U21: San Marino finish strongly against Israel, who secure second place

San Marino’s Under-21 National Team raised their game compared to the previous outing – and to the reverse fixture – paying the price above all in the opening 25 minutes, when Israel, chasing down Poland, played at a blistering tempo. Against Poland, Dolcini and Moretti had been absent; both recovered and started today. Up front, the attacking duties were once again entrusted to the Pancotti-Lazzari pairing. Israel, for their part, lined up in an attack-minded 4-2-3-1. Just how attacking the hosts intended to be was clear from the very first seconds. The pressing demanded by coach Luzon was nothing short of ferocious. After exactly one minute the ball was already in the net: a consequence of the relentless pressure that prevented San Marino’s defence, in one of their very first passing moves, from clearing their lines. The ball broke to Berkovits in a dangerous position near the corner of the area: the number 21 did the rest, and did it very well – cutting inside onto his favoured left foot before unleashing a crisp, precise strike that left Amici with no chance. But that was nowhere near enough for Israel. Two minutes later, Podgoreanu burst clear down the left and whipped in a powerful cross that Toccaceli could only divert, unintentionally, towards his own goal: fortunately for the midfielder in white and blue, the post came to his rescue to prevent a 2-0 deficit. Shortly after that, Franciosi literally threw himself in the way of a point-blank effort from inside the six-yard box by Podgoreanu, though the assistant’s flag had already gone up for offside. On 7 minutes a central channel opened up for Gloukh, who slid Davida through on goal against Amici, spared only by the home striker’s surprisingly wayward finish. At this stage San Marino simply could not escape the vice-like grip of their opponents. Israel continued to push the Titani hard in their determined pursuit of a second goal. Amici’s fists denied it on a powerful drive from Gloukh, but the goalkeeper coached by Matteo Cecchetti – making just his second appearance after last Thursday’s debut – could do nothing on 14 minutes about Podgoreanu’s close-range strike, the Spezia forward collecting in the box after a delicate return touch from Shahar, having initiated and received a one-two on the edge of the area. The Spezia striker was one of the constant thorns in the side of the Titani backline. Even if, after the 2-0, it was the two holding midfielders who took centre stage in attack for a few minutes. First Kanaan drove straight through the middle, only to be blocked by the wall in front of Amici; the ball then bounced out to the left foot of Berkovits, who struck it fiercely, drawing a superb save from the 2004-born goalkeeper. Amici was called into action again on 22 minutes, when the other central midfielder, Shahar, tested him with a powerful but not especially angled drive. At this point San Marino began to find their shape and distances, even trying to show themselves in and around Peretz’s area with a few forays forward. The difficulty was that the two strikers were often too far from the rest of the team. So it took a moment of individual initiative, like Pancotti’s in the 23rd minute: the La Fiorita forward let fly with an unexpected right-footed strike from the edge that sailed just over Peretz’s crossbar, with the goalkeeper far from comfortable. Israel were dangerous again from a corner: Ben Shabat powered a header goalwards, and Amici produced another fine reflex save. Once past the half-hour mark, San Marino pushed more men into the Israeli final third. A neat move down the left freed Contadini to cross; Cohen cleared only as far as Dolcini, who hit it first time on the volley, but Peretz held on securely. The Titani raised their defensive line but were then exposed to counter-attacks. That is what happened on 32 minutes, when Gloukh carried the ball to the edge of the box before setting up Podgoreanu’s left foot, only for the finish to fly, incredibly, over the bar. Another corner led to a Shahar effort from the edge, dealt with comfortably by Amici. Podgoreanu then had an even more gilt‑edged chance than the previous one: the Spezia forward, picked out by Kanaan, raced clear to face Amici but completely miscued his shot at the decisive moment. The last big chance of the half came in added time: Morgan delivered a wicked cross that the defence only just managed to clear; the second ball fell to Shahar, who fired with the goal at his mercy as Amici was already beaten, but was thwarted, ironically, by Davida standing in the way, the striker unintentionally taking the place of the visiting goalkeeper. As against Poland, Ciacci did not return after the interval. He was replaced by Filippo Pasolini. Israel resumed their offensive theme, and were quickly back to shooting with Kanaan: the midfielder looked to exploit the space on the edge of the area, shaping a shot that only just cleared the bar. At the other end, Pancotti won a free-kick that tempted Moretti into going for glory from long range: the defender struck it with power and conviction, but his right-footed effort went wide without seriously troubling Peretz. Likewise, Gloukh’s turn and shot from the edge of the box – at the end of a fine solo move by Kanaan – posed no real problems for Amici. San Marino responded with personality: less than a minute later, Lazzari received the ball on the right, cut inside and curled a shot that missed the far post by a few metres. The ensuing stoppage allowed Cecchetti to make a double substitution: Zannoni and Cecchetti came on for Lazzari and Moretti. Franciosi dropped into defence, to the right of Matteoni. The latter, on 64 minutes, earned applause from his own bench and even part of the home crowd for the perfectly timed sliding tackle with which he defused a potentially lethal situation: Nachmani, clearly much fresher than the San Marino defender, was racing through on goal towards Amici. Israel came very close to a third again on 67 minutes: Podgoreanu delivered a pinpoint cross from the left for Niddam who, completely unmarked in the middle of the area, opted to place his header but somehow missed the target. Another scare for San Marino arrived on 74 minutes: Podgoreanu threaded a pass into the box for Kanaan, who was thwarted by Amici’s brave intervention off his line; the ball looped up onto the head of Nachmani, who seemed certain to score, only for Tosi – perfectly positioned on the goal line – to deny him the joy of finding the net. The home number 11 “clashed” again with outstanding defending from San Marino in the 80th minute: this time it was Amici who produced a low save that was as difficult as it was decisive, thwarting the striker’s mazy run through on goal. In the closing minutes, Matteo Cecchetti handed a debut to Marco Pasolini, while the woodwork, aided by a crucial touch from Amici, came to San Marino’s rescue once more on Bilevi’s close-range effort. At the final whistle, Israel could celebrate securing second place and, with it, a play-off spot with a view to the finals, while San Marino signed off from this European cycle with an increasingly confident display and with the belief that the younger players are more than ready to take over from those who, due to age limits, completed their Under-21 journey with the national team today.

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Under-21, European Qualifiers for Euro 2023 | Israel-San Marino 2-0   ISRAEL Peretz; Zasano, Ben Shabat, Cohen, Morgan; Shahar (46' Niddam), Kanaan (83' Levi); Berkovits (66' Bilevi), Gloukh (66' Zargary), Podgoreanu, Davida (57' Nachmani) Substitutes: Nir On, Mizrahi, Blorian, Arad Coach: Guy Luzon   SAN MARINO Amici; Moretti (61' Cecchetti), Matteoni, Tosi; Franciosi, Toccaceli (77' Santi), Ciacci (46' F. Pasolini), Dolcini, Contadini (90+1' M. Pasolini); Pancotti, Lazzari (61' Zannoni) Substitutes: Paolini, Pasquinelli, Francioni, Valentini, Zannoni Coach: Matteo Cecchetti   Referee: Jamie Robinson (NIR) Assistants: Gareth Eakin, Stephen Donaldson (NIR) Fourth official: Lee Philip Tavinder (NIR) Booked: Niddam Scorers: 1' Berkovits, 14' Podgoreanu

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