enjikari

With the return of Andy Selva, upfront partnering Daniele Conti, the players were confident that we could earn ourselves a point. Fabio Bollini and Paolo Cupi had not recovered from injuries as it was hoped that they would, so Elia Gerini and Davide Selva deputised for them.

The Macedonian side were without the now-retired Artim Sakiri, match-winner last time we met, and this gave us a nice boost just before the game. I was hoping to get a hold on the match early on, but when Trayanov sent a long shot just wide of the post in the first minute, I felt there might be another heavy defeat in store.

We did get into the game however and Mirco Zanotti, goal-scorer against Malta, had the first attempt at goal for us that Kostovski did well to save after it took a deflection off Lazarevski. We immediately had another chance after Conti flicked Francioni's long ball to Selva but Selva's fierce shot was turned behind for a corner. The corner was only half cleared to Conti and he wasted no time in hitting a shot from outside the area but his shot, unfortunately, went sailing over the crossbar.

Raffaele Moroni was next to come close to opening the scoring when he hit a free-kick from about twenty-five yards out but it shaved the outside of the post and went behind. This turned out to be the last chance of the half but I was more than happy with the effort shown and I was confident it would continue in the second. I was proved correct.

The second half begun with another chance for us to take the lead but, having controlled Alex Gasperoni's pass brilliantly, Zanotti could only hit a shot straight at goalkeeper Igor Kostovski which Kostovski saved and held well. Moroni then went on a brilliant run from the wing, cutting inside to get into the area, which resulted in a shot that Kostovski did well to get his fingertips to.

Zanotti saw his header from the corner saved well by the Macedonian goalkeeper and then Kostovski kept out both Chiaruzzi's low drive and Andy Selva's powerful header to keep the visitors in the game.

Time was running out and we were finding it near impossible to get past the outstanding Kostovski, in the end his performance earning Macedonia an undeserved point and himself the man-of-the-match award. We could take a lot of confidence from this performance however, having completely dominated the visitors from pretty much start to finish.

With the visit to Turkey just days away, we could go into the match with the knowledge the we have the ability to create chances, chances that we will need to take if we are to get anything out of that game.

enjikari

Turkey vs. San Marino - World Cup Qualifying European Section Group 3
Inönü, Instanbul

Turkey - 4-4-2 Attacking
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ^ Ü. Karan A. Serhat ^ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | H. Altintop B. Emre Tugay Ü. Davala Subs: B. Recep Y. Sergen H. Sükür A. Kemal P. Ergün Oktay H. Ünsal Ç. Servet Mustafa Dogan F. Sonkaya H. Sas R. Rüstü</pre>

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 D. Rapanelli D. Selva M. Gasperoni M. Marani A. Francioni F. Gasperoni M. ManciniA. Della Valle P. Cupi A. Gasperoni E. Gerini N.Giardi</pre>

enjikari

Paolo Cupi was now available to come back into to defence, replacing Davide Selva to partner Alex Gasperoni in centre of our defence. A defence which shipped five goals last time we faced Turkey but Sanli Tuncay, who scored a hat-trick in that game, was unavailable due to injury so we were hopeful that we would not concede another five goals this time around.

We got the game underway and having conceded in just over five minutes last time we faced the Turks, we wanted to get off to a better start in Istanbul. We somehow managed to get off to a worse start. Gerini took a throw-in that went straight to Emre. He showed good control to take the ball in his stride and he cut inside to move towards the area. He hit the ball from around thirty yards out and saw the ball fly into the top corner of the net for the opening goal in just the second minute.

The pressure that Turkey had started to put us under grew and grew and they took near total control of the match. Both Hakan Ünsal and Ümit Karan scooped shots over the bar before Giardi was forced to stop a header from Ümit Karan entering the back of the net. Akin Serhat came closest next for the home side at it started to become obvious that they would score a second very soon. However Turkey continued to miss good opportunities and both Ümit Davala and Hamit Altintop missed the target from inside the area.

We gave away possession from a goal kick that had resulted from another of these missed chances and this time we were made to pay. Serhat played the Tugay and he helped it along to Ümit Davala. Ümit Davala spotted Ümit Karan in the area and Ümit Karan out-jumped Alex Gasperoni to head Ümit Davala's cross into the back of the net for two-nil and his first international goal.

