The Sammarinese Challenge.

[leonavich]

In some international news, San Marino (currently ranked 135) have just beaten Gibraltar (5-2) and Belarus, who are ranked 70th (2-0).

Although friendlies, this is 2 wins in a row after a number of draws in Qualification matches. These are some big results, and come on the back of some of our best youth intakes. We now have 4 decent young players in the team:

Mattia Berardi (21) - 31 Caps, 6 Goals - Currently out best prospect, who has played out on loan in Serie B, and has had a few games experience at Serie A level. Can play on the left and in the middle and fits in with my game plans regardless of formation and tactics.

Michele Bindi (21) - 12 Caps, 6 Goals - Our best forward player. He declined us for a number of years as he was a duel national, but decided on us recently and is scoring at a rate of a goal every 0.5 matches. Not bad from a team struggling for wins.

Mario Dini (15) - 3 Caps, 1 Goal - 4 1/2 star potential from this kid, who came through in our most recent youth intake. He is already proving solid despite his age of 15, but has a long way to go. Likely to be the heart of our defense if I can nurture him right and grow his talents at club level.

Matteo Urbinati (16) - 3 Caps - A very raw talent, but likely to become our second best striker in time. Will be given the chance to grow internationally, but likely to stall at club level, which could prove to be his down fall.

[Jimbokav1971]

Warm-up games for 2038 World Cup.

San Marino 5 - 0 Zambia (ranked 61st).

Five 1st half goals were not matched by a tepid 2nd half.

San Marino 2 - 3 Slovenia (ranked 26th).

2 goals up inside 39 mins and then we just stopped playing.

San Marino 1 - 0 Ireland (ranked 28th).

We absolutely battered them one nil.

[Edit]

We get through the games ok with no more injuries, (2 of the squad are still recovering from serious injuries), only for Trini (2026) to break his collarbone. He will now miss the World Cup.

[leonavich]

Gutted about Trini, but you can take heart in the results. All decent outings prior to the tournament.

What are you targeting? Quarter Finals?

[Jimbokav1971]

World Cup Group H.

Ghana (ranked 42nd) v San Marino.

(GK) Mazza has always been given the nod over Protti in the past, but looking at it now, his time has gone and I can no longer justify him being 1st choice. Protti will immediately be installed as starting #1 and I hope it doesn't come back to haunt me. Mazza was the first decent GK to to be produced so I will forever owe him a debt of gratitude, (however this goes).

(DL) Frederico is the only left back in the squad. With the injury to 1st choice Fantini, we simply don't have another reasonable alternative. If he gets injured/suspended then it will be an issue. (DR) Fabrizio (2032) has been recovering from a twisted ankle and as a result missed all the warm-up matches. The 21yo is probably our best defender so despite not being match-fit returns to the starting line-up for his 51st Cap.

The options for centre-half are really Moretti and then partnering him with any one of the remaining 3, (Val, Raschi & Gian). Val will probably get the nod simply because he seems better able to convert from set-pieces.

In the middle, (MC) Volp (2024) gets preference in the more defensive left-sided spot, and while (AMC) Volpinari (2029) is a shoe-in in the advanced AP(s) role, it is a battle between Rossi and Nicola for the 3rd slot. I like Rossi as a player, (and he is ahead of the pecking order in the club side), but I do like Nicola's athleticism and expect to use him from the bench in most games. (MC) Ivan is injured, (twisted ankle), but he wouldn't have been in contention for a starting spot anyway, (although he does limit us a little from the bench).

33yo (AML) Visentini (2021) is the only option on the left flank, (now that Frederico has gone from left sided utility to 1st choice left back due to the injury to 1st choice (DL) Fantini). He will be adding to his record haul of 127 senior caps and I hope he adds to his 48 International goals. He really doesn't look good at all, but we all know about that AML position and how over-effective it seems to be.

(AMR) Gabi (2030) is automatic 1st choice on the right flank and if he is unavailable then we will be forced to fill a round hole with a square peg, (as is the case on the other flank).

(SC) Rob (2033) may only be 21yo, but he has scored 9 goals in 8 senior INT appearances and has just come off the back of an excellent domestic campaign where he notched 24 club goals in 24(4) appearances. His back-up will be Pier (2033) who has struggled at times for the club this season and is on his way out. If he appears from the bench, (as is likely), he will make his 100th INT appearance and will hope to add to his record 57 NT goals.

Other players worth a mention are.....

Bill (2035) who tops the list when sorted by PA.

*** Venerucci (SMR/ITA) who played in all 3 warm-up games but has DN and until he features in a competitive game is still available for (ITA), (hence the ***). I quite like the look of him but see him as a potential 2nd style striker as opposed to the sole AF(a) I currently use. I just like his balance and the way he is developing. I will be trying to make sure that at the very least, we come out of this tournament with his *** removed along with his eligibility for (ITA). He has featured 8 times for (ITA) U21's, so it will be good to entice him back from the dark side, (only the 3rd who has represented (ITA) at U21 level and then gone on to play for us at senior level).

My son in the game O'Kav Jr has been forgotten a bit as this challenge has progressed. As I updated my own real-life son last week as to his progress, (now just loaned out every season), I was given a hard stare and a look of disgust. He doesn't really cut it as a striker, looks more suited to the AMC slot, but we have better options there and he is probably only in the squad for sentimental reasons and because he can cover the left flank to some degree or other.

I haven't taken an awful lot of notice of the familiarity levels after it seemed that I could do little to influence it and in any case I seemed well capable of winning even when it was poor.

We like to exploit the flanks and their starting line-up seems to play into our hands. The flip side of this however is that we will surely be over-powered in the middle. If we can get parity in there, then I would expect us to run out comfortable winners. William (GHA) is actually a player that I signed for the club side just because PSG were selling him cheaply. He was bought for £1.3M and at age 24 is currently valued at £8.25M. I will probably look to sell him soon. He's better in the AMC position and good going forward with the bell, but not so much without it. The key to this game will be keeping the ball away from them and exploiting their lack of width.

Ghana seem to be lacking in both bravery and match fitness and I will be looking to exploit both these areas. Let's just hope we have a lenient ref.

Match.

Within 12 seconds we rampage down the right through Gabi (2030) and before there is 1 minute on the clock they have cleared 2 shots off the line. More of the shots on target and less of the goal-line clearances please.

5 mins Volpinari (2029) has taken a knock but it's only a green one and hopefully he can run it off. ideally I would like a quick goal and then just kill them off and give him a rest. He's a big player.

7 mins Rob (2033) forces a good header onto the bar with their GK beaten. We've had 75% possession so far and things are working nicely.

11 mins Gabi (2030) rampages down the right before being halted and when the ball is recycled, Fabrizio (2032) crosses for Visentini (2021) to slot home at the far post for 1-0.

15 mins Moretti glances home a near post header from a Gabi (2030) corner for 2-0. A 3rd goal to secure things and I will start resting players despite how early it is.

18 mins. Awuah smashed home a free-kick that brings it back to 2-1 and my initial reaction is that "Mazza would have saved that!". The game is finely poised now.

