National Team: best ever away debut against Cape Verde

The Titans made a convincing start to the match, facing for the first time a non-European national side of the same ranking. Cape Verde did not look particularly comfortable having to take the initiative, especially when the ball was at the feet of their central defenders. The first chance fell to San Marino: a right-footed effort from the edge of the box by Palazzi was deflected by an opponent in the 5th minute. Shortly after, Cape Verde threatened in behind, but Rossi shut down Delgado Silva with one of several excellent defensive interventions. A minute later came Elia Benedettini’s first save: from the first corner of the match, Costa did well to turn quickly and shoot from close range – but the San Marino goalkeeper blocked with his body. The Blue Sharks also tried from distance through Bebé: the Rayo Vallecano forward (23 appearances and 1 goal in La Liga this season) was denied by a superb diving save from Benedettini. That led up to the opening goal scored by captain Rocha Santos: his right-footed shot took a deflection off Manuel Battistini’s back, giving the ball a bizarre trajectory that left the Biancazzurri goalkeeper with no chance. A double opportunity midway through the half was the last major incident in an opening period in which San Marino played with discipline and compactness: an individual surge from Delgado Silva was halted by Benedettini’s timely rush off his line, and on the loose ball Andrade arrived. His right-footed shot, seemingly destined for goal, was cleared away by Fabbri from near the goal line. In the 32nd minute the match ended for Matteo Vitaioli, who on the day of his 73rd cap – drawing level at the top with Andy Selva – was forced off injured. He was replaced by Ceccaroli, one of the standouts. After the restart, Cape Verde immediately tried from distance through Rocha Santos, who went even closer with a subsequent set piece that flashed just wide of Benedettini’s right-hand post. The keeper outdid himself on 56 minutes to deny Pina a second goal, clawing away the midfielder’s header at the far post from a wide free-kick. Unfortunately, from the following corner, which dropped at the corner of the six-yard box to an unmarked Bebé, Andrade was afforded far too much space and made no mistake from close range. The Titans responded with a fine first-time volley from Ceccaroli, teed up by a David Tomassini cross. Rosa got down sharply to save. Shortly afterwards, Rinaldi was denied a one-on-one with the Cape Verde goalkeeper by mere centimetres, following a through ball from Hirsch. Diney and Pereira stepped up with perfect timing, catching La Fiorita’s captain offside. From then until the final whistle there was little else of note, which in itself underlines how good San Marino’s performance was: they finished strongly and on a couple of occasions came close to winning the ball back on the edge of the opposition penalty area. In short, at the final whistle there were plenty of positives for Costantini’s National Team who, after scoring on their debut three days ago, could now praise their character and application – and set a new individual benchmark: the 2-0 defeat in Murcia is the best away debut in their history.

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FIFA Friendly Match | San Marino-Cape Verde 0-2   SAN MARINO (3-5-2) E. Benedettini; Palazzi (from 46' Grandoni), Rossi, Fabbri; Zafferani, D. Tomassini (from 65' A. Golinucci), Censoni (from 78' Mi. Battistini), Mularoni (from 65' Hirsch), Ma. Battistini; Rinaldi (from 78' Raschi), Vitaioli (from 32' Ceccaroli) Substitutes: S. Benedettini, A. Simoncini, D'Addario, Stefanelli, F. Tomassini Head coach: Fabrizio Costantini   CAPE VERDE (4-3-3) Rosa; C. Tavares, Costa (from 61' Diney), Pereira, Soares; Rocha Santos, Pina (from 61' Borges), Andrade (from 72' Semedo); Lopes (from 61' I. Tavares), Delgado Silva (from 61' G. Tavares), Bebé (from 74' Monteiro) Substitutes: Faial Delgado, Pires, D'Encarnacao Duarte, Fernandes, Correia Head coach: Leitão Brito   Referee: Guillermo Cuadra Fernandez (ESP) Assistant referees: Roberto Alonso Fernandez (ESP) and Raul Cabañero (ESP) Scorers: 18' Rocha Santos, 56' Delgado Silva

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