We now had a mountain to climb if we wanted to rescue a point from the match but we were making it too hard for ourselves by giving possession away too often. Emre came close to getting his second before Turkey did manage to score a third. Sonkaya played the ball down the line to Ümit Davala and he then crossed the ball in from the left wing. Gerini had the chance to cut out the cross but the ball flew over his head, Altintop running in behind him. Altintop showed great control before advancing on Giardi and slotting the ball past him to make it three goals to nil.

Just two minutes later, just before half time, they made it four by scoring a second in quick succession. Altintop, having scored moments ago, was growing in confidence and he stole the ball nearly straight from our kick off. He played the ball into the box but Cupi managed to head clear, but only straight back to Altintop. He was forced back under pressure but he still managed to chip the ball into Ümit Karan in the area. Ümit Karan attempted to volley the ball in from a tight angle and then wheeled away in celebration as it found its way into the back of the net.

We managed to keep it down to four until half time but at the start of the second half it became clear that Turkey wanted more goals, changing their formation from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3. They had no luck early in the half, however, and we even managed to get a shot of our own. Zanotti won a free kick after Emre fouled him, the shot coming from Moroni as he fired in the free kick, but the ball went just wide.

This seemed to anger Turkey somewhat, perhaps realising that another goal would dent our confidence so much that we may stop attacking. They wasted no time in notching their fifth of the game. Altintop won a free kick before he was substituted, his replacement Hasas Sas taking it. He tried an out-swinging ball from the corner and Serhat jumped higher that Gerini to force a header into the back of the net.

This goal didn't stop Turkey pressing for more and Ümit Davala twice came close to getting a sixth before Giardi produced a fantastic fingertip save from a low, long-range drive by Emre. Sonkaya then put a half volley into the side netting before Oktay hit a left-footed volley over the bar. Turkey were still peppering our goal with shots, fortunately for us they were not managing to find the target on every occasion.

Giardi kept out their last effort towards the end from Sergen and it was us who had the finally effort of the game, when Paolo Cupi headed Della Valle's pin-point cross into the hands of goalkeeper Reçber Rüstü. We didn't score before the final whistle however, and it now meant we had conceded eleven goals in our last two qualifying game outside of San Marino.

enjikari

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
San Marino Outclassed By Turkey

15.6.05

Turkey 5-0 San Marino (World Cup Quals (EUR) Grp 3)

Turkey made it a home and away double against San Marino, this time beating the by five goals to nil.

There were no surprises in Istanbul, as goals from Belözoglu Emre (2), Ümit Karan (26, 40), Hamit Altintop (38) and Akin Serhat (63) helped a far superior Turkey side overcome the San Marinse with a resounding victory.

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 | Reçber Rüstü | | 7 | || 1 | Nicola Giardi | | 5 | || 2 | Fatih Sonkaya | | 7 | || 2 | Elia Gerini | | 4 | || 3 | Hakan Ünsal | | 7 | || 3 | Alessandro Della Valle | | 5 | || 4 | Mustafa Dogan | | 8 | || 4 | Alex Gasperoni | | 5 | || 5 | Çetin Servet | | 7 | || 5 | Paolo Cupi | | 6 | || 6 | Ümit Davala | | 7 | || 6 | Alessandro Francioni | | 4 | || 7 | Hamit Altintop |(sub 63)| 7 | 1 || 7 | Raffaele Moroni (C) | | 6 | || 8 | Tugay (C) | | 7 | || 8 | Mirco Zanotti | | 5 | || 9 | Belözoglu Emre | | 9 | 1 || 9 | Nicola Chiaruzzi |(sub 65)| 4 | ||10 | Akin Serhat |(sub 63)| 8 | 1 ||10 | Daniele Conti | | 6 | ||11 |* ÜMIT KARAN |(sub 63)|10 | 2 ||11 | Andy Selva | | 4 | ||-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------||12 | Biler Recep | | | ||12 | Gabriele Muratori | | | ||14 | Yalçin Sergen | (on 60)| 7 | ||14 | David Rapanelli | (on 65)| 6 | ||15 | Hakan Sükür | | | ||15 | Davide Selva | | | ||16 | Aslan Kemal | | | ||16 | Marco Gasperoni | | | ||17 | Penbe Ergün | | | ||17 | Manuel Marani | | | ||18 | Oktay | (on 63)| 7 | ||18 | Federico Gasperoni | | | ||19 | Hasan Sas | (on 60)| 6 | ||19 | Michele Mancini | | | |</pre>

retired_confal2

I'm in awe of your presentational skills -awesome detail and a great challenge :thup:

Congrats on your story being SOTW, it's well deserved.

enjikari

*Cheers Dave, glad you like the layout and are enjoyed the story. Hope you continue to do so

----

The results from the last two rounds of qualifying now mean that Turkey, Norway and Slovakia have started to pull away from the other three teams in the group. Turkey, still unbeaten, sit top of the group by three points from Norway who sit a further two points clear of Slovakia in third. Then follows Macedonia on fourth, three points clear of us in fifth with Malta sat bottom with just the two points. Malta are the only team in the group without a win and we are the team with the least goals for and most goals against.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Group 3 P W D L F A PTS-----------------------------------------------------------------Turkey 7 5 2 0 20 3 17-----------------------------------------------------------------Norway 7 4 2 1 19 6 14Slovakia 7 3 3 1 14 10 12FYR of Macedonia 7 1 4 2 8 11 7SAN MARINO 7 1 1 5 2 23 4Malta 7 0 2 5 5 15 2</pre>


<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Results so far: | SAN MARINO QUALIFYING RESULTS Saturday 11th June 2004 | | Norway 5-0 San Marino Malta 0-0 Turkey | FYR of Macedonia 2-0 San Marino Slovakia 1-1 Norway | San Marino 1-5 Turkey SAN MARINO 0-0 FYR of Macedonia | San Marino 1-0 Malta | Slovakia 6-0 San Marino Wednesday 15th June 2004 | San Marino 0-0 FYR of Macedonia | Turkey 5-0 San Marino Norway 4-1 Malta | San Marino - Norway Turkey 5-0 SAN MARINO | Malta - San Marino FYR of Macedonia 2-3 Slovakia | San Marino - Slovakia</pre>

enjikari

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
Norway And Malta Squad Announced

2.8.05

Two changes have been made to the San Marino squad for their upcoming World Cup Qualifying games at home to Norway and away at Malta.

Injuries to Marco Gasperoni and David Rapanelli mean that Fabrizio Pelliccioni and Simone Celli have been called into the squad for the first time, with Celli having been moved fomr the under-21 squad.

Going into the Norway game after a heavy defeat at the hands of Turkey, there is not much confidence from the San Marinese fans that Norway bcan be beaten. However, having already beaten Malta at home, hopes are high that they could do the double over them by beating them again.

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 - 8/0 M. Mancini - SW/D/DM C - 0/0 F. Bollini - D R - 6/0 R. Gasperoni - D RC - 0/0E. Gerini - D RC - 2/0 M. Giacobbi - D R - 2/0P. Cupi - D LC - 6/0 A. Della Valle - D LC - 9/0A. Gasperoni - D LC - 8/0 D. Selva - D C - 4/0A. Francioni - DM C - 8/0 A. Raschi - DM C - 0/0N. Chiaruzzi - M LC - 8/0 R. Gasperoni - M L - 0/0S. Celli (U-21 caps)- M C - 0/0 R. Moroni - AM RLC - 8/1F. Pelliccioni - AM RLC - 0/0 M. Zanotti - AMC - 9/1A. Selva - S C - 21/4 D. Conti - F LC - 5/1M. Marani - S C - 7/1 G. Muratoria - S C - 2/0</pre>

enjikari

San Marino vs. Norway - 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 S. Celli A. Raschi F. Gasperoni D. Selva E. Gerini M. Marani A. Francioni F. Pelliccioni M. ManciniA. Della Valle D. Selva A. Gasperoni E. Gerini N.Giardi</pre>

Norway - 4-5-1
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> J. Carew ^ ^ | | | | | | | |O. Solksjær T. Andersen D. Berg Hestad E. Bakke T. Ludvigsen Subs: E. Johnsen T. Helstad A. Karadas M. Hoseth E. Hagen T. Flo J. Riise R. Johnsen A. Bergdølmo P.Kah J. Solli P. Kristiansen</pre>

enjikari

Having lost to Norway five-nil in our first qualifying game, we were not confident of getting a positive result from the return fixture here. However, we had kept two clean sheets in our last two qualifying games at home, so we did have something positive to look to. Mirco Zanotti picked up a slight injury in the warm up and this allowed Simone Celli to come into the midfield to make his debut.

