San Marino punished for two lapses and denied by the crossbar after excellent start

The first ever appearance of the San Marino National Team at the "Ennio Tardini" Stadium in Parma is marked by an excellent start to the match from the Titans, lined up by Costantini with three central defenders and three midfielders, with captain Battistini and Tosi tasked with patrolling the flanks in both phases. Up front, Berardi and Nanni. The Olbia forward makes his presence felt among the physically imposing backline set up by Adiev, arriving just a fraction late on Tosi’s cross on 6 minutes. Three minutes later Berardi is also involved, doing well to release Battistini out wide: on his cross into the middle it is Marochkin who gets there before Lazzari and Nanni. There are muted protests from San Marino for contact on their centre-forward when, having anticipated the ball, Marochkin then collides with Nanni – but only after clearing the danger. Nicola Nanni is very much in the game and on the quarter-hour he goes it alone, bursting down the left to cross from the by-line. A ricochet allows the striker to pick out Battistini in the middle of the box with the goal gaping. The San Marino captain is beaten to the ball, but it had already gone out of play moments earlier as Shatskiy tried to keep it in. The visiting keeper then beats Fabbri to the ball at the far post and from the resulting corner Kazakhstan break quickly, with Orazov swinging in a wicked cross that Benedettini does superbly well to claim low down. It is an open, entertaining game, with Kazakhstan more than happy to let San Marino have the ball and manage possession. By the half-hour mark, the Titans have recorded 43% possession. When they do win it back, though, Adiev’s men know how to hurt you: Samorodov’s effort from the edge of the box brings out the best in Benedettini, who can only watch as, from the ensuing corner, the ball pinballs between Beysebekov and Marochkin. In between, there is a huge chance for San Marino: Lazzari finds Berardi, whose deflected cross crashes off the crossbar and comes back towards the 20-year-old midfielder. His instant header is heading in, but Alip diverts it off target with his goalkeeper stranded. As happens all too often at this level, however, lapses in concentration are punished. On 37 minutes, Manuel Battistini misjudges a cross from the right. The wing-back is unlucky, because the ball drops in the heart of the penalty area for Vorogovskiy. His scuffed right-footed strike squeezes between Benedettini’s legs to break the deadlock in Kazakhstan’s favour. San Marino’s response comes through Nanni and Fabbri. The former launches into a solo counter-attack but cannot escape the double marking in front of the Kazakh goal. His Olbia team-mate does manage to turn a floated cross towards goal, but without troubling Shatskiy. The teams head down the tunnel with Kazakhstan leading 1-0 after a first half in which San Marino probably created the better chances. The final action is a sensational overhead kick from Filippo Berardi, on a cross from Lazzari, which Shatskiy manages to turn away. There are no changes at half-time, but there is a crossbar rattled straight from the restart. Gabyshev is the man who hits it, reacting first to Di Maio’s attempted clearance and unleashing a powerful right-footer that Benedettini gets his fingertips to, just enough to help it onto the woodwork. At the other end, Capicchioni earns applause with an outstanding outside-of-the-boot pass, picking out a wonderful trajectory for Berardi – brave with a diving header but caught in offside. Kazakhstan’s build-up play is more convincing after the break, including a driving run from Samorodov and a subsequent block from Fabbri, who intercepts the cross between arm and shoulder at full stretch. There is a lengthy VAR check, which fails to clear up the doubt and calls Papapetrou to an on-field review. After another long look, the Greek referee points to the spot. Tagybergen opens up his right foot and finds the net, despite Benedettini getting a hand to it. Costantini immediately responds with a double substitution, sending on Ceccaroli and Hirsch for Berardi and Tosi. The changes had been ready for at least five minutes, in other words during the prolonged review that eventually led to the penalty for the second goal. The tempo drops sharply after an hour of high-intensity football. On 75 minutes Nanni wins a corner, following a knock-down in the box from a wide free-kick. Unfortunately the Titans are unable to make the set piece count. On the counter, Fabbri produces a vital block on substitute Zainutdinov. In the closing stages Kazakhstan’s athleticism comes to the fore, even though the Biancazzurri try to pack men into the opposition half. On 85 minutes Benedettini shows sharp reflexes to keep out Dosmagambetov’s effort. As the move continues, Michael Battistini hacks clear but catches Di Maio’s heel, the rebound looping just over the bar. Three minutes later Tre Penne’s metronome finds space to shoot from twenty metres, but fails to hit the target. Deep into added time there is room for another fine save from Elia Benedettini and a goal-line clearance from Roberto Di Maio. The centre-back is then unfortunate to divert Zainutdinov’s shot into his own net, making it 3-0 on 90’+5. Despite the result, there are several positives for Costantini on a hot night in Parma. Starting with his side’s proactive display, especially while the more technically gifted players still had energy in their legs. The big moments do not go San Marino’s way, as they finish with 41% possession and a number of chances not taken while the game was still in the balance. Strengths and weaknesses that the National Team coaching staff will start working on immediately, with a view to producing another good performance in Helsinki on Monday evening, one that can help them chase a positive result.

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European Qualifiers 2023, Matchday 3 | San Marino-Kazakhstan 0-3

  SAN MARINO E. Benedettini; Fabbri (from 82' Cevoli), Di Maio, Rossi; Ma. Battistini, A. Golinucci, Capicchioni (from 80' Vitaioli), Lazzari, Tosi (from 65' Hirsch); Berardi (from 65' Ceccaroli), Nanni (from 80' Mi. Battistini) Substitutes: Simoncini, S. Benedettini, D'Addario, Palazzi, E. Golinucci, Lunadei, Mularoni Head coach: Fabrizio Costantini   KAZAKHSTAN Shatskiy; Gabyshev (from 78' Skvortsov), Bystrov, Marochkin, Alip, Vorogovskiy (from 78' Dosmagambetov); Tagybergen (from 70' Kenessov), Beisebekov (from 57' Zainutdinov), Kuat, Orazov; Samorodov (from 70' Astanov) Substitutes: Shaizada, Ustimenko, Malyy, Tapalov, Shushenachev, Prokopenko, Yerlanov Head coach: Magomed Adiev   Referee: Anastasios Papapetrou (GRE) Assistant referees: Tryfon Petropoulos (GRE) and Iordanis Aptosoglou (GRE) Fourth official: Andreas Gamaris (GRE) VAR: Agelos Evangelou (GRE) AVAR: Evangelos Manouchos (GRE) Scorers: 37' Vorogovskiy, 64' pen. Tagybergen, 90'+5' Zainutdinov Booked: Capicchioni, Lazzari, Zainutdinov, Kuat Attendance: 528

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