Futsal: two friendlies in Northern Ireland for the National Team

The San Marino futsal national team is steadily working towards the official mid-April appointment in Austria, where they will face – in addition to the hosts – Israel and Bulgaria, meeting the latter two in the opening and closing fixtures of the group. As part of the build-up to the preliminary qualifying mini-tournament for Futsal EURO 2026, the Titano side have earmarked the penultimate weekend of March as the ideal moment to schedule two official friendlies. The opponents will be Northern Ireland – both matches away from home and spread over two consecutive days, 23 and 24 March. Kick-off times are still to be confirmed, although it is likely that the second match will not be played later than lunchtime, in order to ease the return journey to the Republic. The two national teams, placed in the same seeding pot and therefore already unable to be drawn against each other in the qualifying path, had already met in a double friendly in May 2017. On that occasion, at the Multieventi, the series finished with one win apiece. Just last night at the Multieventi the Biancazzurri gathered again under the orders of head coach Roberto Osimani, and the group can now boast a new member within the technical staff. Valentina Cenni has in fact taken on the role of team manager of the futsal national team: for her – with a solid professional career in event organisation behind her and previous contact with the FSGC – this represents a further piece in the puzzle of her personal development. A few hours ago came the first in-person meeting with the squad and coaching staff.

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