26 mins. Left back Frederico gives away a penalty for a trip after decent approach play by them, (through the middle). Awuah converts the pen for his 2nd of the match and 3 of the 4 goals have come from set-pieces.

Ghana clear a couple more off the line late in the 1st half, but it remains all square at 2-2 when the ref blows his whistle for HT. We have dominated although they have had more possession as the half has progressed and scored with their only 2 shots of any type.

Volpinari (2029) is kept on because we need to win this opening game. Frederico who has been booked was warned to be careful, but was also left on when I would usually swap him if I had an alternative on the bench.

Before the hour mark, Ghana sub on 2 fresh central midfielders to give them extra legs just when I feel we are starting to turn the screw. I look to my own bench and see very little.

61 mins in and Ghana make their 3rd substitution. Come on FM14! If this was me I would get a playe rinjured or sent off now. Play fair! Nicola comes on in the middle for Rossi and Venerucci gets his competitive debut to keep Italy away and also to rest Volpinari (2029) who has soldiered on after his knock.

63 mins in and before the substitution is made however, Volpinari (2029) ensures that his last contribution before departing results in a goal. He himself is brought down after a surging rin and then swings over the resulting free kick from the right and after Visentini (2021) has ANOTHER shot cleared off the line, Rob (2033) slots home from close range for his 10th INT goal in 9 appearances.

67 mins and Frederico gets away from 2 markers down the left and crosses for Gabi (2030) to beat the GK to the ball at the far post. 4-2 San Marino now.

79 mins and Fabrizio (2032) at right back plays a delightful chipped ball for Rob (2033) to run onto and smash home for 5-2 San Marino!

In all the excitement of scoring 5 goals on our World Cup debut, I almost forgot to make our 3rd sub, (I always make all subs in all games), and Jimbokav Jr came on to win his 57th cap.

In the other Group H game, Italy demolished Trinidad & Tobago 5-0 with goals from our current striker Gerri "Rossi" (2031) and our old striker Amadu "Bettega".

The table looks like this after the 1st games.

[Jimbokav1971]

Gutted about Trini, but you can take heart in the results. All decent outings prior to the tournament.

What are you targeting? Quarter Finals?

Part of me thinks let's not be greedy. Let's just get out of the Group stage. But part of me thinks that we are ranked in that top group for a reason so why shouldn't we progress? OUr ranking suggests that Quarters is doable, and if I am any good then why not the Semi's?

Thinking about it logically, where we will fall down, (probably because it's been my achilles heel in the past), is when players are injured/suspended. Although we only have a relatively small pool of players to choose from, having only 2 of our best squad injured, (then 3 with Trini), is probably pretty good going. I made a mistake in squad selection and despite having 3 central positions, I have only selected 5 really good proper central players. Others can cover and others can fill in for the experience, but I wouldn't want to start a competitive game with them. As Volpinari (2029) took only 5 mins to pick up a knock, that's a bit silly on my part. The other position where we really lack depth is left back and Frederico has already been booked. These oversights on my part could really cost us. My thinking was that I didn't have adequate replacements to choose from anyway, so might as well select someone who would benefit in the longer term. There is a cost to everything it seems.

[MADA]

in my euros and world cups i was so frustrated with how tired the players got. in quarters and semis you'll be playing guys on 70% fitness

[leonavich]

The early yellow could be costly, but you may be able to risk the resting of key players due to the large scorelines in both the Italy and/or the Trinidad game (depending on the order of the matches).

Could be a big risk, but you will need to save the best players' fitness, as MADA said, and the lack of depth in key areas could bite you back before you get to the knockout stages.

Great read so far though! Good first game against Ghana.

[Jimbokav1971]

World Cup Group H.

San Marino v Trinidad & Tobago (ranked 29th).

After dispatching Trinidad & Tobago 5-0 in the first group match, Italy have since gone on to defeat Ghana 4-1, (puts our 5-2 into perspective nicely). Assuming that I think we can beat Trinidad & Tobago today, (I do), it asks the question whether I want to go all out against #2 ranked Italy in the hope of topping the group, or basically rotate the whole squad with the intention of just throwing the game, safe in the knowledge that we will finish 2nd in Group and still qualify for the knockout stages. With that in mind, I am also considering resting/rotating players for todays Trinidad game in the hope of improving fringe players fitness levels. My thinking is that going up against the 2nd best team in the World is a bit silly when I can just go up against someone ranked lower, (what is the chance we get #1 ranked Brazil?), with well rested squad.

GK. I wasn't impressed with Protti against Ghana but I am persisting with him.

DL. Federico is the only option here. I will probably play my 3rd right back (Michele G), out of position against Italy.

DR. Fabrizio (2032) is one of our best players and chipped in with 2 assists against Ghana, but he is still recovering fitness after injury and I am desperate to rest him. Despite that, Fabrizio (2032) will start today and Cavalli "Conti" will play against Italy.

DC. Val & Moretti will continue at centre-half and I will stick the other 2 in against Italy.

MC & AMC. Volp (2024) and Volpinari (2029) will start again and this time they will be joined by Nicola who will come in for Rossi, (just to balance fatigue a bit).

AML & AMR. Visentini (2021) and Gabi (2030) will start again today, but both will be rested against Italy if we win today.

SC. Rob (2033) starts again after 11 goals in 9 appearances, but again I will be looking to rest him against Italy if we have already secured qualification.

I'm not sure why all my subs look like they are travelling somewhere, but they were available to be selected.

Match.

14 mins Rob (2033) get's put through one v one but the TRI GK makes a decent save.

30 mins Volpinari (2029) rattles the crossbar with a volley from a Gabi (2030 corner).

30 mins Fabrizio (2032) hits the bar for the 2nd time in a minute after the ball is recycled and he overlaps excellently. Strill 0-0 though.

36 mins Gabi (2030) is though one v one but fires across goal and wide.

Half-Time. Still 0-0.

We are completely dominant but just need to take our chances. 2 ccc's and 6 hc's and 0 goals. That's not good enough.

48 mins Visentini (2021) opens the scoring from close range after good work down the left from Volpinari (2029). 1-0 San Marino.

59 mins Moretti glances a near post header goalwards from a corner but it is hacked away.

59 mins Visentini (2021) misses an almost open goal after being set up by Rob (2033) who was in turn released by a glorious back-heel by Volp (2024). We need a 2nd goal.

61 mins and the same trio combine again. Volp (2024) to Rob (2023) who assist for Visentini (2021) to notch his 2nd goal of the game and his 51st in 129 appearances. 2-0 San Marino.

Bill (2035), Venerucci & O'Kav were all brought on for Volpinari (2029), Gabi (2030) & Visentini (2021).

66 mins Rob (2033) makes it 3-0 after Nicola ran hard at the defence and we got a lucky deflection.

69 mins Rob (2033) scores again to make it 4-0 after a great run and cross from Fabrizio (2032).

80 mins Rob (2033) has a great chance for his hat-trick, but the TRI GK pulls off a good save.

