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Nairaland Forum / Entertainment / Sports / San Marino National Team Ends 61 Game Losing Streak (633 Views)
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San Marino National Team Ends 61 Game Losing Streak by Haryohdeji1: 10:49am On Nov 16, 2014 |
The minnows picked up a point in European Championship qualifying for the first time ever and ended a disastrous run of defeats that dates back to 2004 San Marino held Estonia to a 0-0 draw on Saturday night to secure an historic result that saw them end an astonishing 61-match losing streak. The microstate has a population of just over 30,000 and prior to the point against Estonia, which was their first-ever in European Championship qualifying and sparked wild celebrations at full-time, they had scored just one goal in their last 15 matches and conceded 72 times. San Marino beat Liechtenstein 1-0 in a 2004 friendly and have drawn against Turkey and Latvia in World Cup qualifying, but have lost every other international game in their history. Thirty-eight-year-old captain Andy Selva, who was playing in his 67th international, was ecstatic after the match. "I remember the win in Liechtenstein in 2004 but this has a different meaning," Selva said. "I have been waiting for a result like this for 11 years. We are upset about some opportunities we didn't take over that time. "We searched for this result for years and now we have found it. "We want to dedicate this result to Federico Crescentini, a former international who died some years ago." Coach Pierangelo Manzaroli was earning one of his 38 caps on the pitch the last time San Marino earned a competitive point - in a 1-1 draw away to Latvia in World Cup qualifying in 2001 - and he said the nation worked hard to get the result. "In recent months our workload has increased and the work has paid off," Manzaroli said. "This result is a reward for the players and it will be an incentive to gain other good results sooner than in 12 years' time." On the wrong side of history, Estonia coach Magnus Pehrsson refused to accept San Marino were worthy of their point - claiming his side helped them by making too many errors. "We made a lot of technical mistakes during the game," Pehrsson lamented. "I think there are three main reasons for this result: first the players didn't recover well from the match against Norway three days ago. Moreover, we haven't been able to develop the ideas and tactical opportunities we worked on ahead of this game. "I blame myself for this and take full responsibility. Finally we seemed too stressed about this game and we didn't perform as expected. "San Marino played the game we expected from them: deep defence and counterattacks. "We have made a lot of history in recent days by winning in Norway and now helping San Marino gain a point. |
Re: San Marino National Team Ends 61 Game Losing Streak by Zizer17(m): 10:50am On Nov 16, 2014 |
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Re: San Marino National Team Ends 61 Game Losing Streak by khattab02: 1:35pm On Nov 16, 2014 |
Lol.....61 match? Them no sabi play ball ni? |
Re: San Marino National Team Ends 61 Game Losing Streak by khattab02: 1:37pm On Nov 16, 2014 |
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