When we met last time we had gotten off to a pretty good start before we started gifting goals to the Norwegians, a start that I wanted us to replicate in this match. Unfortunately, however, we were unable to start well and we conceded the opening goal inside ten minutes. Trond Andersen headed a Solksjær cross towards goal that Giardi did well to parry, seeming to have stopped the visitors from opening the scoring. Andersen himself reacted quickest though, and was left with the simple task of putting the ball into a relatively open goal.

I believed that this would be the start of another thrashing but I was given hope when Andy Selva tested Kristiansen with a powerful header after a good ball from Paolo Cupi. Andersen then came close to doubling his goal tally, putting a shot horribly wide in the end and then Krirstiansen was tested again, this time by a header from Alessandro Francioni.

Norway seemed to realise that we had improved since the last time we had met and they acted on this realisation to try and get themselves another goal. Giardi saved a low drive from Riise after a good cross from Bergdølmo and then both Carew and Andersen sent shots sailing over the bar. Norway were visibly frustrated by their own wasted chances, and we capitalised on this by scoring an equaliser. Ronny Johnsen fouled Bollini, who took the resultant free kick himself. The ball went towards the edge of the area, and Kristiansen started to come for the ball before realising he wasn't going to get it. Selva got the ball and hit it on the volley and as Kristiansen was so far off his line, the volley found its way into the back of an unguarded net.

We managed to keep out efforts from John Arne Riise and goal-scorer Trond Andersen before half time, meaning we went into the break on level terms with our opponents. I knew that Norway would come out to try and get an early goal to take control of the game and I instructed the players to try and go for an early goal of their own. It was us who managed to score one. Della Valle took a throw-in to Andy Selva but as Selva tried to turn towards goal Johnsen brought him down. Raffaele Morini took the kick and he struck the ball sweetly to curl it around the wall and into the top right-hand corner of the net, the goalkeeper unmoved.

I decided that we should try and go for more goals as I didn't feel we were defensively strong enough to hold onto the slender lead we had, and I was rewarded as we went three-one up just minutes later. Francioni played the ball forward, just above Johnsen who couldn't get his head to the ball, and Celli found himself through on goal. He drew the goalkeeper before sliding the ball to his left for Andy Selva and he rolled the ball into the net, crowning a wonderful move with his second of the game.

For some reason, after this third goal we went on the defensive and my theories on our weak defence were at first dispelled. Gasperoni was making some fantastic tackles and Giardi a couple of good saves from two John Carew headers, but we eventually did concede a second goal. Bakke hit the ball out to Kah on the right and Kah flighted the ball over Della Valle beautifully to allow John Carew to be one-on-one with Giardi in goal. This time Carew got the better of Giardi and put the ball into the back of the net to get his side back in the game and within a minute they were back level.

Carew came forward after winning the ball from our kick-off, but Bollini executed a fantastic sliding challenge on him to win the ball. He played it back to Giardi to hack it clear but he sliced his kick straight to Andersen. Andersen headed the ball to Solli who played it to Riise, getting well forward on the left. Cupi beat Carew in the air from Riise's cross but his header went straight to Andersen. He played it to Carew and this meant he was again one-on-one with Giardi, again getting the better of him to score his and Norway's second in as many minutes, bringing the scores level with ten minutes left.

Having felt sure we were going to hang on for a win just minutes earlier, I now felt that we would probably not be able to hold on for a point having been rocked by the two quick strikes from Carew. We got to the ninetieth minute still on level terms and saw that there would be four minutes added on. In the first of these four minutes, Norway looked to rob us of victory by grabbing a fourth, seemingly decisive, goal. Bergdølmo had the ball just inside our half and he played it to Eirik Bakke on the right wing. Bakke crossed the ball first time to the far post and found Solli steaming forward in an attempt to meet the cross. Solli beat Bollini in the air with a running jump to power a header into the back of the net, his first international goal, a cruel blow to us so late in the game.