A pretty one-sided game, but with 19 shots on target I would have expected to score more than just 4 goals.

As expected, 2 wins from our opening games secured qualification for the 2nd round and means that I can rest/rotate the squad against Italy.

The Group H league table shows that despite being level on points with Italy, we are still behind on goal difference by 1 goal. So even if we draw with Italy, then we still finish 2nd on goal difference. It seems silly to go chasing an unlikely win in these circumstances.

[Jimbokav1971]

World Cup Group H.

San Marino v Italy (ranked 2nd).

I have rotated absolutely everyone. The only player who starts who would play if this was the final is either Nicola or Rossi. Their replacement is Ivan and he is not fit enough to start after injury.

We have a right back playing at left back, and all 3 players playing in the AM line are at best accomplished in the position they start in. How we play against 442 should be interesting. It should at least help us in the possession stakes.

1 min Nicola makes it 1-0 after a great run by Venerucci, but the goal is ruled out for offside. Still 0-0 but great start.

1 min and Italy go straight up the other end and score.

30 mins and Michele G, (playing out of position at left back), is carried off with a red injury.

37 mins and ITA rattle the crossbar from a corner.

38 mins and Gerri "Rossi", (our club striker), gives both centre-backs the run around before smashing past Protti for 2-0. (Great goal though).

HT. 2-0 to Italy.

48 mins and Venerucci has a good opportunity following a poorly cleared corner, but his header is weak and straight at the GK.

48 mins and ITA go straight up the other end and Protti spills a routine ball and gifts Amadu "Bettega" (our ex striker), the 3rd goal of the game. (That's why I prefer Mazza!

51 mins and Protti as at it again. A free-kick comes and in ITA get a header on target, but it lacks power and he should save easily but somehow it's past him and in the net for 4-0.

55 mins and Venerucci has another chance from a poorly cleared corner. This time he goes with his foot rather than his head and uses power, but it's straight at the ITA GK Lucio, (our goal-scoring club GK), and he saves easily.

90 mind and Venerucci picks up a green knock but stays on the pitch.

Final Score. Italy 4 San Marino 0. (Basically we were pretty poor and were well beaten).

Final Group H table.

[Edit]

The draw has been made for the 2nd round and we will see how my plan worked that saw me throw the Italy game, (they are ranked #2).

We of course got Brazil who are ranked #1 and have been for a while.

Absolutely no chance!

[Jimbokav1971]

World Cup 2nd Round.

San Marino v Brazil (ranked 1st).

GK. Mazza is back in at the expense of Protti. It doesn't matter who looks better. Mazza stops the ball going in the net better than Protti stops the ball going in the net. End of discussion.

DL. Our only left back Frederico is suspended. He was booked in the 1st game against Ghana and then after coming on against Italy. Fabrizio (2032) will move over from left back to deputise.

DR. Cavalli "Conti" comes in for Fabrizio (2032) at right back.

DC. Moretti & Val will play at the back.

MC. Volp (2024) and Nicola will start with Rossi and Ivan on the bench.

AMC. Volpinari (2029) is back in.

AML. & AMR. Visentini (2021) and Gabi (2030) come back in.

SC. Rob (2033) will spearhead our attack. Pier (2023) (who's contract expires tomorrow and he is refusing to discuss a new one), will probably feature from the bench.

As well as Frederico suspended, we have also lost both Gian, (reserve centre-half), and Venerucci, (reserve attacker), to injury.

Match.

4 mins Volpinari (2029) runs direct at the Brazil defence before slipping Visentini (2011) and the record appearance holder calmly slots past the GK for 52nd goal.

It's the only highlight of the 1st half and we go into the break at 1-0 San Marino.

HT.

60 mins and only the 2nd highlight of the game sees us go 2-0 up against the best team in the World. Nicola runs hard out wide before crossing and old man Visentini (2011) scores his 2nd of the game and his 5th of the tournament. At this rate he has a reasonable chance of winning the Golden Boot!

74 mins and a last gasp tackle on Gabi (2030) prevents a good chance for us and a long ball immediately gives the Brazilian striker a on v one. Mazza justifies his selection with a great save and we hold onto our 2 goal lead.

92nd min and Brazil finally nick a goal back through our ex club striker. It's surely no more than a consolation though isn't it?

FT.

We have defeated Brazil, the #1 ranked team in the World! When the draw was made I thought that my tactic against Italy was going to backfire badly, but it all worked out well in the end.

[Edit]

Disaster.

I know it's only a few days, and that Protti is meant to be better than Mazza anyway, but for whatever reason, (that I have never been able to put my finger on), Mazza just performs better than Protti. With Mazza fit and available and no other additional injuries I would have been quietly confident of getting past Spain. As it is now....... not so confident at all.

[leonavich]

Woooooo! What a result, emphatic wins in the group stage, and a well played rotation against Italy to come up with the upset over Brazil. We have the Quarter Finals, and beating Brazil means you could go all the way!

Spain beat me in the European Championship Final back in FM13, so there is a history of bad blood here. Make sure you whoop 'em!

[Jimbokav1971]

Club Update. July 2038.

San Marino's average attendance of 44,632 this season is a new record high as fans consistently flocked to see the team play.

The previous San Marino average attendance high was 44,493 back in 2036.

[Jimbokav1971]

World Cup Qtr Final.

Spain (ranked 6) v San Marino.

I was completely engrossed in this game and the fact that I was meant to be doing a report for this thread completely passed me by, (sorry Leon). As a result I will; do the report a bit differently. We picked our strongest team with the exception of the enforced GK change and I was pretty nervous about it if I'm honest. I didn't think we would keep a clean sheet, so it probably meant that we would have to take our chances when they were presented. Spain have a bit of a beast up front in Jaime who plays for our league rivals Napoli, (where he has scored 238 goals in 9 seasons since his £31.5M transfer from Barca as a 20yo). If we can keep him quiet then the job will be half done I think.

Well that part of the plan certainly worked a treat. He worked hard but we really dealt with him well.

Now all we had to to is find a way past the ESP GK Ruiz (ESP) (Model Pro), who is incidentally an ex San Marino player although he was really signed more as a tutor than a player and never managed a single appearance.

The problem is however that he is still a very good player and needless to say played an absolute belter against us and was awarded MOM. When the opposition GK gets the MOM award, it maybe doesn't suggest that the result went your way.

The good news is that we did manage to beat him once, with left winger Visentini (2021) scoring his 6th goal of the tournament to move him 1 goal clear of a Bulgarian and a Dane. How a player with such limited ability can keep scoring at this level is simply beyond me! He is really a very average player, (despite the fact that even without these WC2038 he will always be a Sammarinese legend).

[Jimbokav1971]

World Cup Semi Final.

He's only out for a few days. How quickly does the Final come after the Semi? :confused:

He still has a chance of winning the Golden Boot though. The teams left in the Semi's are ourselves, Denmark, Portugal and Italy so if we can stop Stensgaard (DEN) scoring, (and win against Denmark), then Visentini (2021) will be 2 goals clear of the likes of Amadu "Bettega" and Lazzer of (ITA).

