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

Brian of Nazareth · July 11, 2004

Bulgaria

Still very, very impressive. However, I should ask, how do you reckon you'd have done without a Mr. Selva?

I fancy an upset against the Slovenians, especially if that last win against Slovakia is anything to go by... good luck.

Daz the Imp · July 13, 2004

*Jimbo - *

B_o_N - Without Selva we would be fukked, literally I'm afraid. Thank god we do have him *

*Post 100 *

----

There were a couple of enforced changes to the starting line-up, and one that wasn't forced upon me. The two forced changes saw Stefano Toccacelli come into defence and Andrea Raschi come into replace the injured Alessandro Francioni. The unforced change saw Stefano Molinari replace Nicola Giardi in goal. All of the new players were making their first international appearances. Their international careers couldn't have gotten off to a better start.

We won the ball from the Slovenian kick-off and Fabio Bollini played a long ball to Andy Selva. Selva hit a shot on goal that took a deflection off Jesenicnik and Murko managed to push to the ball away. Kelhar got to the loose ball first but Conti made a good sliding challenge to win the ball back. He took the ball towards the six-yard box, smashed the ball into the bottom corner of the net, and opened the scoring in the first minute.

The only down side to scoring in the first minute is that your opposition still have eighty-nine minutes to get back into the game. It took our opponents, Slovenia, just two. Bollini lost the ball in a tackle with Sebastjan Cimirotic and Cimirotic was able to make a good run towards out box. Cimirotic chipped the ball right to Robnik and Dejan Robnik was left with an easy header, which he finished coolly.

It was back to square one again, but after three minutes it was obvious that this was going to be a more attack-minded game due to the lack of defensive qualities in both sides. Molinari made a good save from Cimirotic before Della Valle headed a Robnik shot off the line, then we had two equally good chances when Andy Selva headed just over the bar and Moroni hit a free kick just wide of the post.

Half-time came and went and we started the second half the better of the two sides, Zanotti getting an early shot in that he saw sail wide of the post. Toccacelli then made a fantastic last ditch tackle at the other end and the game was opening up into end-to-end action. Unfortunately for us, fortunately for our visitors, the next action came in our penalty area and we fell behind.

Ales Jesenicnik played the ball down the line to Nastja Ceh and Ceh ran down the left wing. He crossed from the byline and when the ball was cleared Slovenia won a free kick right on the edge of the area. Ceh fired it in and Molinari was left with no chance as the ball flew into the top right-hand corner of the net.

After this, in what had been a highly attacking game, Slovenia shut down and shoved everyone behind the ball. We could find no way through them and we had no more chances to get back into the game. Slovenia completely refused to attack and just hoofed possession back to us, but their stout defence meant we succumbed to an opening defeat.

Daz the Imp · July 13, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>

San Marino Suffer Opening Defeat

9.9.06

San Marino 1-2 Slovenia (European Championship Qualifying Group 1)

San Marino suffered an opening defeat in Group One of the European Championship by going down two-one at home Slovenia.

Despite going ahead through Daniele Conti in the first minute, goals from Dejan Robnik (3) and Nastja Ceh (62) saw the away side take all three points.

San Marino now turn to their trip to Spain, always a tricky tie, and look to open their points account as they look to qualify for Euro 2008/ <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

|No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||No. | Name | |Rat|Gls|

|-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|

| 1 | Stefano Molinari | | 5 | || 1 | Tomaz Murko | | 5 | |

| 2 | Fabio Bollini | | 8 | || 2 |* DEJAN ROBNIK | | 8 | 1 |

| 3 | Alessandro Della Valle | | 7 | || 3 | Ales Jesenicnik | | 7 | |

| 4 | Paolo Cupi | | 7 | || 4 | Aleksander Knavs | | 7 | |

| 5 | Stefano Toccacelli | | 8 | || 5 | Dejan Kelhar | | 5 | |

| 6 | Andrea Raschi | | 7 | || 6 | Dejan Komljenovic © | | 7 | |

| 7 | Raffaele Moroni © | | 7 | || 7 | Nastja Ceh | | 7 | 1 |

| 8 | Mirco Zanotti | | 7 | || 8 | Goran Sukalo |(sub 74)| 6 | |

| 9 | Nicola Chiaruzzi | | 6 | || 9 | Robert Koren | | 7 | |

|10 | Daniele Conti | | 7 | 1 ||10 | Borut Semier |(sub 82)| 7 | |

|11 | Andy Selva | | 8 | ||11 | Sebastjan Cimirotic |(sub 82)| 8 | |

|-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|

|12 | Marco Gasperoni | | | ||12 | Samir Handanovic | | | |

|14 | Davide Biordi | | | ||14 | Jaka Stromajer | (on 82)| 6 | |

|15 | Davide Selva | | | ||15 | Franc Kovacic | (on 82)| 6 | |

|16 | Elia Gerini | | | ||16 | Peter Gomboc (Bkd) | (on 74)| 6 | |

|17 | Nicola Giardi | | | ||17 | Milenko Acimovic | | | |

|18 | David Rapanelli | | | ||18 | Dare Vrsic | | | |

|19 | Michele Mancini | | | ||19 | Andrej Papotnik | | | |</pre>

Daz the Imp · July 13, 2004

Spain vs. San Marino - World Cup Qualifying European Section Group 3

Spain - 4-3-2-1

Diego TristÃ¡n

RaÃºl Capi

VÃctor D. Albelda JoaquÃn Subs:

I. Casillas

R. Tamudo

J. Exteberria

G. Mendieta

J. Velasco

J. Mari

Fernando Navarro IvÃ¡n Helguera Marchena Michel Salgado F. Torres

S. CaÃ±izares</pre>

San Marino - 4-1-3-2

D. Conti A.Selva

^ ^ ^

| | |

| | | Subs:

N. Chiaruzzi R. Moroni M. Zanotti M. Gasperoni

M. Giacobbi

D. Selva

E. Gerini

N. Giardi

A. Raschi D. Rapanelli

M. Mancini

A. Della Valle S. Toccacelli P. Cupi E. Gerini

S. Molarini</pre>

Kyle · August 1, 2004

just found the link to this from the cmstories site, whatever happened to it? was a fb story.

Daz the Imp · August 2, 2004

*Thanks Kyle, although I have know idea what you mean. Updates are as regular as ever.

