Two months after the first victory in its history in an official football match, San Marino realized a dream by beating Liechtenstein 3-1 on Monday evening in Vaduz, a success which allowed it to move up from the 4th to the 3rd division of the League of Nations.
Trailing 1-0 at the break, the Sanmarinais forced their destiny in the second half, equalizing less than a minute after the restart by their midfielder Lorenzo Lazzari before taking the lead thanks to their striker Nicola Nanni on a penalty (66th) . It was he, already on a penalty, who equalized in added time on Friday against Gibraltar (1-1).
A third goal from Alessandro Golinucci at the start of the last quarter of an hour definitively offered first place in their group to the players of Roberto Cevoli, the Italian coach of San Marino, effectively promoted to League C of the competition.
San Marino leaves last place in the FIFA rankings
“To finish the first half 1-0 down was an insult to football, but the guys were brilliant (in the second half) and deserved what they managed to get,” Cevoli commented.
The “Serenissima”, very offensive on the pitch of the Rheinpark Stadion (15 shots including 6 on target), will also abandon its red lantern in the FIFA world rankings, where it previously occupied 210th and last place.
“Apart from the serious risk of being struck by a heart attack, all I can say is that these boys made history tonight,” commented the president of the Sanmarinese Federation, Marco Tura, visibly moved . “As people, as athletes, as men, they showed what they were worth […] I cried with them,” he added.
On September 5, San Marino won its first victory in an official match against the same opponent, but at home (1-0). And the micro-state, a mountainous enclave of 34,000 inhabitants in Italy, confirms in passing its status as the bête noire of Liechtenstein, against whom it had already experienced victory, but in a friendly match this time, twenty years ago.