Denmark (ranked 7th) v San Marino.

We have a problem on the left wing with the injury to Visentini (2021) and the only person able to cover effectively is Frederico who is frustratingly our only left back. As a result I have switch 1st choice right back Fabrizio (2032) over to left back, and Cavalli "Conti" comes in at right back. The rest of the team picks itself with Protti keeping out Mazza between the sticks after a clean sheet in the last round against Spain. I might have been tempted to recall Mazza, (I was), but he is not yet fit enough so it's an easy decision. Rossi and Nicola start in the middle of the pitch purely on the basis that Volp (2024) is knackered. I'm sure we will see him at some point though.

I wasn't enjoying the match at all. It was real end to end stuff with both sides attacks dominating the defences and added to which the Danes were really getting stuck in with Volpinari (2029) on the receiving end of a number of heavy fouls and green injured as a result. It got worse when we conceded from an indirect free-kick on 29 mins, but we had already hot the woodwork by then and I was hopeful that we would create more chances. I thought we would concede after all and it was really just a case of limiting it to conceding just 1, and hoping that we could score at least 2, or maybe just score 1 and sneak through on pens. For a long time it didn't look like it was going to be our night as we hit the woodwork again, (although so did the Danes to be fair), and with 10 minutes to go we had made all 3 subs, had a striker playing on the wing, and a very quick defensive midfielder (Ivan), playing in the hole behind Rob (2033) for the injured Volpinari (2029). Rob (2033) first drew us level with 8 minutes left, a simple finish from close range after I was screaming for a pen for Pier (2023), and then in extra time when I was thinking about pens, Pier (2023) only went and won it with a cool finish cutting in from a left to finish a move that he himself started from deep. Brilliant win!

The other Semi is Portugal against Italy. Come on the Portugal!!!!

[Edit]

Italy obviously win, (2-1), with both goals being scored by San Marino club players.

[Jimbokav1971]

Another injury before the Final.

At least my best defender isn't also injured..... oh wait! (Fabrizio (2032) is suspended after yellows against Spain in the Qtr's and Denmark in the Semi's).

All in all the Final was a bit of an anti-climax and we dominated proceedings from start to finish. Italy have a much better squad than us and we should never be able to beat them, especially not with players playing out of position and so fatigued. I should feel elated that we have won the World Cup at the first attempt, (I think Visentini (2021) has won the Golden Boot in the process, (level on goals with Rob (2033) and a Dane), and we are sure to have some players in the dream team, but I think I might have preferred it if we had suffered a more realistic loss.

Retirements.

[/url]Luca (2022) and Volp (2024) agreed to continue to play International football, but Trini (2026) could not be persuaded and will both return.

World Cup 2038 Best Player. Visentini (2021).

World Cup 2038 Golden Boot Winner. Visentini (2021).

World Cup 2038 Best Young Player. Rob (2033).

World Cup Dream Team. Fabrizio (2032), Visentini (2021), Rob (2033) all make the starting XI and Gabi (2030) makes the bench. Additionally, 2 non Sammarinese players who play for the club side, (Coelho (POR) and Geri "Rossi" (2031) make the team).

[Jimbokav1971]

National Team Update. (July 2038).

World Rankings Announced.

San Marino have moved up 6 places to 3rd position in the World rankings.

Brazil retain the top position, (but are now only 115 pts ahead of Italy).

The Most improved Nation is South Sudan who moved up from 207th to 181st.

[coady]

We have reached and passed the Serie A winter break in the 2019-20 season with steady progress continuing to be made on all fronts.

Club Competitions

Serie A - We have been very consistent this year, with only the top teams getting the better of us. We sit 4th in the new year, the same position we finished in last year. This is excellent given the additional games in Europe this season.

Euro Cup - We got a decent group, with Kobenhavn & Teplice providing little competition. Stuttgart were always going to be tough but progress would never be an issue. Another german side Hoffenheim are sure to be a tough opponent in the next round.

National Team Competitions

Most tense but rewarding moment yet for the NT. We managed to hold N.I. away from home on the final matchday to hold them off in 4th place. This briefly put us into the top 100 of the world rankings.

Youth development

Here is the current progress from our key youth players so far:-

Volpinari - Our first youth intake player, has become a good professional now.

Francioni - Second year player has been excellent this season.

Mularoni - Starting to produce now, wish he would play for NT, but has his heart set on Italy!

Stefanelli - I think he will be world class in a few years.

Maiani - Not club produced, but good standard for NT considering he was from an amateur club in San Marino's native league.

If Mularoni would play for the NT, and a decent DM came through in this years youth intake. I really feel the National team could start to compete against more of the middle range teams when everyone is fit. I hope this might happen!

[MADA]

National Team Update. (July 2038).

World Rankings Announced.

San Marino have moved up 6 places to 3rd position in the World rankings.

Brazil retain the top position, (but are now only 115 pts ahead of Italy).

The Most improved Nation is South Sudan who moved up from 207th to 181st.

incredible mate, well done

[Jimbokav1971]

incredible mate, well done

Thanks, but believe it or not I'm not overly happy.

We shouldn't have beaten Italy. We just aren't good enough and Italy are excellent in all areas. Our centre-backs are average at best. Our best centre-back, (Moretti), can't even get in the Fiorentina team who are a mid-table Serie A team. Whether you compare them to the Italian central defenders, (who both play for our club side), or the main Italian striker, (who again plays for us), and there is just no comparison. Italy are significantly better than us in every single area. That we beat them, (and so convincingly), just seems wrong.

We had a left back missing, a right back playing at left back, a striker started at left wing and the bloke who won the Best Player of the Tournament and Golden Boot has played in Scotland for the last 8 years and is now playing in Qatar, (where 10 of his 13 appearances since the World Cup have been from the bench).

We should get nowhere near this Italy side. I can explain away other individual performances and of course resting the whole starting XI against Italy in the group stage was a master-stroke in hindsight, but....... meh!

It just doesn't feel right.

[Edit]

Something else that is bothering me is the 7(ish) players with DN who I have tried to call up since we won the World Cup. I know that Italy are still ranked 1 place ahead of us, (2nd), but surely the fact that we had just won the World Cup, (beating Italy in the Final), should have some sort of impact on a at least one of these players to such an extent that they would agree to play for San Marino.

Instead, the best centre-half we have ever produced has just made his Italian debut, (after the World Cup). He would walk straight into our team.

It's just wrong.

[Edit2]

Am I going mad? Since when did you only get 7 subs for EURO Qualifiers? :confused: I didn't think you ever just had 7 subs for Internationls.

[leonavich]

Wait.... Jimbokav... You are the first person to win a Major Tournament, let alone a World Cup!

You may be disappointed at the realism, but to be fair, that could be said about the whole San Marino rise to prominence in such a small space of time.

The fact you dominated pretty much every game shows two things.

You got the most out of the players that you had

You outperformed the opposition on the day.

Regardless of the player ability, you dominated and won with what you did have. I would be ecstatic, and you should be!