We didn't let our heads drop, but I wouldn't have blamed the players if they had. They had given it everything they had in this game and had been so cruelly robbed in injury of getting anything from the game. Or so I thought. There were three minutes of injury time left, and it took us just one to get back on level terms, showing unbelievable fighting spirit. Conti took the ball from kick-off and played it back to Francioni. Francioni took a couple of touches before spreading the ball left to Chiaruzzi who controlled the ball well before holding it up, waiting for support. He knocked it into the path of Della Valle further left, crossing the half way line, and Della Valle ran with it. Norway invited him forward and he took the invitation, cut in on the defender's blind side and chipped the ball into the area to Daniele Conti. He had started the move and would finish, albeit at the second attempt. Conti initially hit the ball on the volley with his left foot but Kristiansen did well to turn it away. It fell straight to Conti, who this time hit it with his right, and the net rippled as he drilled into the back of the net.

Having been seemingly denied a point from this game we had pulled ourselves straight back into the game with an immediate equaliser, in the ninety-second minute. We had been denied a point and now we denied Norway three. Or so we thought. Football is a cruel game sometimes. There were only thirty seconds left when Bakke bore down on the area with the ball. He lifted it forward to one of Norway's substitutes Thorstein Helstad and Helstad showed great calmness to coolly head the ball into the back of the net.

The final whistle blew straight after. We had gone from being robbed of a point in the ninety-first, a big low, to robbing Norway of three in the ninety-second, a big high, to being robbed of a point again in the ninety-fourth, an even bigger low.

enjikari

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
Norway Made To Fight

10.9.05

San Marino 4-5 Norway (World Cup Qualifying (European Section) Group 3)

Norway waltzed into the Olimpico Stadium anticipating a comfortable victory over unfancied San Marino, but they were made to fight all the way and only a 94th minute winner saw them take the match by 5 goals to 4.

However, all did not go to plan and despite Trond Andresen (7) giving the visitors the lead, Norway found themselves trailing 3-1 at one stage thanks to goals from Andy Selva (38,59) and Raffaele Moroni (47). John Carew (77, 78) got two goals towards the end to spare the Norweigan blushes and when Jan Gunnar Solli (90+1) scored Norway seemed to have an unlikely victory. However, San Marino continued to fight and Daniele Conti (90+2) seemed to have again shocked Norway by grabbing a point. It wasn't to be and Thorstein Helstad (90+4) snatched all three points at the very last.

A highly motivated San Marinese side can now go into Wednesday's game away at Malta with a lot of confidence and most are confident of at least a point after tonight's performance. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">|No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|| 1 | Nicola Giardi | | 4 | || 1 | Per Morten Kristiansen | | 6 | || 2 | Fabio Bollini | | 6 | || 2 | Pa-Modou Kah | | 6 | | | 3 | Alessandro Della Valle | | 6 | || 3 | John Arne Riise | | 7 | || 4 | Alex Gasperoni | Booked | 6 | || 4 | André Bergdølmo | | 6 | || 5 | Davide Selva | | 6 | || 5 | Ronny Johnsen |(sub 77)| 6 | || 6 | Alessandro Francioni | | 7 | || 6 | Trond Fredrik Ludvigsen|(sub 70)| 7 | || 7 | Raffaele Moroni (C) | | 7 | 1 || 7 | Ole Gunnar Solksjær |(sub 70)| 6 | || 8 | Simone Celli | | 8 | || 8 | Eirik Bakke | | 7 | || 9 | Nicola Chiaruzzi | | 7 | || 9 | Daniel Berg Hestad (C) | | 7 | ||10 | Daniele Conti | | 8 | 1 ||10 | Trond Andersen | |10 | 1 ||11 | Andy Selva | | 9 | 2 ||11 |* JOHN CAREW | |10 | 2 ||-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------||12 | Andrea Raschi | | | ||12 | Espen Johnsen | | | ||14 | Federico Gasperoni | | | ||14 | Thorstein Helstad | (on 77)| 8 | 1 ||15 | Davide Selva | | | ||15 | Azar Karadas | | | ||16 | Elia Gerini | | | ||16 | Magne Hoseth | | | ||17 | Manuel Marani | | | ||17 | Erik Hagen | (on 70)| 7 | ||18 | Fabrizio Pelliccioni | | | ||18 | Tore Adnre Flo | | | ||19 | Michele Mancini | | | ||19 | Jan Gunnar Solli | (on 70)| 7 | 1 |</pre>