Valle, and Oravec cut inside before hitting a ferocious left-foot shot for his second and Slovakia's fifth of the game. There were now only minutes left and I either wanted us to score one, or not concede again. We came close to both but got neither in the end.

Right back Fabio Bollini elegantly controlled a pass from Francioni before going forward and hitting a pass to Raffaele Moroni. Moroni went out to the right wing before cutting back inside and chipping the ball into the area. Della Valle was the player who got onto the cross and he headed towards goal, but was unfortunate to see his effort come of the post and then off Kurty for a corner. From the corner, Bollini was beaten in the air and Oravec hacked the ball clear from the edge of the area. Halenar was the only player forward but he out-muscled Gasperoni to get free and he broke into the area to score Slovakia's sixth of the game, his first international goal.

Before the game was up we had hit the post again, this time through Conti, after a good move but we had taken a battering from a rampant Slovakian side. It had put our previous win against Malta in perspective and saw us remain on three points in the group, our next game at home to Macedonia seem longer than just two months away.

enjikari

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
San Marino Suffer Heavy Defeat

6.4.05

Slovakia 6-0 San Marino (World Cup Qualifying (European Section) Group 3)

San Marino were rather harshly brought back down to earth, their recent historic results momentarily forgotten as Slovakia gave them a severe six-nil thrashing.

They got off to the worst possible start by conceding in the very first minute and despite having a fair share of possession, they could not create any chances. Slovakia however, took there chances when they came across them and Tomas Oravec (1, 78), Robert Vittek (10, 32) and Juraj Halenar (82) all helped themselves to goals. The other one came in the form of an own goal from the unfortunate Davide Selva (22).

Six goals to nil may not have been a fair reflection of the how the game went, San Marino matching there more 'illustrious' opponents in some periods of the game, but in the end it boiled down to chances created. Slovakia created whilst San Marino did not. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">|No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|| 1 | Jan Hrncar | | 7 | || 1 | Nicola Giardi | | 4 | || 2 | Martin Petras | |10 | || 2 | Fabio Bollini | Booked | 5 | || 3 | Roman Konecny | | 8 | || 3 | Alessandro Della Valle | Booked | 6 | || 4 | Stanislav Varga | | 7 | || 4 | Alex Gasperoni | | 6 | || 5 | Marian Kurty | | 8 | || 5 | Davide Selva |Own Goal| 6 | || 6 | Zdeno Strvba |(sub 74)| 7 | || 6 | Alessandro Francioni | | 6 | || 7 | Mario Breska |(sub 74)| 7 | || 7 | Raffaele Moroni (C) | | 6 | || 8 | Miroslav Karhan (C) | | 7 | || 8 | Mirco Zanotti | | 6 | || 9 | Vladimir Janocko | | 7 | || 9 | Nicola Chiaruzzi | | 6 | ||10 |* TOMAS ORAVEC |(sub 78)|10 | 2 ||10 | Daniele Conti | | 6 | ||11 | Robert Vittek | Booked | 9 | 2 ||11 | Manuel Marani | | 4 | ||-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------||12 | Martin Gajdos | | | ||12 | Gabriele Muratori | | | ||14 | Marian Stano | | | ||14 | Roberto Gasperoni | | | ||15 | Jozef Pavlik | (on 74)| 7 | ||15 | Andrea Raschi | | | ||16 | Peter Petras | | | ||16 | Marco Gasperoni | | | ||17 | Tomas Vencel | (on 74)| 7 | ||17 | Elia Gerini | | | ||18 | Jan Petras | | | ||18 | Michele Bollini | | | ||19 | Juraj Halenar | (on 78)| 7 | 1 ||19 | Michele Giacobbi | | | |</pre>

retired_marcias

Still good stuff

retired_bbcarr

thoroughly deserved story of the week :thup: great stuff so far and nice to see you back on the losing trail :p

retired_tonytranbg79

shame about the thrashing but a well deserved SOTW. Keep it coming

enjikari

*Cheers glamdring, Terk and Tyrone*

Three games have been played since the last update and despite both losing there 100% records, Norway and Turkey still occupy the top two slots. Turkey sit top having not lost whilst Norway have lost one. Macedonia and Slovakia have switched places, Macedonia having drawn all three games since the last update. We have overtaken Malta to climb into fifth and now Malta are the only team in the group without a point. We are still the team with the least goals scored and the most conceded, but at least we have now scored.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Group 3 P W D L F A PTS-----------------------------------------------------------------Turkey 5 4 1 0 15 3 13-----------------------------------------------------------------Norway 5 3 1 1 14 4 10Slovakia 5 2 2 1 10 7 8FYR of Macedonia 5 1 3 1 6 8 6SAN MARINO 5 1 0 4 2 18 3Malta 5 0 1 4 4 11 1</pre>


<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Results so far: | Saturday 16th October 2004 | | Slovakia 2-2 FYR of Macedonia | SAN MARINO QUALIFYING RESULTS Malta 1-3 Norway | SAN MARINO 1-5 Turkey | Norway 5-0 San Marino | FYR of Macedonia 2-0 San Marino Saturday 2nd April 2004 | San Marino 1-5 Turkey | San Marino 1-0 Malta Slovakia 0-0 Turkey | Slovakia 6-0 San Marino SAN MARINO 1-0 Malta | San Marino - FYR of Macedonia FYR of Macedonia 4-1 Norway | Turkey - San Marino | San Marino - Norway Wednesday 6th April 2004 | Malta - San Marino | San Marino - Slovakia Norway 1-2 Turkey | Slovakia 6-0 SAN MARINO | Malta 1-1 FYR of Macedonia |</pre>

enjikari

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
Squad For Macedonia And Turkey Revealed

2.6.05

San Marino have made just one change to their squad for the upcoming World Cup Qualifying games at home to Macedonia and away at group leaders Turkey.

