San Marino-Andorra, Cevoli: “Tough, aggressive side – we’ll need to be ready”

San Marino are set to face Andorra again, following their most recent meeting in the Pyrenees in autumn 2024. Overall, the four previous encounters favour the national team representing the state nestled between France and Spain. On the eve of a second consecutive international friendly, Roberto Cevoli once more reiterates concepts now familiar to the Sammarinese set-up and, above all, to his players: “The theme is always the same: aiming for further growth and improvement – trying to use every single match as an opportunity to progress and take another step forward in our development. In recent times we’ve been focusing in particular on a few aspects, the main one being our ability to stay in the game for the full ninety-plus minutes, working on the fine details. Just a couple of days ago against the Faroe Islands we saw how details can make the difference: the equaliser – even if there was a foul in the build-up – came in stoppage time and was definitely avoidable. If we can improve aspects like this, we’ll become a more mature and self-aware team.” The San Marino head coach has a clear idea of the opponents who will arrive in Serravalle, also with the experience of the match a year and a half ago in mind: “Andorra are a very intense and aggressive national team, extremely good on second balls. They are a side that never gives up, difficult to play against and always pressing. We know that and we experienced it first-hand in the 2024 friendly, a trend that has been confirmed in their most recent outings – as we have seen from the footage analysed in the last few hours. We’ll need to be ready to face a team that combines high intensity and a great work ethic with significant technical quality: we’re expecting an extremely demanding match.”

Sharing the thoughts of his head coach is also Marco Pasolini – the biancazzurro defender who started in Andorra la Vella in the friendly that preceded the exhilarating finale to the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League campaign. “After Saturday’s match against the Faroe Islands we spoke together and analysed how the game went. We all agreed that only a few details and adjustments were missing, especially in terms of reading certain key moments. Going back to the coach’s example, at the end of the half it would have been better to break up play – even by committing a foul in their half. As we are quite a young team, we need to grow a lot in this area and we are working hard to do so as soon as possible. For tomorrow, it will be important to put on the pitch what we’ve been practising in training, showing that we are ready. Naturally, we must not forget that for a national team like San Marino it is essential to help each other constantly on the pitch and give everything for every ball. As for our next opponents, I remember a strong side both technically and physically. So we’re expecting anything but an easy match, and during the game there will be phases when we struggle – it’s precisely in those moments that we’ll have to show we are compact and united, in order to achieve the result we want.”

Meanwhile, Roberto Cevoli has confirmed an enforced absence that will see San Marino name a 24-man squad for tomorrow afternoon. Alberto Riccardi has suffered a flare-up of a previous muscle problem and has been forced to withdraw. Carrying knocks but available for selection are: Michele Cevoli (adductor fatigue), Lorenzo Capicchioni and Pancotti – the latter two both reporting calf discomfort.

Below is the list of players called up by head coach Roberto Cevoli for tomorrow’s San Marino-Andorra fixture (San Marino Stadium, kick-off at 18:00).