NOT Another San Marino Story

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National Team: EURO 2024 Build Up

Time for another major tournament for the NT, with San Marino travelling to Spain for 2024 European Championship as one of the best teams in Europe boasting a Top 10 status in FIFA Rankings at the start of the tournament. Enough with the old Cinderella story, this time we're here for the silverware ;)


The Squad

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We basically kept the core of our team with our young veterans and promising prospects, while the biggest news come from our group of attackers: introducing a brand new trio up-front, inside forwards Matteo Leonardi and Gianluca Macina join superstar striker Alessandro Paolone to bring some much needed quality to our attack. Leo & Mac come from a very good season at the club as they performed at the highest level in both Serie A and CL, while King Alessandro has simply been on fire in last 18 months scoring at impressive rate for both club and country (26 goals in 11 apps with the NT!)

A bit of selection controversy for the first time as left back Matteo Mularoni failed to make the final squad (LB is actually our weakest area atm), well it's nice to finally have some squad dilemmas!

Key Players

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I'm obviously expecting a lot from those three guys up-front, they do have quality and they all had a good (or great) season with the club. Paolone will wear Andy Selva's legendary No.10 shirt, this is his chance to make history for San Marino! Young centre-back Jacopo Villa has also emerged as a key figure for the NT and is now the true leader of our defence. 20 year-old Villa, one of the top three prospects ever produced at SM, has made fantastic improvements in the years and is now described as a 'wonderkid', performing well at both Serie A and CL level.


EURO Expectations

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For the first time in SM history we approach a major tournament thinking we can go and play our football against any opponent. Entering Euro 2024 at 10th place in World Rankings we're definitely regarded as a respectable NT, and rightly so. Norway (38th), Turkey (8th) and Slovakia (30th) aren't looking particularly dangerous tbh, they all seem to lack quality attackers while also having slow defenders. Honestly I don't understand how Turkey are worth that 8th place in WR?

I'm quite confident we can do well in this group, 1st place looks very possible to me. We have a well-balanced team this time around: solid midfielders, reliable defenders and finally adequate quality up-front including an international class striker. Sure we lack a bit of size in defence and we could use an upgrade at left back, but I'm very happy with overall quality of our squad. Everything is in place for an exciting European Championship!


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Looking at your International Friendlies aswell as world rankings id hazard a guess that if you had played more European sides and beat them (even if same rankings) you would easily be in 6th place in the WR with how close 6-10 look points wise.

Also finally glad see you have got your priorities right, holiday's and GF's over a San Marino FM save disappointing :@
 
Stokiescott said:
Looking at your International Friendlies aswell as world rankings id hazard a guess that if you had played more European sides and beat them (even if same rankings) you would easily be in 6th place in the WR with how close 6-10 look points wise.

Also finally glad see you have got your priorities right, holiday's and GF's over a San Marino FM save disappointing :@
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actually last four friendlies didn't affect FIFA ranking for the european championship as new WR had already come out and next will come only after EURO. Personally I like to arrange friendlies against relatively weak teams before international tournaments as I want to keep morale high while also exploring every option of my 30-man preliminary squad. Hopefully we'll break into Top 5 at the end of the tournament ;)
 
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Looking good and I keep on telling you it's Messiah Alessandro not King Alessandro. I do the same with pre-tournament freindlies by the way.
 
EURO 2024: Group Stage

Norway VS San Marino

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San Marino off to a great start with a convincing 3-0 win against a very average Norway side. We enjoyed total domination for the whole match creating tons of clear chances and actually could have won by a bigger margin, but their GK had a good game and managed to keep things respectable for Norway. Paolone and Macina (Mom) were the best performers today and both got on the scoresheet, while captain Niko Micheli added the third goal near the end of the game.


San Marino VS Turkey

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SM keeping their excellent form in the second match with an impressive 5-1 win against a reputable yet unimpressive Turkey team. Once again we completely dominated the game, though we had to wait until 2nd half before breaking Turkey's resistance. Paolone scored two beautiful goals in clutch time taking advantage of Turkey's slow defenders, while skipper Micheli and super-sub Manel Di Marco (make it 80 int. goals for Manel after this brace!) also got on the score sheet during the game. Tricky winger Macina was again MoM as he orchestrated the offense while also assisting two goals. With this win San Marino have already secured at least 2nd place in the group, thus advancing to 2nd Round of the European Championship.


San Marino VS Slovakia

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San Marino finished the group stage in style with another 5-1 win against Slovakia. I decided to rest our first choice fullbacks as both could risk suspension after one more yellow card, but the team still performed great controlling ball possession, dictating tempo and creating lots of scoring chances. Conti, Micheli (MoM) and Paolone were the scorers today as Slovakia simply had no chance against in-form San Marino. So far so good, bring on the big boys!


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So it's 1st place in Group B for San Marino after three wins in three matches: quite a turnaround for SM when you think of our experience at EURO 2020 (0 points and 0 goals scored)! In all honesty this was quite an easy group for us and I kind of expected to dominate like we actually did. You know, when Paolone meets slow defenders good things will happen... The whole team performed admirably, it's great to see San Marino destroying average/respectable teams like that: it means we have truly become an international powerhouse!

In 2nd Round we'll face Belarus (14th in World Ranking), and I have to say this isn't a bad draw for us. Belarus did shock the world winning World Cup back in 2018, but their squad looks quite average at the moment, so I'm confident we can do well against them. Actually looking at the tournament table I'd say we have a pretty good chance of reaching the Semi Final this time!​
 
kandersson said:
not sure, at some point I think GF becomes more like NT staff (probably physio?)... Anyway I can confirm social life is vastly overrated XD
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I agree that social life is overrated and physios don't have a direct affect on managers actions.
 