*SORRY *

-

After disappointment of an opening defeat in a game we thought we could get something from, we now had to play in Spain. Honestly, my only hope was that we kept the score to a respectable level. I decided not to make any changes to the team as I felt we had our best eleven on the pitch, bar Alex Gasperoni who isn't in the squad due to suspension.

I wanted a good start, as always, but we managed to get off to a fantastically poor start, just what we didn't need. RaÃºl missed two good opportunities to put the hosts ahead inside the first couple of minutes, but it didn't take long for Diego TristÃ¡n to give Spain the lead. Victor played a ball in to RaÃºl but Molinari got a fist on it to punch it clear. His punch, however, went straight to TristÃ¡n who put away a simple finish for his tenth goal for his country.

Three minutes and one attempt at goal later, Spain were two goals to the good, and we were out of it within the first ten minutes. It was RaÃºl who started and finished the move that brought the goal, playing the ball to Albelda before running onto the return ball to smash home from a narrow angle.

TristÃ¡n and Capi both missed guilt-edged opportunities to further the Spanish lead before we had our first shot of the game. Conti ran past Marchena and had a shot that CaÃ±izares did well to parry. Conti got to the rebound and headed towards goal but, again, CaÃ±izares did brilliantly to turn the ball away. Moroni then had another attempt at the Spanish goal that CaÃ±izares turned away, but any thoughts of us getting back into the game were wiped away as Spain hit us on the counter attack and scored a third. TristÃ¡n spurned an easy opportunity with a dismal effort that should have gone in, but he managed to get a corner from it. JoaquÃn took it and Fernando Navarro rose above Toccaceli to head the ball into the back of the net.

It was to get worse for us before half time. We couldn't get any sort of possession and we had to try and defend wave after wave of attacks from the now-rampant Spanish. We didn't hold out for long, however, and Diego TristÃ¡n got his second of the game to give Spain a four-nil lead at half-time. He took the ball round Molinari in goal, but Molinari recovered to prod the ball away. TristÃ¡n got the ball back and was left with an unguarded net to roll the ball into.

The second half continued in much the same vain as the first and inside the first five minutes RaÃºl, twice, Victor and Albelda all missed chances to further extend the lead. We tried to hit Spain on the counter through Bollini and Chiaruzzi, but we lost the ball and got punished by Diego TristÃ¡n completing his hat-trick. Chiaruzzi lost the ball to Capi who played the ball down the left for RaÃºl to latch onto. He did just that before swinging in a cross that TristÃ¡n met with a powerful header into the back of the net.

Plenty of time was left within the game, and within two minutes, TristÃ¡n had notched his fourth of the game. Exteberria rose bravely above Toccacelli to win the ball from RaÃºl's curling cross only to see his header saved well by the fingertips of Molinari. Again, it was TristÃ¡n who reacted first and the ball was quickly dispatched into the back of the net.

Spain had now scored six, which meant this game was my joint-worst result in charge of the San Marinese national team. With still twenty-five minutes to go, it was almost certain to get become the worst. And it was no surprise when Diego TristÃ¡n hit his fifth and Spain's seventh. The goal went the way a couple of his other's had when, after Molinari had done well to keep out Michel Salgado, he put away the rebound before Molinari could recover.

With this goal came the end of the attacking from Spain, but they still did enough to stop us from launching any attempt to at least register on the score-sheet. The ended seven goals to nil in the favour of the home side, and we had failed to take any points from our opening two games.

Daz the Imp · August 2, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>

San Marino Outclassed By Spain

13.9.06

Spain 7-0 San Marino (Euro Ch'ship Quals Grp 1)

In a game where a heavy defeat was fully expected, Spain somewhat thrashed San Marino by a resounding seven goals to nil.

There were no surprises at Municipal San Roque, as the far superior Spain overcame San Marino with goals from Diego Tristan (4, 38, 60, 62, 69), Raul (7) and Fernando Navarro (24).

San Marino must now put this game behind them and look to get their first group point in the next game at home to Belgium in a months time. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