Despite some players carrying injuries, they have been kept in the squad with the hope they will be fit for the games and the only change sees Andy Selva return to the squad, Massimo Mariotti making way for him.

The players are coming off the back of a mixed last couple of games, the defeat of Malta giving them an almighty high and the thrashing from Slovakia lowering their confidence. The general feeling is that they are going to try and uphold their pride in the next couple of 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 F. Gasperoni - GK - 24/0N. Giardi - GK - 6/0 M. Mancini - SW/D/DM C - 0/0 F. Bollini - D R - 6/0 R. Gasperoni - D RC - 0/0E. Gerini - D RC - 0/0 M. Giacobbi - D R - 2/0P. Cupi - D LC - 5/0 A. Della Valle - D LC - 7/0A. Gasperoni - D LC - 6/0 D. Selva - D C - 3/0A. Francioni - DM C - 6/0 A. Raschi - DM C - 0/0N. Chiaruzzi - M LC - 6/0 R. Gasperoni - M L - 0/0D. Rapanelli - M/FL - 2/0 M. Gasperoni - M C - 0/0R. Moroni - AM RLC - 6/1 M. Zanotti - AMC - 7/1A. Selva - S C - 19/4 D. Conti - F LC - 3/1M. Marani - S C - 7/1 G. Muratoria - S C - 2/0</pre>

enjikari

San Marino vs. Macedonia - World Cup Qualifying European Section Group 3
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 G. Muratori R. Gasperoni A. Raschi M. Gasperoni M. Marani A. Francioni F. Gasperoni M. GiacobbiA. Della Valle D. Selva A. Gasperoni E. Gerini N.Giardi</pre>

FYR of Macedonia - 5-3-2
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> &lt;------ G. Pandev D. Nacevski------&gt; K. Kostovski G. Micevski V. Trayanov ^ ^ | | | | | | | | D. Lazarevski Z. Jovanovski Subs: Z. Toleski V. Hristovski D. Janevski B. Jovanovski G. Ristovski A. Spasovski &lt;---I. Mitreski B. Grncarov D. Micevski---&gt; K. Milosevski I. Kostovski</pre>

enjikari

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
San Marino So Close To Upset

11.6.05

San Marino 0-0 FYR of Macedonia (World Cup Qualifying (European Section) Group 3)

The San Marino fans that watched their side draw 0-0 with Macedonia at the Olimpico Stadium in Serravalle will have been more than pleased with their team's performance in an entertaining World Cup qualifying match.

San Marino easily had the better of the chances and only an man-of-the-match performance from Macedonian goalkeeper Igor Kostovski kept the scores level.

The supposedly more 'famous' names of Macedonia were pinned in their own half for long periods of the game by the San Marinese, dubbed 'less than glamorous' by Macedonia before the game. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">|No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|| 1 | Nicola Giardi | | 7 | || 1 |* IGOR KOSTOVSKI | | 9 | || 2 | Elia Gerini | | 7 | || 2 | Dejan Micevski | | 8 | || 3 | Alessandro Della Valle | | 7 | || 3 | Boban Grncarov | | 7 | || 4 | Alex Gasperoni | | 6 | || 4 | Igor Mitreski (C) | Booked | 7 | || 5 | Davide Selva | | 7 | || 5 | Zoran Mitreski |(sub 72)| 7 | || 6 | Alessandro Francioni | | 7 | || 6 | Dejan Lazarevski | | 7 | || 7 | Raffaele Moroni (C) | | 7 | || 7 | Vancho Trayanov | | 7 | || 8 | Mirco Zanotti | | 8 | || 8 | Goran Micevski |(sub 72)| 7 | || 9 | Nicola Chiaruzzi | | 7 | || 9 | Kire Kostovski (Bkd) |(sub 82)| 7 | ||10 | Daniele Conti | | 7 | ||10 | Dragan Nacevski | | 4 | ||11 | Andy Selva | Booked | 7 | ||11 | Goran Pandev | | 7 | ||-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------||12 | Gabriele Muratori | | | ||12 | Zoran Toleski | | | ||14 | Roberto Gasperoni | | | ||14 | Vanco Hristovski | | | ||15 | Andrea Raschi | | | ||15 | Dragan Janevski | | | ||16 | Marco Gasperoni | | | ||16 | Blagoja Jovanovski | | | ||17 | Manuel Marani | | | ||17 | Goran Ristovski | (on 72)| 7 | ||18 | Federico Gasperoni | | | ||18 | Aleksandar Spasovski | (on 72)| 7 | ||19 | Michele Giacobbi | | | ||19 | Kire Milosevski | (on 82)| 7 | |</pre>