That is some great tactical management right there.

In other news, I am in 2025 and have yet to crack to top 120 on the international scene. I think I am a fair way aways from lifting the trophy

Congrats Jimbokav

[Jimbokav1971]

Cheers Leon.

I have been pouring over things trying to make sense of it and I do feel a bit better about it now. There are a number of contributing factors that I think may have contributed to our win.

1. Resting our 1st team players for the Group H game against Italy, (losing 4-0 against their best team), obviously helped our fatigue levels as the tournament progressed. MADA commented about having to play players on 70% condition and I was nowhere near this, (89% ish was the lowest I think, although some on the bench were lower).

2. Italy played their Semi the day after us so we had 1 extra days rest. I know it's only 1 day, but when the players are shattered it makes all the difference.

3. I don't think Italy have been well managed over the years and this was no different. Whatever the roles of their 2 strikers, they didn't compliment eachother.

4. Their left winger Ceccoli (2026) plays for San Marino, (and actually has dual San Marino Nationality), but he is past it shouldn't be starting for Italy in the World Cup Final.

5. Add in that we had an extra man in midfield and that our full-backs dominated their wide players, it's no surprise that we had more possession and did more with it with a man in the hole.

Our toughest game, (in hindsight), was the Denmark game in the Semi's. We were a bit lucky to win, but that's the way it goes.

Had I not thrown the Group H game against Italy I have no doubt that we wouldn't have won the World Cup. We would have met Italy in the Semi's instead of Denmark and we would have lost rather than sneak through.

Yep. Feeling a bit better about things now and I am chuffed. :o

[Jimbokav1971]

NT Update Sep 2038.

(Friendly). San Marino 6 - 0 Bonaire.

(EURO 2040 Qual). San Marino 5 - Belarus.

I dropped 21yo Rob (2033) from the senior NT squad in the hope that he would play for the U21's and fire them to success, only for them to not bother picking him after I left him out of the Senior Squad. Eegits!

The biggest thing that has happened since the World Cup is that none of the players with DN have agreed to represent San Marino following our World Cup win, (which seems a bit strange). There were & I think who were either good enough to be called up right now, or who have good enough PA to warrant me trying to play them against Belarus in the qualifier to make them ineligible for Italy. Alas not a single one of them agreed and in fact ***Matt (2034) immediately went and played for Italy in a friendly. wth? We have just beaten them in the World Cup Final and he still wants to go and play for them?

[leonavich]

NT Update Sep 2038.

(Friendly). San Marino 6 - 0 Bonaire.

(EURO 2040 Qual). San Marino 5 - Belarus.

I dropped 21yo Rob (2033) from the senior NT squad in the hope that he would play for the U21's and fire them to success, only for them to not bother picking him after I left him out of the Senior Squad. Eegits!

The biggest thing that has happened since the World Cup is that none of the players with DN have agreed to represent San Marino following our World Cup win, (which seems a bit strange). There were & I think who were either good enough to be called up right now, or who have good enough PA to warrant me trying to play them against Belarus in the qualifier to make them ineligible for Italy. Alas not a single one of them agreed and in fact ***Matt (2034) immediately went and played for Italy in a friendly. wth? We have just beaten them in the World Cup Final and he still wants to go and play for them?

I don't think there is really proper growth internationally, and despite moving up in ranks, it doesn't change reputation all too much, especially over the "giants" of football when it comes to dual nationalities.

[leonavich]

November 2025

The start of the new season has seen San Marino with a near perfect start. 28 points from a possible 30 sees them sitting high, 5 points clear of second place Inter, with a game in hand and the possibility to stretch it to an 8 point lead. Could this be a run away season?

[MADA]

I don't think there is really proper growth internationally, and despite moving up in ranks, it doesn't change reputation all too much, especially over the "giants" of football when it comes to dual nationalities.

yep, i went WC - Euros - WC and never managed to persuade any of the DN guys to join

[Jimbokav1971]

yep, i went WC - Euros - WC and never managed to persuade any of the DN guys to join

I've had 3 who represented ITA U21's and were good enough to represent ITA Seniors, (in my opinion), but who were overlooked after turning 21 and who eventually agreed to represent SMR.

[Jimbokav1971]

I don't think there is really proper growth internationally, and despite moving up in ranks, it doesn't change reputation all too much, especially over the "giants" of football when it comes to dual nationalities.

That's soooooo frustrating.

[Nocuous]

I haven't played too much FM15 to really have a good grasp of how good youth recruitment works, but I've done this challenge in FM10 before and the problem is I never got good youth prospects. Even when I maxed out the facilities it was pretty rare that I would get San Marinese players that even had potential to be a decent Serie A player. The better players always turned out to be Italian. So I'm not calling Jim a cheater, but I'm a little skeptical that there wasn't at least a little bit of reloading to get better prospects for the National Team.

[Jimbokav1971]

I haven't played too much FM15 to really have a good grasp of how good youth recruitment works, but I've done this challenge in FM10 before and the problem is I never got good youth prospects. Even when I maxed out the facilities it was pretty rare that I would get San Marinese players that even had potential to be a decent Serie A player. The better players always turned out to be Italian. So I'm not calling Jim a cheater, but I'm a little skeptical that there wasn't at least a little bit of reloading to get better prospects for the National Team.

I'm having exactly the same problems.

You could have had a look at some of my recent posts that show just how average many of the squad are, but just to recap...

This bloke won Player of the Tournament and Golden Boot.

Do you see what I mean?

If I look at my squad list and filter my PA, (I have a screen created just for Youth Day), then it shows me this.

This filters the squad by PA.

It shows that of the players with the 20 best PA at the club, only 3 were eligible for San Marino.

Matt (2034) has already opted to play for Italy and has made his Senior debut but not his competitive debut, (so there is still a tiny chance).

Valentini (2036) is refusing all my call-ups and in return I keep withdrawing him from all the ITA U21 squads is a desperate effort to coerce him.

Fabrizio (2032) didn't have dual Nationality so brilliant.

The 2nd page of the PA screen shows that I have just 1 more SMR eligible player who has a PA rating of better than 3.0

Volp (2024) has been brilliant and you can call it lucky or whatever.

So that's 4 SMR registered players produced with a PA of greater than 3.0 stars and I have been managing SMR for..... 24 seasons now.

To give you a better grasp of the quality of players I have available, these are my starting centre-backs and my preferred GK.

Just for the record I am not into re-loading at all, whether that be matches or injuries or youth products or whatever. It's just not my thing.

Many of the best players I have had promoted in any given season, were either Italian completely or had DN and chose to represent them. There were also many seasons when they just weren't very good. I had to wait more than 10 seasons for a decent GK for example. (I went 10 seasons without winning a competitive game).

Anyway, I get where you are coming from. It's just not the way i do things however.

[Edit]

Apologies, I didn't explain how I managed to get the most out of the players and if you haven't been reading you won't know.

I made HUGE efforts in personality development and mentoring and in case you haven't noticed I have an outrageously professional squad. What that means is that I am able to squeeze the absolute most out of the players at my disposal.

