IFA Programme 2016

SANMARINO

FACTFILE

San Marino are the true ‘minnows’ of European football. The tiny republic founded in 301 AD is situated in the Apennine mountains in Italy just outside Rimini and covers an area of just 24 square miles with a population just over 33,000. The national side, which began to play competitive football in 1990, has still to win a game in a qualification campaign.

September 2006. It is also the largest margin of defeat in any match in the history of the European Championships. Former national team coach Giampaolo Mazza was in charge from 1998 to 2014 and was the longest serving national coach in Europe. He almost achieved that elusive first competitive victory and Republic of Ireland fans will recall with a shudder how one of those rare successes nearly came in February 2007 in the stadium in the hills above Rimini against Steve Staunton's side in a Euro 2008 qualifier. Forward Manuel Marani scored on 86 minutes to equalise Kevin Kilbane's 49th minute strike only for Stephen Ireland to dash those dreams with a goal four minutes into added time, with the referee blowing the final whistle three seconds after the re-start. All-time top goalscorer for San Marino is 40-year- old Andrea ‘Andy’ Selva, who stepped down as captain of the national team in October 2015. He has scored eight goals in 73 appearances. San Marino's record in competitive games since they played in the qualifiers for Euro 92 is: played 83, won 0, drawn 2, lost 81, goals for 13, against 360. The San Marino national stadium is the Stadio Olimpico with a capacity of 6664 (all seated) - around 24% of the population of San Marino. The stadium was opened in 1969. Spectators are accommodated in two stands at either side of the pitch. There is an athletics track around the perimeter of the pitch. As well as the national team, the stadium is used by SC Faetano, AC

San Marino’s best results in international competition have been in World Cup qualifiers where the team drew 0-0 at home against Turkey in March 1993 in their first ever World Cup qualifying campaign and eight years later in April 2001 when they drew 1-1 away against Latvia. The scorer of that historic goal was defender Nicola Albani, who had celebrated his 18th birthday just 10 days earlier. Their biggest defeats were 13-0 at home to Germany in September 2006, 10-0 away to Poland in April 2009, 10-1 away to Belgium in February 2001, 9-0 away to Ukraine in September 2013 and 8-0 away to Belgium in September 2005, while they held Lithuania to 1-0 at home in November 2004 and Belgium to 2-1 at home in March 2005. In their World Cup qualifying campaigns, up to last month's 1-0 defeat at home to Azerbaijan, San Marino have played 57 games, won none, drawn two, lost 55, scoring nine goals and conceding 259. There is one record the San Marino team can certainly take pride in: back in November 1993 in Bologna they scored the fastest goal ever in a World Cup qualifier when Davide Gualtieri netted against England after just eight seconds! In Euro qualifiers their record is also - to say the least - disappointing. They have played a total of 46 games, losing every one, with a goals record of six goals for and 200 conceded. In the Euro 2008 qualifiers San Marino suffered their heaviest ever margin of defeat, 13-0 at home to Germany in the Stadio Olimpico di Seraville in

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