With San Marino’s two latest defeats being the only action for us, there are no changes at the foot of the World Rankings. So San Marino, Bhutan and Turks & Caicos remain the three worst teams in the world.
Next month sees action for two of our teams however, so two opportunities for ranking points. San Marino continue their World Cup odyssey with a trip across the Adriatic to Montenegro and Bhutan are back in action with a friendly match in Thailand. Continue reading
16th October 2012
World Cup Qualifier
Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle
San Marino 0-2 Moldova
Ah the agony! With 20 minutes remaining, San Marino were well and truly in this one with the scores still at 0-0. A famous draw was so close you could almost touch it.
But the final twenty minutes told a familiar tale. As with the England match last week it took a penalty to break the deadlock, on this occasion substitute Serghei Dadu scored within a minute of coming on the pitch. Continue reading
No rest for the wicked as San Marino are playing again on Tuesday in a home tie against Moldova. On paper this represents San Marino’s best prospect of avoiding defeat in this campaign, Moldova being significantly weaker than any of the other countries in the group.
Weak they may be, but they are still vastly superior to San Marino sadly, so when I say “best prospect” it needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. It’s all relative. Moldova are currently 141st in the world which makes them one of Europe’s weakest, but still quite a bit higher up than San Marino. Continue reading
12th October 2012
World Cup Qualifier
Wembley Stadium, London
England 5-0 San Marino
Well that wasn’t as bad as might have feared. Holding out for half an hour, and even then only conceding to a penalty, is not so bad.
Two down at the break, and five overall away to England is about as good as San Marino could really expect. Continue reading
San Marino are back in World Cup action with two fixtures this week, a trip to Wembley to face England followed by Moldova at home.
No meeting with England would be complete without a mention of David Gualtieri’s 8 second goal (still the fastest ever World Cup goal) in a 1993 qualifier, which ended 7-1 to England. The match in Wembley during that campaign finished 5-0 to England which is quite respectable for the Sammarinese and a repeat of that would be something of a feat for them.
Of course this match does give rise to the clichéd bores to go on and on about how San Marino are a joke and shouldn’t be there etc. etc.
The Worst in the World 