EURO 2024 2nd Round: San Marino VS Belarus

San Marino advancing to knockout round hoping to keep the fantastic form they displayed in the group stage. Belarus (14th in WR) have a couple of very good defenders but seem to lack international class attackers and overall quality of their squad looks quite average. They play a very defensive 4-5-1 built around a tall target man, of course we must not get complacent here but certainly this is not the same team that won 2018 World Cup.


San Marino VS Belarus

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Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the Alessandro Paolone show! The legendary striker exploded for four goals (all in 2nd half) in a spectacular 5-2 win over former WC champions Belarus. This wasn't as easy as it might sound, as we went down two times (0-1 and 1-2) despite totally dominating our opponents and had to wait until final minutes of the game (and Alessandro's heroics) before sealing our well-deserved victory.

It was an excellent team performance as we once again created tons of chances (15 shots on target and countless CCC's), but more than anything this was Paolone's triumph at international level: after winning the Golden Boot and deciding the CL Final with a brace King/Messiah Alessandro keeps showcasing his talents at the highest level and should be regarded as one of the best (if not THE best) striker in the world. Hail to the King!

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Up next: Quarter Final VS Croatia​
 
EURO 2024 Quarter Final: San Marino VS Croatia

Norway, Turkey, Slovakia, Belarus: admittedly, San Marino never had to face great teams so far in the European Championship as they breezed through the quarter final without much hassle. Things might change now as we play a strong Croatia ​team in the next round. Croatia (currently 9th in World Rankings) have quality players in every position and their midfield looks particularly strong, including a superstar playmaker that could make the difference at any level. It's go hard or go home now, come on San Marino!


San Marino VS Croatia

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Didn't see this one coming tbh. Croatia apparently didn't show up today as San Marino simply destroyed them in an incredible 7-0 thrashing. Alessandro Paolone (MoM) was again unplayable for his opponents as he dominated the game with 2 goals and 3 assists, though every SM player performed great in this sensational victory. Croatia failed to do pretty much anything on the pitch as they could only watch San Marino's fantastic display of attacking football for the whole 90 minutes. Well this has to be one of the most impressive performances at international level in modern football!


Up next: Semi Final VS Spain​
 
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Oh yeah, you stick a good chance now and I'm celebrating in front of my computer, I must look really silly.
 
EURO 2024 Semi Final: San Marino VS Spain

After a relatively easy path to the semi final San Marino will have to face one of the best teams in the world: Spain (5th in World Rankings) are the holders of the European Championship and also hosts of current tournament. They boast a world class squad with many of their players being stars for the biggest clubs in the world (unfortunately for them they have to do without four world class players from the mighty San Marino club who decided to retire from international football in the past years...). San Marino have been impressive so far in the competition and proved they belong to the European élite: can we take it to the next level and beat one of the top NT's in world football?


San Marino VS Spain

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What a game here at Nuevo Mestalla! When Leonardi fired in a trademark left-footed strike just seconds after kick-off I was overjoyed. We're just cruising to the Final, aren't we? Not so fast: Spain had a strong reaction and actually took the lead in second half but vice-captain Tagliani made it 2-2 after only one minute. In a very even match both sides battled hard for 120 minutes and at the end of extra time only the PK lottery would decide the winner of this match. Macina, Leonardi, Paolone and Conti all made their penalty kicks while GK Carlo Vignoli became the hero of the night as he saved two PK's. A great moment for Carlo after an awful injury kept him out of action for almost all season.

I have to say this was a very even match, though I think we deserved slightly more than Spain as we had a better ball possession and our scoring chances looked generally more dangerous: let's just say Paolone had a bad day at the office as he wasted a couple of REALLY good chances and finished with a disappointing 5.9 rating. Attackers Leonardi and Macina (MoM) were the top performers today as they caused much trouble to Spain with their runs and skills on the ball. This is a very proud moment for San Marino, reaching European Championship Final after beating the legendary Spanish champions, current holders & hosts of the competition.


Up next: Final VS Germany​
 
EURO 2024 Final: Germany VS San Marino

And here we are. Up and coming San Marino have shocked the whole continent as they reached the European Championship final, beating the likes of Croatia and Spain in the process. Traditional powerhouse Germany (3rd in World Rankings) will be their final hurdle: the Germans boast an excellent squad and have quality players pretty much everywhere. They play a very offensive 4-2-3-1, the three attackers behind the striker looking dangerously good...

San Marino have to do without right back Francesco Toniolo (suspended) and midfielder Marco Romito (injured): promising teenagers Francesco Campana and Nicola Schenone are going to replace them, they surely have a bright future with SM, the thing is we need them right here right now! No pressure for the lads here, just go out, have fun and bring me that trophy...


Germany VS San Marino

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San Marino taught Germany a thing or two about football at Camp Nou, in a susprisingly easy 4-1 win in front of 100,000+ people. When German midfielder Carsten Neumann scored at minute 8 with a long range effort I was expecting the worst, but an instant reply from Matteo Leonardi (with a beautiful curled shot of his own) gave us momentum as we scored three goals in less then 15 minutes, and then controlled the match without much trouble.

Alessandro Paolone (MoM) bounced back from his disappointing performance against Spain as he scored a fantastic brace (looked to me like a legit hat-trick, but German keeper Rose took the blame for an own goal), while 17 year-old Campana also deserves credit for a very good game against an international class left winger. Definitely a nice way to finish the tournament...

That's it I guess: San Marino have won the European Championship!!!​
 
Holy frigging ****! WELLLLLLL DONEEEEEEEEEE! Have a pat on your back!
 
Congrats mate! What you have done is ****** amazing! I'm sure you would win the following world cup ;) great story!
 
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