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San Marino - the smallest, just 61 square kilometers in size independent European country, whose population could easily fit in almost all of the world's largest football stadiums. However, San Marino has never been among football giants.
Finally a victory!
After 14 years of continuous efforts, this tiny country finally delighted its fans last week in front of 700 spectators in their home, winning 1-0 against Liechtenstein - a country twice as large and with one-third more population.
An early penalty kick
In the fifth minute of the match a penalty kick was awarded, which was enough for the victory. The kick was taken by the only professional in the San Marino team, Andy Selva from the "Serie-C1" team "S.P.A.L.". This penalty kick brought the San Marino team their first victory since 1990 - the year when the country's national team began playing international matches.
Satisfied coach
The happiest person in the stadium, without a doubt, was Giampaolo Mazza - a 48-year-old physical education teacher, who has been the head coach since January 1998. "This is just our first victory, and even though it was a friendly match, it greatly pleased us. We were too used to losing, that we still can't believe our victory," Mazza said.
Celebrating victory calmly
However, the team celebrated the victory modestly. "We didn't do anything special," said Mazza. "After the match, we went to our usual restaurant. Of course, the atmosphere was a bit different this time. We dreamed about this victory for a long time."
Previous achievements
The San Marino team has achieved seemingly unexpected results in the past. They played a draw with the current world cup bronze medalists Turkey in 1993 and with Latvia in 2001. It was very close for San Marino to steal a point from Latvia in the EURO 2004 qualifiers and to take away the team's chance to go to the European Championship, but an auto goal ruined all plans. However, the team still failed to earn points, score goals, and missed a total of 30 shots.
Next step
However, the coach believes that this victory will signal progress. "Now we hope to win matches in the qualifiers for the World or European Championship," Mazza said. "I know it will be difficult, because there will be other much stronger teams there, which have been playing much longer than us."
San Marino's first chance - qualifying for the FIFA World Cup. San Marino is in Group 7 with Spain, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Lithuania.
Lack of experience in the youth
"In the match against Liechtenstein, I tried to use a lot of young players to gain experience," said the coach. "Technically, we are not able to compete with the biggest stars of Europe. But we can still improve our position and our gameplay. We need to play with more confidence and the victory against Liechtenstein will help us."
"This result is a reward for our dedication and enthusiasm. We always want to play well, even against much stronger teams. We finally managed to achieve our first victory, and in the future, maybe we will succeed more often." Well, maybe it will be much harder for the teams in Group 7 than they think. Let's remember the qualifications for this year's European Championship and the Faroe Islands' team. Who could have thought that they would take points from the Scots and almost give a heart attack to Germany?"