[Nocuous]

I really haven't played much of FM 15, so maybe it was a bit harsh of me to doubt you. I just remember the difficulty I had with this in FM10, and I feel like that game was much more exploitable (especially when it came to tutoring, I was able to get all of my youth products into having a professional personality without much worry). I was just never able to get the rub of the green when it came to the youth academy. I played the game for about 20 seasons or so, the bulk of which with great youth facilities but I'd always have problem positions and it would be annoying when I'd finally get a good prospect and they'd be an attacking midfielder, or a wingback, where they really wouldn't fit into a more backs against the wall type of team. I eventually got to the situation where I could consistently beat bad nations because I could exploit set-pieces and whatnot, but anytime I came up against a half-decent side I'd just get molly-whopped. I did eventually qualify for the Euro in 2024 I think it was and was beaten in all 3 games, so I thought that was as good as it was going to get, so I packed it in. I may still have the file somewhere so I'll see if I can find it and upload some screenshots.

While it the national team was an exercise in frustration, playing as the club side was a blast. If I remember correctly I was able to get Diego Buonanotte after the first season when I was in Serie C1 which was hilarious and he went on the become a club legend. I was able to get some other FM10 legends in too like Cavani, Guardado and Danny Wilson.

[Jimbokav1971]

Nocuous. Sorry, should have corrected you earlier. I'm actually still playing FM14.

I've found the NT progress outrageously slow at times in this challenge. As mentioned above we went 10 whole seasons without a competitive win at one point. We didn't have a decent GK, our best players were kids and even when we played really well, we always seemed to concede late goals as we tired.

After we got a decent GK, it was our full-backs that were the problem but I hid/protected them quite well until the last 5 or so years when we produced better players. We've got lots of decent midfielders now, (and 2 GK's), but lacking at left back, AMC and of course centre-half. If I had a balanced team.... jeez we would be good.

[Edit]

When I produced Matt (2034) I thought our centre-back prayers had been answered. That he has chosen to represent Italy AFTER we beat them in the World Cup Final is just gutting.

[Edit2]

The other thing is that so far I have managed to produce 1 single player who has played for the San Marino team and who is rated as "World Class". (It's now 2038).

[leonavich]

That's soooooo frustrating.

In FM13, I found that I was able to get players to change their minds when they were about 24 and had not yet represented Italy (including a guy who had 2 caps for Italy in friendlies but switched for a qualifier). I never completed that save as I got a bit disenchanted as we started to regress a little despite having a stronger team towards the end.

But I found, you usually kept the same squad for a long period of time (I had key players from about 16 through to their mid 30's) and it really helped them play better together.

I have been struggling some what more in this iteration. I have picked up a few draws recently and have finally broken the 120 ranking by getting to 110th in the world, but the players have not been great.

These are probably our best players at the moment, which explains our lack of progress, but hopefully they can improve in great strides as I start to give them more game time in the club competition now that we have won the league and Champions League.

Mario Dini (16 Y.O.) - 4.5 star potential at club level

Mattia Berardi (22 Y.O.) - 2.5 star potential at club level

Micehle Bindi(21 Y.O.) - 2.5 star potential at club level

Simone Mularoni (18 Y.O.) - 4 star potential at club level

[leonavich]

January 2026

We just came off a 0-0 draw with third place Inter to keep our lead at the top of the table intact, on 49 points. 3 Points clear of Fiorentina, who have played a game more than us.

It is looking like another three horse race with Palermo sitting in 4th, 4 points away from Inter, and 12 off the pace from us. Champions League looks pretty secure at this stage, and despite our form in the league, we have been a bit shaky elsewhere. Modena crashed us out of the Italian cup 4-0, and we scrapped through in second in the Champions League behind a rampant Valencia.

Our Form so far this season:

Serie A - 1st 49 pts after 20 games

Champions League - Progression to knockout stages

Italian Super Cup - 2-1 W v Palermo

European Super Cup - 2-1et W v Valencia

Club World Championship - 1-0 W v Boca Juniors

Italian Cup 1st Round - 4-0 L v Modena

---------------------------------------------------------------

Our in form players are

Bendetti - The 34 year old continues to defy age by being our most consistent performer so far this season. He has been used in a rotation role, but is really solid as our left back, and primarily as a wing back in our more attacking formations.

Morra - Has created the most chances so far with 8 goals and 11 assists in all forms. Continues to be the star of the side, but yet to cap Italy. Would love if he could become a Sammarinese citizen

Dunn - The young defender has been part of a solid back 4 or 5 when we deploy wingbacks. His age shows he has a bright future, and his ability to play on the left means that he can cover Benedetti hen he retires, and if Sow leaves.

Leroy - For the first time in a while, we have conceded less than the number of games we have played. Our defense has been fantastic this year, but that is in no small part due to our shot stopper currently in his second full season at the club.

Sabbioni - Has struggled with injury and consistent form in the league, but his 7 goals in 9 cup games shows how important he has been in winning the European and Italian Super Cups, as well as getting our of the CL group stages. Our best striker this year, though Hulse has been the polar opposite, scoring in the League and not the Cups. This interchangeability has served us well as we always have one striker performing.

[leonavich]

We had 2 games in hand and we drew to 19th and lost to 20th to reduce our potential lead of 6 to just 1!

I am actually very disappointed as we seem to do very well against the good sides, and crumble against the poor ones. The league is now wide open again! grr

Edit: Just days after the two poor performances, we beat Manchester City 3-2 in the Champions League first leg of the knockout stages.

I am satisfied with the result, but frustrated at the inconsistency!

[leonavich]

We had a difficult time over the last few games and coughed up another 3 points to a then 12th placed Roma. Luckily Sampdoria and Fiorentina tied at nil a piece to keep us a full win clear after 30 games, on 67.

It is a two horse race at this stage with 12 points aback in third being Sampdoria.

The once giants of football teams are currently as follows:

Juventus - 7th - Had their first poor run last year and have not yet recovered. Could this be the decline of one of Italy's best sides?

Roma - 10th - After beating San Marino, they have leaped up a few places, but have been perennial midtablers over the last few seasons.

Milan - 11th - The mighty started their decent back in the first part of last decade (2010's) but have really gone off the rails. Some good results have cleared them of relegation and got them back to mid table, literally. 11 out of 20 teams with 10 wins 10 draws and 10 losses, scoring 42 and conceding 42.

[Jimbokav1971]

Leon. I always find that the 3rd quarter of any season is where I seem to struggle.

I like Bendetti. Of course he is old and not brilliant, but I like his stat balance, (as an attacking full back rather than a wing-back).

Morra. Wow. Very nice indeed.

David Dunn does indeed look a decent prospect, but what is his personality? Determination only at 10?

Apart from being French, (joke), Nabil Leroy looks excellent. His stat balance looks bang on the money and do I need to point out that his free kick rating is in double figures?

Bloomin hell. Sabbioni looks great. It was a LONG time before I had a striker like that. From a personal point of view I don't like some of his physical stats, but there is no doubting that he can stick the ball in the net. What role are you using for him? I play an AF(a) and I'm not sure Sabbioni would fit that, but he's still excellent.