|No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||No. | Name | |Rat|Gls|

|-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|

| 1 | Santiago CaÃ±izares | | 8 | || 1 | Stefano Molinari | Booked | 6 | |

| 2 | Michel Salgado | | 9 | || 2 | Fabio Bollini | Booked | 6 | |

| 3 | Fernando Navarro | | 8 | 1 || 3 | Alessandro Della Valle | | 5 | |

| 4 | Marchena | | 7 | || 4 | Paolo Cupi | | 4 | |

| 5 | IvÃ¡n Helguera |(sub 60)| 8 | || 5 | Stefano Toccacelli | | 5 | |

| 6 | JoaquÃn |(sub 60)| 8 | || 6 | Andrea Raschi | | 4 | |

| 7 | Victor | Booked | 9 | || 7 | Raffaele Moroni © | | 6 | |

| 8 | David Albelda | | 7 | || 8 | Mirco Zanotti | | 6 | |

| 9 | Capi |(sub 63)| 7 | || 9 | Nicola Chiaruzzi | | 4 | |

|10 |* RAÃšL | |10 | 1 ||10 | Daniele Conti | | 6 | |

|11 | Diego TristÃ¡n | Booked | 9 | 5 ||11 | Andy Selva | | 3 | |

|-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|

|12 | Iker Casillas | | | ||12 | Marco Gasperoni | | | |

|14 | RaÃºl Tamudo | | | ||14 | Michele Giacobbi | | | |

|15 | Joseba Etxeberria | (on 60)| 7 | ||15 | Davide Selva | | | |

|16 | Gaizka Mendieta | (on 63)| 7 | ||16 | Elia Gerini | | | |

|17 | Juan Velasco | (on 60)| 7 | ||17 | Nicola Giardi | | | |

|18 | JosÃ© Mari | | | ||18 | David Rapanelli | | | |

|19 | Fernando Torres | | | ||19 | Michele Mancini | | | |</pre>

Kyle · August 2, 2004

rout

Daz the Imp · August 4, 2004

*Fraid so Kyle *

-

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>

One Change For Belgium Game

5.10.06

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

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

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

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

M. Bollini - GK - 0/0 N. Giardi - GK - 12/0

S. Molinari - GK - 2/0 M. Mancini - SW/D/DM C - 0/0

F. Bollini - D R - 12/0 E. Gerini - D RC - 2/0

M. Giacobbi - D R - 2/0 S. Toccaceli - D RC - 2/0

P. Cupi - D LC - 12/0 A. Della Valle - D LC - 15/0

A. Gasperoni - D LC - 10/0 A. Francioni - DM C - 12/0

A. Raschi - DM C - 2/0 N. Chiaruzzi - M LC - 14/0

R. Gasperoni - M L - 0/0 D. Rapanelli - M C - 3/0

S. Celli - M C - 2/0 M. Gasperoni - M C - 0/0

R. Moroni - AM RLC - 14/2 M. Zanotti - AMC - 13/1

D. Biordi (U21 caps) - F RC - 0/0 A. Selva - S C - 27/10

D. Conti - F LC - 11/3 G. Muratori - S C - 2/0</pre>

Daz the Imp · August 4, 2004

San Marino vs. Belgium - European Championship Qualifying Section Group 1

Olimpico Stadium, Serravalle

San Marino - 4-1-3-2

D. Conti A. Selva

^ ^ ^

| | |

| | | Subs:

N. Chiaruzzi R. Moroni M. Zanotti A. Raschi

M. Giacobbi

S. Toccacelli

E. Gerini

N. Giardi

^ A. Francioni ^ D. Rapanelli

| | D. Biordi

| |

A. Della Valle A. Gasperoni P. Cupi E. Gerini

S. Molinari</pre>

Belgium - 4-4-2 Attacking

^ K. Vandenbergh E. Mpenza ^

| |

B. Goor J. Blondel T. Buffel M. Hendrikx

Subs:

J-F. Gillet

K. Vanderhaeghen

P. Asubonteng

Y. Vanderhaeghe

X. Chen

J. Cavens

J. Van Damme Junior D. Van Buyten P. Collen S. Huysegems

G. De Vlieger</pre>

Daz the Imp · August 4, 2004

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Daz the Imp · August 4, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>

San Marino Beaten As Belgium Emphasise Greater Class

14.10.05

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

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

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

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

|No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||No. | Name | |Rat|Gls|

|-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|

| 1 | Stefano Molinari | | 6 | || 1 | Geert De Vlieger | | 7 | |

| 2 | Fabio Bollini | | 6 | || 2 | Pieter Collen | | 8 | 1 |

| 3 | Alessandro Della Valle | | 6 | || 3 | Jelle Van Damme | | 7 | |

| 4 | Paolo Cupi | | 4 | || 4 | Daniel Van Buyten | | 7 | |

| 5 | Alex Gasperoni | | 6 | || 5 | Junior |(sub 62)| 7 | |

| 6 | Alessandro Francioni | | 7 | || 6 | Marc Hendrikx | | 7 | |

| 7 | Raffaele Moroni © | | 7 | || 7 | Bsrt Goor © | | 7 | |

| 8 | Mirco Zanotti | | 6 | || 8 | Thomas Buffel |(sub 62)| 4 | |

| 9 | Nicola Chiaruzzi | | 7 | 1 || 9 | Johnathon Blondel | | 6 | |

|10 | Daniele Conti | | 7 | ||10 | Emile Lokonda Mpenza |(sub 73)| 9 | 1 |

|11 | Andy Selva | | 7 | 1 ||11 |* KEVIN VANDENBERGH | |10 | 3 |

|-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|

|12 | Andrea Raschi | | | ||12 | Jean-FranÃ§ois Gillet | | | |

|14 | Michele Giacobbi | | | ||14 | Kjell Vanderhaeghen | | | |

|15 | Stefano Toccacelli | | | ||15 | Prince Asubonteng | | | |

|16 | Elia Gerini | | | ||16 | Yves Vanderhaeghe | (on 70)| 7 | |

|17 | Nicola Giardi | | | ||17 | Xavier Chen | (on 70)| 7 | |

|18 | David Rapanelli | | | ||18 | Jurgen Cavens | (on 70)| 7 | |

|19 | Davide Biordi | | | ||19 | Stein Huysegems | | | |</pre>

Daz the Imp · August 15, 2004

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

Group 1

P W D L F A PTS

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

Slovenia 3 3 0 0 5 1 9

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

Spain 3 2 1 0 9 1 7

Belgium 3 2 1 0 9 5 7

FYR of Macedonia 3 1 0 2 2 3 3

Kazakhstan 3 0 0 3 3 7 0

SAN MARINO 3 0 0 3 3 14 0</pre>

Results so far: |

Saturday 9th Spetember 2006 |

|

FYR of Macedonia 2-1 Kazakhstan | SAN MARINO QUALIFYING RESULTS

SAN MARINO 1-2 Slovenia |

Turkey 1-1 Spain | San Marino 1-2 Slovenia

| Spain 7-0 San Marino

Wednesday 13th September 2006 | San Marino 2-5 Belgium

| Kazakhstan - San Marino

Slovenia 1-0 FYR of Macedonia | FYR of Macedonia - San Marino

Spain 7-0 SAN MARINO | Slovenia - San Marino

Kazakhstan 2-3 Belgium | Belgium - San Marino

| San Marino - Kazakhstan

Saturday 14th October 2006 | San Marino - Spain

| San Marino - FYR of Macedonia

FYR of Macedonia 0-1 Spain |

Slovenia 2-0 Kazakhstan |

SAN MARINO 2-5 Belgium |</pre>

Daz the Imp · August 15, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>

No Change For Friendly Trip

5.2.07

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

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

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

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

M. Bollini - GK - 0/0 N. Giardi - GK - 12/0

S. Molinari - GK - 3/0 M. Mancini - SW/D/DM C - 0/0

F. Bollini - D R - 13/0 E. Gerini - D RC - 2/0

M. Giacobbi - D R - 2/0 S. Toccaceli - D RC - 2/0

P. Cupi - D LC - 13/0 A. Della Valle - D LC - 16/0

A. Gasperoni - D LC - 11/0 A. Francioni - DM C - 13/0

A. Raschi - DM C - 2/0 N. Chiaruzzi - M LC - 15/1

R. Gasperoni - M L - 0/0 D. Rapanelli - M C - 3/0

S. Celli - M C - 2/0 M. Gasperoni - M C - 0/0

R. Moroni - AM RLC - 15/2 M. Zanotti - AMC - 14/1

D. Biordi (U21 caps) - F RC - 0/0 A. Selva - S C - 28/11

D. Conti - F LC - 12/3 G. Muratori - S C - 2/0</pre>

Daz the Imp · August 15, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>

Ukraine Come Away With Expected Win

14.2.07

Ukraine 2-0 San Marino (Friendly)

