National Team: Cevoli expects a reaction on neutral ground in Szombathely

The San Marino National Team arrived in Hungary during the night, where tomorrow – kick-off at 20:00 – they will face Azerbaijan on neutral ground. The match will be played at the Haladás Sportkomplexum in Szombathely, where the Azerbaijani squad have effectively set up their base for this week of international friendlies. The official training sessions were held at the same venue today. The Titano side have just finished theirs and, in this fixture – a tougher test than the recent home match against Bangladesh – they will be looking for a more convincing performance than the one produced a few days ago in Serravalle.

“The lads wanted to beat Bangladesh and the haste to try and do so led to anxiety and lapses in concentration on the pitch. If we want to see the positives,” commented Head Coach Roberto Cevoli on the eve of the clash with Azerbaijan, “it means that the expectations the players have of their own ability have also risen, not just those of the people working within the National Team setup or the professionals around it. We will try to learn from this experience so that we can present ourselves in the best possible way tomorrow. I expect a reaction from the team – I am sure it will come, regardless of the final result on the pitch.”

Fresh from his debut with the senior National Team, Cristian Meloni makes no secret of having “achieved a set target, on an evening full of emotion. We now face a slightly harder match against opposition of a higher level than Bangladesh,” continued the 18-year-old midfielder, “however we will prepare for it in the best possible way. Personally, I feel the trust of the group and of the coach, and my job is to prove that such trust is well placed.”

The friendly between Azerbaijan and San Marino, the last outing for the Titano side before their autumn commitments in League C, will be broadcast with live radio commentary from Szombathely on Titani.tv (from 19:50) and with live free-to-air TV commentary on San Marino RTV Sport (from 19:55).

Below are the twenty-four players called up by Roberto Cevoli for the upcoming international fixture: