U16: the Titane hold their own for over a half before Romania prevail in first friendly

Two months on from their excellent showing at the UEFA Development Tournament, the San Marino Women’s Under-16 national team returned to action. The new assignment – once again on the Acquaviva artificial pitch – consists of two unofficial friendlies against Romania Under-15. The first, played this afternoon, went the way of the Romanians, who after a balanced first half managed to pull away with three goals after the break. The visitors, coached by Ionut Florea, started better and were close to scoring inside four minutes: first captain Ciortea tried her luck with a right-footed effort from inside the area, struck with power but safely held by Arianna Forcellini. Seconds later Romania threatened again through Ungureanu, who fired wide with her right foot from a great position. In the opening stages Giacomo Piva’s Titane struggled to respond to the Romanians’ attacking forays. On 9 minutes another big chance fell to Florea’s side: from a corner the ball was played into the mixer, the Biancoazzurre defence failed to clear and the ball fell to Suciu, who from the edge of the six-yard box astonishingly blazed over. San Marino, however, grew in confidence and on 13 minutes, with their very first opportunity, almost took the lead: Paone looked up and spotted the run in behind of Elisa Terenzi, picking her out perfectly. The San Marino forward went for a lob to try and catch keeper Parvulescu off guard, but the ball drifted well wide, drawing warm applause from the Acquaviva crowd. After a spell of balance between the two sides came another piece of brilliance from Terenzi, again taking San Marino close to the opener: on 24 minutes the number ten set off on an individual run from the attacking third, skipped past a couple of players with a fine feint on the edge of the box and, almost at the byline, squared the ball to the far post, where Penserini was inches away from making contact. The game remained lively, with Romania also pushing for the breakthrough: left winger Mihalache-Vosloban tried to surprise Forcellini with her left foot effort shortly before the half-hour mark, but the Biancoazzurre keeper was equal to it. Once again it was the left flank causing problems for the Titane backline, with the ever-dangerous Mihalache-Vosloban skipping past Benedettini, reaching the byline and cutting the ball back for Boghici, whose shot was diverted by Yazici tracking back. The closing stages of the half, though, belonged to Piva’s Titane: Tamagnini won the ball as Romania were trying to build from the back and drove towards goal; from the attacking third she also opted for a lob, but Parvulescu was well positioned and gathered comfortably. Before the break there was also room for an Anna Benedettini free-kick, which missed by a couple of metres to the right of the Romanian keeper. The sides went in at half-time at 0-0. The start of the second half immediately brought another big chance for San Marino: just thirty seconds had elapsed when Paone crossed for Terenzi, who from point-blank range could not find the finish. Romania, however, hit back straight away and in the 50th minute broke the deadlock: a cross from the left was palmed up by Forcellini, but the quickest to react was substitute Balici, who headed home for 1-0. The opener also had an impact on the Titane mentally and within seconds they conceded a second: Anna Benedettini’s back pass was too short for Forcellini and the alert Mihalache-Vosloban pounced. One of Romania’s standout performers, she showed great composure despite her young age (born in 2010, like all her team-mates) and beat the San Marino keeper. Piva’s girls tried to respond to the double blow, but Penserini’s right-footed effort on 54 minutes proved straightforward for Romanian keeper Parvulescu. Just past the hour mark Romania added a third: once again Mihalache-Vosloban pulled the strings from the attacking third and slid a pass in behind for Iovu, who got to the byline and cut the ball back for Boghici; she controlled and finished with her left foot past Forcellini. Throughout the second half both coaches also turned to their benches, with Piva notably introducing two very young Titane – both class of 2011 – in Giada Brocculi and Ambra Francini. On 77 minutes Romania almost found a fourth: the poker for Florea’s girls was denied by two outstanding saves from Arianna Forcellini, first keeping out Balici’s low diagonal drive from the edge of the area, then reacting superbly to Matei’s follow-up effort. The Titane were unable to reduce the deficit and the match ticked towards the 90th minute. Beltrano decided he had seen enough and sent both teams to the dressing rooms. The first round thus went to Romania, 3-0 winners. The second friendly is scheduled for Tuesday 25th at 18:00, again in Acquaviva (live streaming on Titani.tv).  

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Women’s Under-16, Friendly | San Marino – Romania 0-3 SAN MARINO Forcellini (90+1' Mastronardi); Benedettini (69' Moroni), Paolini, Balsimelli (85' Ragazzini), Carli (60' Stifani); Tamagnini (76' Brocculi), Yazici, Zanotti; Terenzi, Paone (85' Francini), Penserini (60' Bonciucci) Substitutes: Bianchi, Della Valle Head coach: Giacomo Piva   ROMANIA Parvulescu; Crisan, Iovu, Abagiu (63' Patrascu-Raileanu), Pirse; Miucsan, Ciortea, Suciu (46' Balici); Ungureanu (46' Bujoreanu), Mihalache-Vosloban, Boghici (63' Andornache) Substitutes: Matei, Popescu, Tanase, Grigore, Stoica Head coach: Ionut Florian   Referee: Michele Beltrano (SMR) Assistant referees: Gianmarco Ercolani (SMR), Cristiano Ernesto (SMR) Fourth official: Alessandro Vandi (SMR)   Scorers: 50' Balici, 51' Mihalache-Vosloban, 62' Boghici Booked: Benedettini, Ciortea  

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