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

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

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

|No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||No. | Name | |Rat|Gls|

|-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|

| 1 | Olexandr Shovkovskyi | | 7 | || 1 | Stefano Molinari | | 7 | |

| 2 | Dmytro Parfenov |(sub 73)| 8 | || 2 | Fabio Bollini | | 6 | |

| 3 | Sergiy Fedorov |(sub 80)| 7 | || 3 | Alessandro Della Valle | | 6 | |

| 4 | Vladyslav Vaschuk |(sub 60)| 7 | || 4 | Paolo Cupi | | 8 | |

| 5 | Gennadiy Zubov |(sub 60)| 7 | || 5 | Alex Gasperoni | | 5 | |

| 6 | Olexandr Aliev |(sub 73)| 8 | || 6 | Alessandro Francioni | | 7 | |

| 7 | Andriy Husin © | | 7 | || 7 | Raffaele Moroni © | | 7 | |

| 8 | Sergiy Zakarlyuka |(sub 80)| 8 | || 8 | Davide Biordi | | 6 | |

| 9 | Vyacheslav Omelchenko |(sub 63)| 7 | || 9 | Nicola Chiaruzzi | | 7 | |

|10 |* ANDRIY SHEVCHENKO |(sub 87)|10 | 1 ||10 | Daniele Conti | | 7 | |

|11 | Andrei Pereplyotkin |(sub 60)| 6 | ||11 | Andy Selva | | 6 | |

|-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|

|12 | Maxym Levytskyi | | | ||12 | Andrea Raschi | | | |

|14 | Gennadiy Moroz | (on 60)| 7 | ||14 | Michele Giacobbi | | | |

|15 | Taras Kabanov | | | ||15 | Stefano Toccacelli | | | |

|16 | Sergiy Zhdanov | | | ||16 | Elia Gerini | | | |

|17 | Olexandr Yatsenko | (on 73)| 6 | ||17 | Nicola Giardi | | | |

|18 | Sergiy Shyschenko | (on 80)| 6 | ||18 | David Rapanelli | | | |

|19 | Sergiy Rebrov | (on 87)| 6 | ||19 | Simone Celli | | | |

|20 | Olexandr Rykun | (on 63)| 7 | ||20 | Marco Gasperoni | | | |

|21 | Sergiy Puchkov | (on 80)| 7 | ||21 | Gabriele Muratori | | | |

|22 | Oleg Venglinskyi | (on 73)| 7 | ||22 | Michele Bollini | | | |

|23 | Olexiy Belik | (on 60)| 7 | ||23 | | | | |

|24 | Anatoliy Tymoschuk | (on 60)| 7 | 1 ||24 | | | | |</pre>

Daz the Imp · August 16, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>

Squad Kept For Trips To Kazakhstan and Macedonia

22.3.07

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

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

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

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

M. Bollini - GK - 0/0 N. Giardi - GK - 12/0

S. Molinari - GK - 4/0 M. Mancini - SW/D/DM C - 0/0

F. Bollini - D R - 14/0 E. Gerini - D RC - 2/0

M. Giacobbi - D R - 2/0 S. Toccaceli - D RC - 2/0

P. Cupi - D LC - 14/0 A. Della Valle - D LC - 17/0

A. Gasperoni - D LC - 12/0 A. Francioni - DM C - 14/0

A. Raschi - DM C - 2/0 N. Chiaruzzi - M LC - 16/1

R. Gasperoni - M L - 0/0 D. Rapanelli - M C - 3/0

S. Celli - M C - 3/0 M. Gasperoni - M C - 0/0

R. Moroni - AM RLC - 16/2 M. Zanotti - AMC - 14/1

D. Biordi (U21 caps) - F RC - 0/0 A. Selva - S C - 29/11

D. Conti - F LC - 13/3 G. Muratori - S C - 2/0</pre>

Daz the Imp · August 16, 2004

Kazakhstan vs. San Marino - European Qualifying Section Group 1

Central, Almaty

Kazakhstan - 5-3-2

<-------------S. Kim A. Gorbunov----------->

^ V. Guseinov V. Pak Y. Zarechny ^

| |

| | Subs:

| | A. Volkov

| | Y. Baisakov

A. Kusainov S. Moskalenko V. Iskakov

E. Iskakov

A. Loria

M. Shibalaev

<-------M. Moskalenko D. Zarechny O. Loria-------> A. Finonchenko

V. Vikhlyanov</pre>

San Marino - 4-1-3-2

D. Conti A.Selva

^ ^ ^

| | |

| | | Subs:

N. Chiaruzzi R. Moroni M. Zanotti A. Raschi

M. Giacobbi

S. Celli

E. Gerini

N. Giardi

A. Francioni D. Rapanelli

D. Biordi

A. Della Valle M.Mancini S.Toccacelli F. Bollini

S. Molinari</pre>

Daz the Imp · August 16, 2004

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Daz the Imp · August 16, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>

Kazakhstan Grab Deserved Win

31.3.07

Kazakhstan 2-1 San Marino (European Championship Qualifying Group 1)

Kazakhstan and San Marino battled hard in a game that could have gone either way, but Kazakhstan eventually grabbed a deserved 2-1 win.

Kazakhstan took the lead through Dmitry Zarechny (16) and despite Daniele Conti (28) levelling the score, the Kazakh's held on for the win with a goal from Valery Guseinov (55). In this closely fought encounter, a surprsingly lacklustre San Marino side were reduced to ten men late on when Fabio Bollini was dismissed for an off-the-ball scuffle.

San Marino fans may have left the Central Stadium in Almaty cursing the team's bad luck and bemoaning the lack of firepower upfront. They will now look to the game against Macedonia in four days time to try and get a result. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

|No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||No. | Name | |Rat|Gls|

|-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|

| 1 | Vladimir Vikhlyanov | | 5 | || 1 | Stefano Molinari | | 7 | |

| 2 | Oleg Loria | | 6 | || 2 | Fabio Bollini |(off 83)| 4 | |

| 3 | Dmitry Zarechny | | 8 | 1 || 3 | Alessandro Della Valle | | 7 | |

| 4 | Maxim Moskalenko | | 6 | || 4 | Stefano Toccacelli | | 6 | |

| 5 | Sergey Moskalenko | | 7 | || 5 | Michele Mancini | Booked | 7 | |

| 6 | Alexandr Kusainov |(sub 83)| 7 | || 6 | Alessandro Francioni | Booked | 7 | |

| 7 | Yury Zarechny © | | 7 | || 7 |* RAFFAELE MORONI © | | 8 | |

| 8 | Vladimir Pak | | 8 | || 8 | Mirco Zanotti | | 6 | |

| 9 | Valery Guseinov |(sub 79)| 7 | 1 || 9 | Nicola Chiaruzzi | Booked | 7 | |

|10 | Alexandr Gorbunov |(sub 79)| 4 | ||10 | Daniele Conti | | 7 | 1 |

|11 | Sergey Kim | | 7 | ||11 | Andy Selva | | 5 | |

|-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|

|12 | Alexandr Volkov | | | ||12 | Andrea Raschi | | | |

|14 | Vyacheslav Baisakov | | | ||14 | Michele Giacobbi | | | |

|15 | Valery Iskakov | | | ||15 | Simone Celli | | | |

|16 | Eugeny Iskakov | (on 79)| 6 | ||16 | Elia Gerini | | | |

|17 | Andrey Loria | | | ||17 | Nicola Giardi | | | |

|18 | Maxim Shibalaev | (on 79)| 6 | ||18 | David Rapanelli | | | |

|19 | Alexandr Finonchenko | (on 83)| 6 | ||19 | Davide Biordi | | | |</pre>

Brian of Nazareth · August 16, 2004

oh dear Better luck against Macedonia

Daz the Imp · August 17, 2004

Cheers Brian, I feel we will need it

-

FYR of Macedonia vs. San Marino - European Championships Qualifying Group 1

Gradski Stadion, Skopje

Kazakhstan - 5-3-2 Attacking

<-----------D. Nacevski V. Hristovksi----------->

G. Pandev

^ N. Micevski V. Trayanov ^

| |

| | Subs:

| | Z. Toleski

| | I. Jovanovski

D. Lazarevski D. Micevski D. Nikolov

K. Milosevski

G. Ristovski

B. Jovanovski

<-------I. Mitrevski G. Sedloski B. Grnacov-------> D. Janevski

I. Kostovski</pre>

San Marino - 4-1-3-2

D. Conti A.Selva

^ ^ ^

| | |

| | | Subs:

N. Chiaruzzi R. Moroni M. Zanotti A. Raschi

P. Cupi

S. Celli

M. Bollini

M. Gasperoni

A. Francioni D. Rapanelli

D. Biordi

A. Della Valle M.Mancini S.Toccacelli E. Gerini

S. Molinari</pre>

Daz the Imp · August 17, 2004

With three of our usual back four missing through either suspension or injury, confidence was not high going into our match away at Macedonia. When you also consider we are yet to pick up a point, it didn't make confidence or expectations much better.

We were still going to give it our best shot however, like I always felt we did, and we had the first chance of the match through Zanotti. Moroni used good skill to dribble to the byline and Zanotti met his cross, but Zanotti hit his shot straight at the Macedonia goalkeeper Igor Kostovski. Macedonia then looked to create a chance of their own but Mancini denied them with a fantastic intervention.

They were not to be denied next time round, however, and they took the lead after just ten minutes. Nikola Micevski played the ball to Dejan Lazarevski who, spotting two of his teammates in the area, chipped the ball into the box. Dragan Nacevski beat Gerini in the area and headed towards goal. The ball took the slightest of deflections and that was enough to send the ball past Molinari and into the back of the net.

We needed to either get straight back into the match or to try and keep the score down for a while, but Macedonia doubled their lead only six minutes later. Chiaruzzi tripped Trayanov to earn himself a yellow card and to give Macedonia a free kick. Vanco Hristovski took it and put it into the back of the net to leave us with a mountain to climb.

It was a mountain I felt that we could climb, as there was plenty of time left within the match, but when Macedonia scored a third after just the twenty-minute mark, it was beginning to look impossible. Pandev found Grnacov with a low pass right and Grnacov turned skilfully with the ball before angling it out left to Lazarevski. Lazarevski ran to the byline and put the ball into the six-yard box where Grnacov was waiting to finish a good team move.

Nacevski and Dejan Micevski came close to making things worse for us before half time but we ended the half better, and we scored a crucial goal that would give us confidence going into half time. Moroni played the ball to Conti and Conti got to it before Grnacov could cut it out. He dribbled past Sedloski on the edge of the area, ploughing forward in the rain, before hitting the ball low across the keeper for three-one.

We started the second half much better than we had started the first, and within five minutes of the restart we had forced Kostovski into good saves from Moroni and Mancini. Dejan Micevski came close to putting the game beyond us, if it wasn't already, for the home side before Francioni nearly brought us to within one goal with a superb long-range effort. Unfortunately, he couldn't find the back of the net, and Macedonia did get a fourth goal to finally end our hopes. Hristovski swung a free kick to Lazarevski who knocked the ball down. Dejan Micevski was there to meet it, guiding the ball home to make the score four goals to one.

Conti came close to getting his second of the game to get us a consolation goal, but he couldn't manage it and we crashed to another defeat. We now have no points after five games and our next two games are trips to Slovenia and Macedonia before our final three home games.

Daz the Imp · August 17, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>

Macedonia Ease To Victory

4.4.07

FYR of Macedonia 4-1 San Marino (European Championships Qualifying Group 1)

San Marino failed to cause an upset at the Gradski Stadion as Macedonia coasted to and expected four-one victory.

Goals from Dragan Nacevski (12), Vanco Hristovski (18) and Boban Grnacov (21) saw the home side take a commanding lead early on and, desptie Daniele Conti (43) pulling a goal back for the San Marinese, Macedonia wrapped up the win with a goal from Dejan Micevski (64).