From the earlier YP's, (now we are getting into it).... I don't like Dini (YP4) at all, but then again I would love him if I were you. He is too short for a centre-half for me, (180cm = 5'10") and that means his jumping is always going to be an issue. (Having said that, he would have been close to making my WC2038 squad as a 16yo even being a shorty so everything is relative). Still don't like him though. 4.5 PS stars is all well and good, but it also depends how good your existing centre-backs are? What level does it say he will reach? World Class? Star or Leading?

Berardi (YP1) looks excellent, but again is he lacking a little in physicality? I wonder if he still has time to develop? Some REALLY good technical stats though.

Bindi (YP2) looks to be my sort of player. Really good physical stats but single figures in determination and composure is a shame. (Crying out for tutoring and shoots with power ppm I think). He has all the signs of a super-sub in the making though.

Mularoni (YP3) looks excellent. Far more balanced than Bindi (YP2). Better potential too but I see that he isn't capped yet. I assume he has DN and is refusing call-ups? Hopefully he won't be quite good enough for ITA and won't make the grade and you will get him for the NT later on. 23/24yo is when most players turn in my experience, (although that doesn't stop me trying at every single squad is announced). Every single DN player over a certain CA/PA gets an offer every single squad.

[Jimbokav1971]

Club update. Oct 2038.

After 7 wins from 7 in Serie A we find ourselves 7 points clear at the top of the table.

Lucio has scored 4 goals, (that's 75 he's up to now), and is joint top goal-scorer despite being our GK, (if only once he could keep up this early season goal-scoring form he would finish on 20+goals for the season).

We lost the Italian Super-Cup (Napoli beat us 2-1 in a narrow game). Fitness was still an issue after the World Cup and I didn't manage pre-season well enough.

[leonavich]

We are down to the final 3 games at this stage, and things are getting interesting. Hulse threw away our game against Fiorentina (who were ahead of us by a point) by getting sent off for a clumsy challenge after we had a 2-0 lead. Fiorentina ended up scoring an equaliser in the 92nd minute. I then fined Hulse, who fought back and in the end we now have a strained relationship. He has not played in the last two matches and I will be trying to ship him.

Luckily for us Fiorentina then dropped all 3 points against Inter (currently in 5th), but we failed to capitalise, drawing with Novara 0-0, which sees both Fiorentina and ourselves level on 77 points with 2 games to go.

Benedetti was an amazing player for us over the years, and although his stats and pace have declined, he is still filling the role well.

Morra is just fantastic for us and is definitely our leader, though not with the armband.

Dunn has a balanced personality. As he plays a secondary defensive role to Saidi, I don't mind him being a little lackluster, and he seems to play better as second fiddle.

Leroy has been great for us in goals and it was evident in how well our defense was keeping goals out. However we have been ravaged by injuries this season, and I have pretty much had to throw our new tactic out the window. I was trying to alternate between a 2 pronged compact formation and a wide counter formation that used the wingers. This would allow me to rotate players well enough, but Sabbioni, Hulse, and even Bindi copped injuries which forces Mularoni (YP3) into the side, though he has done pretty decently. The down side, we have grown fatigued with a slim squad, and started to leak goals in easy matches. We are hanging in there, but by a thread.

As I mentioned, Sabbioni got injured for the season and has missed virtually the whole second half of the season. Whilst using him, he was playing the advanced or complete forward (A) role in the single line up, and usually the poacher (A) or advanced forward as part of the two prong attack. He plays better when complimented due to his ability to finish moves, so with Hulse, he had a much better strike rate.

Dini - Has the ability to become a star central defender for the Serie A. As you mentioned, height/jumping isn't his strength, but I would hope to counter that with a deep lying defensive midfielder who helps to shield him from corners and crosses. He will get a bit of a chance next year with us or on loan.

Berardi - is good, simply because he is the first player to show any real potential for the side. He is not great, but I have been forced to give him some game time in the Serie A due to injuries and he is playing reasonable. He is able to cover his physical attributes by keeping off the ball and distributing pretty quick. From what I have seen of him in highlights, he is usually left unattended, seemingly because of this.

Bindi - The kind of player that I just don't see doing the job for me as he looks decent but not quite enough, as you mentioned I was hoping to get Mularoni to commit to me over Italy....

Mularoni - Finally has a cap! this gives me two options up front now, and we are slowly putting together some players to help us get results (at the moment, these results are draws, but they are helping to elevate us in the rankings). By far our best potential up front out of the two.

[leonavich]

Club update. Oct 2038.

After 7 wins from 7 in Serie A we find ourselves 7 points clear at the top of the table.

Lucio has scored 4 goals, (that's 75 he's up to now), and is joint top goal-scorer despite being our GK, (if only once he could keep up this early season goal-scoring form he would finish on 20+goals for the season).

We lost the Italian Super-Cup (Napoli beat us 2-1 in a narrow game). Fitness was still an issue after the World Cup and I didn't manage pre-season well enough.

Lucio is having a great start! See if he can keep it up

[leonavich]

We have just beaten Bologna on match day 37. With one more match to go, it will be tight. This will be my last game before bed as it is nearing 1am here and I have work in 7 hours! Watch this space!

Edit: Fiorentina have beaten Udinese 1-0 to keep things level

Edit 2: We face a 4th placed Sampdoria but are home, whilst Fiorentina have 18th places Spezia, but are away. heeeeeeeeeere we gooooo!

Edit 3: Fiorentina go 1-0 down thanks to an own goal in the 22nd minute

Edit 4: Savadori scores Spezia's second! 2-0 to Spezia after 51 minutes. San Marino v Sampdora is still locked at 0-0

Edit 5: Sampdoria go 1-0 up after 56 minutes, while 5 minutes later Fiorentina pull one back themselves to make their game 2-1. Both sides are losing at the moment.

Edit 6: First game back from a long injury, Sabbioni scores off the bench in the 82nd minute to level the score at 1-1. Fiorentina are still down 2-1 to Spezia with under 10 minutes remaining!

Edit 7: Final Scores

San Marino 1 - 1 Sampdoria

Spezia 2 - 1 Fiorentina

Final Results

San Marino 81 pts

Fiorentina 80 pts

San Marino are champions two years running!

We also got this:

Italian Super Cup

European Super Cup

Club World Championship

Serie A

Not the best trophies to win, but they will do. Our haul looks like this now:

Serie C1\B               x 1 (2015)
Serie B                  x 1 (2018)
Serie A                  x 2 (2025, 2026)
Champions League         x 1 (2025)
European Super Cup       x 1 (2025)
Italian Super Cup        x 1 (2025)
Club World Championships x 1 (2025)

[Reggiana]

Congratulations Jimbokav, it's a shame you haven't enjoyed it as much as you might have done.

leon - are you on FM2015? My best youth so far is also a striker called Mularoni!

