San Marino Calcio SS

SAN MARINO CALCIO - NAZIONALE


StadiumSan Marino play home matches at the Stadio Olimpico, a municipally owned stadium in Serravalle which also hosts the matches of club side San Marino Calcio. It has a capacity of 5,387.[8] Crowds are low, and on occasion travelling supporters outnumber the Sammarinese support. For example, in the fixture against the Republic of Ireland in February 2007, 2,500 of the 3,294 crowd were Irish supporters.[9][10]San Marino have played two "home" matches outside their borders. For World Cup qualifiers against England and the Netherlands in 1993 the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara in Bologna was used. [edit] Minnow reputationSan Marino's dismal record gives them a lowly reputation in world football. The republic have never won a competitive fixture; a 1–0 friendly match win against Liechtenstein is their sole victory to date. With the smallest population of any UEFA country,[8] the talent pool is small. Players are predominantly amateurs, only a small number of players such as Andy Selva and Aldo Simoncini are professionals. Their 13–0 defeat at home to Germany is a European Championship record,[11] and they have conceded ten goals on two other occasions. In the FIFA World Rankings, San Marino usually have the lowest rank of any UEFA country. Since the creation of the FIFA rankings in 1992, San Marino's average position has been 159th.[12]Opponents anticipate easy wins in matches against San Marino, and failure to win comfortably can reflect poorly on a team. In 2001 Latvia manager Gary Johnson was sacked after failing to beat San Marino in a World Cup qualifier;[13] Republic of Ireland's narrow 2–1 win in February 2007 resulted in scathing press criticism.[14]Andy Selva, San Marino's all-time leading goalscorer with eight goals, is the only Sammarinese player to have scored more than one goal for the team. [edit] Draws and victory16 September 1987
 Lebanon vs.
 San Marino 0–0 (Mediterranean Games) 10 March 1993
 San Marino vs.
 Turkey 0–0 (World Cup qualifier) 25 April 2001
 Latvia vs.
 San Marino 1–1 (World Cup qualifier) 20 August 2003
 Liechtenstein vs.
 San Marino 2–2 (friendly) 28 April 2004
 San Marino vs.
 Liechtenstein 1–0 (friendly) [edit] World Cup record1930 to 1990 - Did not enter 1994 to 2006 - Did not qualify [edit] European Championship record1960 to 1988 - Did not enter 1992 to 2008 - Did not qualify