Macedonia had much the better of the match and took all three points as both teams look to further their qualifying campaigns. San Marino have yet to record a point and will look to their trips to Slovenia and Belgium in two months time to do just that. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

|No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||No. | Name | |Rat|Gls|

|-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|

| 1 | Igor Kostovski | | 6 | || 1 | Stefano Molinari | | 7 | |

| 2 | Boban Grnacov | Booked | 8 | 1 || 2 | Elia Gerini | | 6 | |

| 3 | Goce Sedloski © | | 7 | || 3 | Alessandro Della Valle | | 6 | |

| 4 | Igor Mitreski | Booked | 7 | || 4 | Stefano Toccacelli | | 6 | |

| 5 |* DEJAN MICEVSKI | | 9 | 1 || 5 | Michele Mancini | Booked | 6 | |

| 6 | Dejan Lazarevski |(sub 80)| 8 | || 6 | Alessandro Francioni | | 7 | |

| 7 | Vancho Trayanov | | 8 | || 7 | Raffaele Moroni © | | 7 | |

| 8 | Goran Pandev |(sub 80)| 7 | || 8 | Mirco Zanotti | | 7 | |

| 9 | Nikola Micevski | | 7 | || 9 | Nicola Chiaruzzi (Bkd) |(sub 45)| 5 | |

|10 | Vanco Hristovski |(sub 89)| 8 | 1 ||10 | Daniele Conti | | 7 | 1 |

|11 | Dragan Nacevski | | 9 | 1 ||11 | Andy Selva | Booked | 3 | |

|-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|

|12 | Zoran Toleski | | | ||12 | Andrea Raschi | | | |

|14 | Ilija Jovanovski | | | ||14 | Paolo Cupi | | | |

|15 | Dejan Nikolov | (on 80)| 7 | ||15 | Simone Celli | | | |

|16 | Kire Milosevski | (on 80)| 7 | ||16 | Michele Bollini | | | |

|17 | Goran Ristovski | | | ||17 | Marco Gasperoni | | | |

|18 | Blagoja Jovanovski | | | ||18 | David Rapanelli | (on 45)| 7 | |

|19 | Dragan Janevski | (on 89)| 6 | ||19 | Davide Biordi | | | |</pre>

Daz the Imp · August 17, 2004

Each team has now faced each other once and Slovenia, surprisingly, are the only team with a 100% record with five wins out of five. Spain and Belgium have only lost one game each and sit second and third respectively with Macedonia in fourth. Kazakhstan are in fifth thanks to their victory over us and that leaves us bottom of the group without a point.

Group 1

P W D L F A PTS

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

Slovenia 5 5 0 0 8 2 15

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

Spain 5 3 1 1 10 2 10

Belgium 5 3 1 1 14 8 10

FYR of Macedonia 5 2 0 3 7 8 6

Kazakhstan 5 1 0 4 5 9 3

SAN MARINO 5 0 0 5 5 20 0</pre>

Results so far: |

Saturday 31st March 2007 |

|

Belguim 4-1 FYR of Macedonia | SAN MARINO QUALIFYING RESULTS

Kazakhstan 2-1 SAN MARINO |

Spain 0-1 Slovenia | San Marino 1-2 Slovenia

| Spain 7-0 San Marino

Wednesday 4th April 2007 | San Marino 2-5 Belgium

| Kazakhstan 2-1 San Marino

Slovenia 2-1 Belgium | FYR of Macedonia 4-1 San Marino

FYR of Macedonia 4-1 SAN MARINO | Slovenia - San Marino

Kazakhstan 0-1 Spain | Belgium - San Marino

| San Marino - Kazakhstan

Saturday 14th October 2006 | San Marino - Spain

| San Marino - FYR of Macedonia

FYR of Macedonia 0-1 Spain |

Slovenia 2-0 Kazakhstan |

SAN MARINO 2-5 Belgium |</pre>

Daz the Imp · August 17, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>

Squad Remains Unchanged For Upcoming Games

31.5.07

The San Marinese squad has yet again been kept unchanged ahead of their visits to both Slovenia and Belgium for two more Euro 2008 qualifiers.

They have three suspensions within the squad but two of those will be over after the Slovenia game. Central defenders Alex Gasperoni and Paolo Cupi have also returned from injury after missing the last two games.

With Slovenia currently yet to drop a point and Belgium being far stronger, San Marino are surely not expecting much from these two games.

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

M. Bollini - GK - 0/0 N. Giardi - GK - 12/0

S. Molinari - GK - 6/0 M. Mancini - SW/D/DM C - 2/0

F. Bollini - D R - 15/0 E. Gerini - D RC - 3/0

M. Giacobbi - D R - 2/0 S. Toccaceli - D RC - 4/0

P. Cupi - D LC - 14/0 A. Della Valle - D LC - 19/0

A. Gasperoni - D LC - 12/0 A. Francioni - DM C - 16/0

A. Raschi - DM C - 2/0 N. Chiaruzzi - M LC - 18/1

R. Gasperoni - M L - 0/0 D. Rapanelli - M C - 4/0

S. Celli - M C - 2/0 M. Gasperoni - M C - 0/0

R. Moroni - AM RLC - 18/2 M. Zanotti - AMC - 16/1

D. Biordi - F RC - 1/0 A. Selva - S C - 31/11

D. Conti - F LC - 15/5 G. Muratori - S C - 2/0</pre>

Daz the Imp · August 17, 2004

Slovenia vs. San Marino - European Championships Qualifying Group 1

Bezigrad, Ljubljana

Slovenia - 4-4-2 Attacking

^ D. Nacevski V. Hristovksi ^

| |

N. Ceh R. Koren G. Sukalo D. Komljenovic

Subs:

Z. Toleski

I. Jovanovski

D. Nikolov

K. Milosevski

G. Ristovski

B. Jovanovski

A. Jesenicnik M. Acimovic A. Knavs D. Robnik D. Janevski

T. Murko</pre>

San Marino - 4-1-3-2

D. Conti A.Selva

^ ^ ^

| | |

| | | Subs:

R. Gasperoni R. Moroni M. Zanotti D. Biordi

N. Giardi

E. Gerini

M. Gasperoni

A. Raschi

A. Francioni G. Muratori

M. Giacobbi

A. Della Valle A. Gasperoni P. Cupi S. Toccacelli

S. Molinari</pre>

Daz the Imp · August 18, 2004

We had our regular central defensive partnership, Gasperoni and Cupi, back in the team as we travelled to Slovenia who are unbeaten after the five games so far. I felt we could get something out of the game but it would be hard and we would have to battle.

