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.

.

Lol.....61 match? Them no sabi play ball ni?

Zizer17:
.

warning!!!














Zizer bought this place first.