I have been taking part in the challenge but not been posting updates about my boring campaigns in Serie C. We did manage to go up in our 5th season though and have just lost in the Serie B playoff at the end of 2020/21, so I'll put together some sort of update later. Highlight for the National team so far has been a 1-1 qualifying draw with Austria.

[leonavich]

Congratulations Jimbokav, it's a shame you haven't enjoyed it as much as you might have done.

leon - are you on FM2015? My best youth so far is also a striker called Mularoni!

I have been taking part in the challenge but not been posting updates about my boring campaigns in Serie C. We did manage to go up in our 5th season though and have just lost in the Serie B playoff at the end of 2020/21, so I'll put together some sort of update later. Highlight for the National team so far has been a 1-1 qualifying draw with Austria.

I am only on FM14, like Jimbokav is, as I didn't jump on this challenge until about this time last year. I was one of the few people who did this on FM13 and I eventually got drawn in by the larger crowd of people doing this on FM14 that I got nostalgic and got the game.

At this stage, I haven't got FM15 as I am still doing this challenge, but will likely get it and pick up something else in the next few months, unless this save keeps me going.

It would be good to see your posts and how you are faring!

[Daymor]

Grats on your World Cup victory Jimbo!

Congrats on your success with the club side too Leon, just need to hope for some good youth intakes and see if you can get the Nation Team up the ranks a bit more. Out of curiousity, how many SMR players you got in your top squad for the Club Side?

From memory I think I have ~6 or so I think. I should really brush the dust of my save and keep going, but have been pulled back into WoW which is a massive time sink in itself.

Eventually I think I want to keep going until Benedettini retires, he is probably my favourite player from my save so far. Last time I played I was getting some pretty sizable transfer offers for Fabio Sbravati my young Italian Striker with WC potential, kept denying them and Barca eventually made a bid worth $120Million+ (I play with US Currency), the kid isn't even my starting striker but I don't really want to sell him as I don't need the money.

He will start for the club side once Papadinas retires who is currently 33 I think, so in like 1-2 years.

[Jimbokav1971]

Thanks Leon, Reggiana & Daymor.

I'm a little weird in that I have a HUGE squad at club level. I have 80 players at the club and available right now, a further 60 who are out on loan at other clubs and an additional 8 (I think), players who are not available because they are either not registered or not fit. (So that's 148 players I think).

My Senior squad contains 30 players and of these 10 have (SMR) as primary Nationality. 3 more players in this Senior squad have (SMR) as a 2nd Nationality. My strategy is that I give special treatment to all (SMR) players regardless of ability, and all will be offered professional contracts as their Youth contract expire. My main reason for this isn't really to benefit the club side, because most are never going to be good enough to even make a single appearance, but I am thinking of both U19 and U21 International performances, and also (SMR) staff as the game develops. I'm really just trying to flood the game with as many (SMR) footballers as possible, (at any level).

Apart from the World Cup win, I'm still enjoying the save and believe it or not it please dme no end that we lost 3-2 in a EURO Qualifier to 80th ranked Slovakia, (who are now ranked 59th), after an early sending off. I will enjoy any success I get if it doesn't come too easy. and so far most of it hasn't been easy at all.

After initially winning Serie A for the 1st time in 2030, we won 5 league titles in a row before I sold some of our best players and replaced then with (SMR) Nationality players, (both full backs for example). Napoli won the next 2 titles as we finished Runners Up, but we have fought back to win again in 2037 and 2038.

At the moment, (Oct 2038), we have a 100% record in the 2038/39 Serie A and this sees us 9 points ahead after only 8 games. That's a HUGE margin at this stage.

I would like to go for a squad where I had at leats 1 (SMR) player in each position, but especially in GK, (where Lucio will keep playing anyway), and at centre-half and on the left flank, we just don't have anyone anywhere near good enough.

At the moment this is the best I can do, (and regularly do).

GK. (ITA). After Lucio retires I will play a (SMR) GK irrespective of what ability i have avilable, although thst will probably signify the end of the save if I'm honest).

DL. (SMR).

DC. (ITA).

DC. (ITA/SMR). (Opted to play for ITA).

DR. (SMR).

MC. (SMR).

MC. (SMR).

AML. (ITA/SMR). Opted to play for ITA).

AMC. (SMR).

AMR. (SMR).

SC. (SMR).

I would love to field an all (SMR) team one day, and although we have gone a long way so far, I can see what is coming through and is nothing to help us in any of these non (SMR) areas.

[Jimbokav1971]

NT Update. (Nov 2038).

We ease past both Iceland and Montenegro in friendlies, with a net score of 7-0 over the two games.

World Rankings Announced.

San Marino have moved up 1 place to 2nd in the World rankings.

Italy hold on to their 1st place in the rankings.

The most improved Nation was Curacao who moved from 181st to 155th on the list.

[leonavich]

Huge squad you have there!!!

In regards to mine, I have none in the starting XI permanently, though Mularoni got some run on's at the end of last year and is now a rotational option (since he decided to go with SMR, I am trying to use him more often).

Berardi and Bindi are usually off the bench as I am still trying to develop the squad and facilities to max before I start trying to push my SMR players.

So there are 3 who are getting good game time, one of which is rotational starter.

[djwillster]

im back for fm 15 n the san marino challenge

[Jimbokav1971]

Berardi and Bindi are usually off the bench as I am still trying to develop the squad and facilities to max before I start trying to push my SMR players.

You really don't have to wait that long.

(Remembering that this is FM14).

Training Facilities - Superb. (16/17 out of 20).

Youth Facilities - Great. (14/15 out of 20).

Junior Coaching - Exceptional. (20 out of 20).

Youth Recruitment - Well Established. (17/18 out of 20).

My Youth Facilities especially are still lacking, (another upgrade in the pipeline). You don't have to have World Class players. I have only ever had 1 so far,

[leonavich]

I haven't really had the talent coming through to make a decent team until now though. There are a few players that are starting to creep into the starting side, as well as some players that are now becoming decent enough to warrant consideration as they are fairly capable for the national side too.

The problem I have ha until now is that no one was good enough, and then when I did finally get a decent player, they had no support around them for years.

I think I have about 5 or so player that are able to make me an actual competitive team in some matches. The test will be against the lower sides in the Qualifying matches like Moldova. Expect to start seeing results in these games.

[coady]

We have now completed the 2019-20 season, with remarkable progress continuing to be made. The lack of injuries in the 2nd half of the season really helped me compete well on all fronts, and develop some of the talented younger players.

Club Competitions

Serie A - I thought we'd fade away in the league, with key players often being rested for other competitions. However, we held strong and managed to secure 3rd and a champions league spot for next season.

Italian Cup - We did brilliantly here, beating a poor Napoli side in the final.

Euro Cup - I rested players in the league for this one, and it some how worked. We managed to win many close ties and secure the trophy at our first attempt!

Youth Intake 2020

Again only one player worth talking about, but with world class potential. A Sammarinese centre-back with huge ability and all the vital stats already. This is Lorenzo Bianchi!

National Team

Quiet spell here, only 1 friendly resulting in a comfortable 2-1 win over Andorra.

New season update later this evening.