Slovenia forced four corners in the opening two minutes but couldn't manage to bring a save from Molinari thanks to good defensive blocks and last-ditch tackles. This good defence gave us confidence to attack and we managed to take a shock lead, like we had in the return fixture, with our first effort on goal. Zanotti played the ball to Francioni and Francioni played a long ball forward into the box. Andy Selva out-jumped Milenko Acimovic, bizarrely playing in defence, and guided his header towards goal and out of the reach of Murko for one-nil.

Roberto Gasperoni, making his debut despite being in the squad for years, then produced a good save from Murko as we looked to extend our lead but minutes later Slovenia were back on level terms. Cupi failed to clear a Robnik cross comprehensively and Cimirotic send the ball straight back into the box. Robert Koren brought the ball down well and finished just as skilfully to make it one-all.

Molinari saved from goal-scorer Koren straight from the kick-off after this goal, the home side clearly lifted by their equaliser. The lift they had been given meant they started to outplay us on the pitch and it didn't take us long to fall behind. Dejan Robnik played the ball to Cimirotic who got in behind the defence and round the keeper before slotting the ball into an empty net.

Robert Koren came close twice to making it three for the home side but we managed to hold on until half time. We came back out for the second half looking to get straight back in the game and Moroni almost managed to do this, sending in a rasping drive, but Murko managed to keep the shot out. Molinari was then forced to keep us in the game with a good save from Komljenovic and the game still looked like it could go either way.

Conti and Robnik came close to scoring for their respective teams before Slovenia did manage to increase their lead. Acimovic played a lovely ball down the line for Cimirotic and he got to the byline before he centred the ball. Robnik out-jumped Roberto Gasperoni to get a header in at goal and he saw it take a slight deflection off Francioni before finding its way into the back of the net.

There was still time left for us to salvage something from the game but, when Robnik and Nastja Ceh produced saves from Molinari, it looked like the only goals that would be scored would be from the Slovenians. Kovacic then also came close before we pulled a goal back with just four minutes left.

Toccacelli sent the ball forward looking for, and finding, Raffaele Moroni. Moroni brought the ball down and took it into the area, finding himself with only the keeper to beat. He had a great opportunity and he took it well to make it three-two with time left to find an equaliser. We couldn't find our, however, and Slovenia kept up their 100% record whilst we suffered our sixth defeat.

Daz the Imp · August 18, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>

Slovenia Made To Fight

9.6.07

Slovenia 3-2 San Marino (European Championships Qualifying Group 1)

San Marino ran unbeaten Slovenia close, but in the end Slovenia had done enough to clinch the game by three goals to two.

San Marino took the lead like they had done in the reverse fixture through Andy Selva (16) but goals from Robert Koren (29), Sebastjan Cimirotic (38) and Dejan Robnik (69) saw Slovenia take a commanding lead. A late goal from Raffaele Moroni (87) meant the Slovenians had a nervy ending but they managed to hold on.

San Marino face Belgium next with their main aim surely to try and get a respectable score. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

|No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||No. | Name | |Rat|Gls|

|-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|

| 1 | Tomaz Murko | | 5 | || 1 | Stefano Molinari | | 6 | |

| 2 |* DEJAN ROBNIK | | 9 | 1 || 2 | Stefano Toccacelli | | 6 | |

| 3 | Ales Jesenicnik | | 8 | || 3 | Alessandro Della Valle | | 5 | |

| 4 | Aleksander Knavs | | 7 | || 4 | Paolo Cupi | | 6 | |

| 5 | Milenko Acimovic |(sub 79)| 6 | || 5 | Alex Gasperoni | Booked | 6 | |

| 6 | Dejan Komljenovic |(sub 79)| 7 | || 6 | Alessandro Francioni | | 7 | |

| 7 | Nastja Ceh | | 7 | || 7 | Mirco Zanotti | Booked | 6 | |

| 9 | Robert Koren | | 8 | 1 || 9 | Roberto Gasperoni | | 7 | |

|10 | Borut Semler | | 8 | ||10 | Daniele Conti | Booked | 7 | |

|11 | Sebastjan Cimirotic |(sub 69)| 9 | 1 ||11 | Andy Selva | Booked | 8 | 1 |

|-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|

|12 | Samir Handanovic | | | ||12 | Davide Biordi | | | |

|14 | Matjaz Sankovic | (on 69)| 6 | ||14 | Nicola Giardi | | | |

|15 | Peter Gomboc | (on 79)| 6 | ||15 | Elia Gerini | | | |

|16 | Franc Kovacic | (on 79)| 7 | ||16 | Marco Gasperoni | | | |

|17 | Andrej Papotnik | | | ||17 | Andrea Raschi | | | |

|18 | Bojan Zajc | | | ||18 | Gabriele Muratori | | | |

|19 | Branko Tomazic | | | ||19 | Michele Giacobbi | | | |</pre>

Daz the Imp · August 18, 2004

Belgium vs. San Marino - European Championships Qualifying Group 1

Stade Roi Baudouin

Belgium - 4-4-2 Attacking

^ K. Vandenbergh J. Hermans ^

| |

T. Buffel J. Blondel T. Vanderhaeghe W. Sonck

Subs:

J-F. Gillet

G. De Bilde

P. Asubonteng

A. Salgado

S. Van De Velde

J. Cavens

J. Van Damme T. Simons V. Kompany P. Collen E. Lokonda Mpenza

G. De Vlieger</pre>

San Marino - 4-1-3-2

D. Conti D. Biordi

^ ^ ^

| | |

| | | Subs:

R. Gasperoni R. Moroni M. Zanotti N. Chiaruzzi

N. Giardi

E. Gerini

M. Gasperoni

M. Mancini

A. Francioni G. Muratori

M. Giacobbi

A. Della Valle A. Gasperoni P. Cupi S. Toccacelli

S. Molinari</pre>

Daz the Imp · October 27, 2004

I was forced to make one change for the Belgium game for the weekend, having to drop Andy Selva for Davide Biordi through suspension. The other ten players all kept their places as they took to the field against the Belgians, with obtaining a respectable score-line their main aim.

It was clearly us who would have to do most of the defending and a lack of respect from the Belgians nearly led to us taking a shock lead. Biordi got in behind the defence before De Vlieger denied him and then Moroni saw his effort just tipped behind for a corner. This woke the home side up though, and Van Damme showed us that this would be very difficult for us when he hit a shot just over the crossbar.

Hermans and Blondel then went close from long range before Molinari was forced into making his first real save of the match. Vanderhaeghe got onto a loose ball in the area and hit a snapshot towards goal the Molinari did brilliantly well to turn behind. Sonck was next to test Molinari before Collen headed just wide, and it seemed it would only be a matter of time before they broke the deadlock.

We were doing well, however, and Conti had a shot saved by De Vlieger, a shot that served as a reminder that we could still take the lead. Timmy Simons hacked a Moroni shot off the line before Molinari kept us in it at the other end when Sonck seemed almost certain to open the scoring.

Kompany and Vandenbergh both had efforts off target that allowed us to go into the break still on level terms. It was a good effort from us but it would take twice as much of an effort to keep the home side out. Buffel confirmed this feeling when he came within inches of breaking us down in the opening couple of minutes of the second half.

It then didn't take long for the scoring to finally start and it was Vandenbergh who found himself with the chance. He was through on goal and succeeded in scoring his tenth international goal to cap a wonderfully crafted Belgium move, Buffel's excellent play making the goal. Despite this goal our heads didn't drop and Molinari made a couple of good saves to make sure we were still in the match.

Molinari was again the main reason why only one goal had been scored when he produced another two superb saves but he could nothing about Belgium's second. Molinari could only parry a header from Vandenbergh after a cross from substitute Emile Mpenza. Vandenbergh was the quickest to react to the loose ball in the area, tucking the ball away from a tight angle, to all but finish the game.

Molinari denied Vandenbergh his hat trick with another good save before Van Damme hit two volleys close to the top right-hand corner. Belgium could not find any more goals, however we could not find any of our own to reply, meaning we went down by two goals to nil, a highly respectable score given the gulf in skill between the two teams.

Daz the Imp · October 27, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>

Minnows Pushed Aside as Belgium Power to Victory

13.6.07

Belgium 2-0 San Marino (European Championships Qualifying Group 1)

San Marino were overpowered by a dominant Belgium display, going down in a 2-0 defeat.

San Marino battled well first half to go in at half-time level on terms but were eventually broken by a goal from Kevin Vandenbergh (51). Vandenbergh (78) added the second and final goal to kill off the San Marinese side, but the result was never really in any doubt.

The gulf in class between the two sides was obvious as Belgium dominated in a comfortable victory at Stade Roi Baudouin. San Marino now have three remaining games left to get their first point and all of them are at their Olimpico Stadium. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

|No. | Name | |Rat|Gls||No. | Name | |Rat|Gls|

|-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|

| 1 | Geert De Vlieger | | 8 | || 1 | Stefano Molinari | | 8 | |

| 2 | Pieter Collen | | 7 | || 2 | Stefano Toccacelli | | 4 | |

| 3 | Jelle Van Damme | | 8 | || 3 | Alessandro Della Valle | Booked | 7 | |

| 4 | Vincent Kompany | | 8 | || 4 | Paolo Cupi | | 6 | |

| 6 |* WESLEY SONCK | | 9 | || 6 | Alessandro Francioni | | 8 | |

| 7 | Thomas Buffel | | 9 | || 7 | Mirco Zanotti | | 5 | |

| 9 | Johnathon Blondel |(inj 67)| 8 | || 9 | Roberto Gasperoni | | 7 | |

|10 | Jan Hermans |(sub 45)| 7 | ||10 | Daniele Conti | | 7 | |

|11 | Kevin Vandenbergh | | 9 | 2 ||11 | Davide Biordi | | 7 | |

|-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|

|12 | Jean-FranÃ§ois Gillet | | | ||12 | Nicola Chiaruzzi | | | |

|14 | Gilles De Bilde | | | ||14 | Nicola Giardi | | | |

|15 | Prince Asubonteng | | | ||15 | Elia Gerini | | | |

|16 | Adelino Salgado | (on 45)| 7 | ||16 | Marco Gasperoni | | | |

|17 | Steven Van De Velde | (on 65)| 7 | ||17 | Michele Mancini | | | |

|18 | Jurgen Cavens | | | ||18 | Gabriele Muratori | | | |

|19 | Emile Lokonda Mpenza | (on 67)| 7 | ||19 | Michele Giacobbi | | | |</pre>

Daz the Imp · October 27, 2004

There are now just three games remaining for each of the six teams involved in our group. It isn't a surprise any more that Slovenia still top the group, but they have now lost there 100% record by losing to Kazakhstan. Belgium's defeat of Spain moves them into second place, but with Spain only three points behind they cannot afford to slip up in their remaining games. Macedonia and Kazakhstan will now battle out for fourth place in the group, and unless we win all of our remaining games, all of which are at home, we will finish bottom. We are the only team yet to record a point.

Group 1

P W D L F A PTS

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

Slovenia 7 6 0 1 12 6 18

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

Belgium 7 5 1 1 18 8 16

Spain 7 4 1 2 14 5 13

FYR of Macedonia 7 3 0 4 12 14 9

Kazakhstan 7 2 0 5 9 14 6

SAN MARINO 7 0 0 7 7 25 0</pre>

Results so far: | SAN MARINO QUALIFYING RESULTS

Saturday 9th June 2007 |

| San Marino 1-2 Slovenia

Spain 0-2 Belgium | Spain 7-0 San Marino

Kazakhstan 2-4 FYR of Macedonia | San Marino 2-5 Belgium

Slovenia 3-2 SAN MARINO | Kazakhstan 2-1 San Marino

| FYR of Macedonia 4-1 San Marino

Wednesday 13th June 2007 | Slovenia 3-2 San Marino

| Belgium 2-0 San Marino

Kazakhstan 2-1 Slovenia | San Marino - Kazakhstan

Belgium 2-0 SAN MARINO | San Marino - Spain

Spain 4-1 FYR of Macedonia | San Marino - FYR of Macedonia</pre>

SoS · October 27, 2004

Just read this all the way through

Great stuff, but it's a real shame that you haven't managed to improve on the last qualifications showing. I was hoping you would double Kazakhstan and get something from Macedonia, then pick up some odd points. Guess it just wasn't your year this time

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

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