U21: Titans inches away from the lead against Norway, who then pull away over time

The Under-21 National Team returned to the San Marino Stadium and Simone Giocondi made his full debut, starting from the off. The light blue number 2 was deployed on the right flank of the 3-5-2 which, up front, relied on the Santi-Zannoni partnership. Norway, with no qualifying matches under their belt (unlike San Marino, who opened in June), were aiming to get off on the right foot in a tough group that also includes Türkiye, Ireland, Italy and Latvia. The visitors created the first attack down the left. Perfect overlap by Zafeiris and a pinpoint cross onto the head of Bobb, who from the heart of the area tried to catch Amici cold, but the keeper reacted brilliantly. Zafeiris was in the thick of it again on 9 minutes: the visiting captain produced a series of dribbles in the box before shooting, his effort blocked by a vital intervention from Matteoni. Without going overboard, Norway gradually upped the tempo, relying more on individual flashes than on collective moves. San Marino defended in an organised fashion, but struggled to break out. Shortly after the quarter-hour mark, Zannoni tried his luck, winning a couple of duels in midfield and then sending Santi through into open field, only for him to be flagged offside – by millimetres rather than centimetres. Norway’s immediate response came with another mazy run in the area, this time from Hansen-Aarøen, who slalomed his way into a shooting position, drawing a fantastic save from Amici. The Titans’ defensive phase was fuelled by the heart and adrenaline that Matteo Cecchetti had spoken about in yesterday’s press conference. To the point that, with space at a premium, Norway did not shy away from a few tricks; such as when Bobb went down very, very easily in the box, but without deceiving the referee. The visiting coach tried to reshuffle his eleven a little, although the side initially struggled to adjust to the new tactical instructions. San Marino took advantage of this temporary confusion to carve out two big chances in quick succession. The first fell to Santi, who capitalised on a lapse in the visiting defence to burst into the heart of the area, going to ground in a challenge with Møller Wolfe: the crowd protested, the light blue bench did likewise, but the referee only gave a corner. From that set-piece, the defence cleared, the Titans recycled the ball into the middle and Zannoni found himself with something resembling a penalty in open play, but his shot, from a tight angle, was kept out by a superb save with the foot from Sjøeng. For the time being, Norway went back to relying on individual inspiration. On 26 minutes, Schjelderup skipped past a couple of opponents, reached the byline and flashed a dangerous ball across the area, with no team-mate able to get on the end of it. Norway were threatening again on 33 minutes: a quick one-two between Gulliksen and Arnstad, with the number 17 – who had come on for Zafeiris in the meantime – trying to curl one into the far corner, only for Amici to produce a flying save, once more fully alert. There was nothing the San Marino keeper could do, however, when Sjøvold delivered a perfectly measured ball to Schjelderup who, free at the far post, simply had to open up his right foot to make it 1-0. It was a blow the Titans felt, so much so that Norway doubled their lead shortly afterwards. The excellent Mannsverk – who had started the move for the opener – applied the finish, drilling in a right-footed effort from the edge of the box that "died" close to the top corner, despite Amici getting a touch. Norway altered the scoreline again right at the end of the half. The 3-0 came from a combination of speed and quality – almost futsal style – between Bobb and Hansen-Aarøen. The City man set up, with a back-heel, the shot for his team-mate on United’s books: a low drive into the bottom corner, leaving Amici helpless. Only stoppage time separated the two sides from the interval, but Norway made it count to make it four; this time it was a fine individual play by Schjelderup that made the difference: a sharp shimmy to beat his marker and a powerful placed finish that gave the home keeper no chance. In the 3rd minute of added time, the visitors mounted another dangerous surge, with Hansen-Aarøen breaking on the counter and setting up what should have been a simple finish for Arnstad, who instead blazed over. After the break, D'Addario and Sensoli came on for Dolcini and Zannoni. Norway came out strong, forcing Amici into a stunning save with his foot to deny Arnstad, who had been freed on the penalty spot by a delightful ball from Schjelderup, by some distance their standout performer. The former Benfica forward then went on a solo run of his own, driving straight at Amici, whose goal was protected by a brilliant last-ditch challenge from Tomassini. The Norwegian number 7 was close to his hat-trick again when he met a free-kick floated in by Bobb: a superb right-footed volley and another crucial reflex stop from Amici to keep it out. A very similar save from the San Marino keeper followed on 65 minutes, this time to thwart Edh, played in by Bobb, another hugely difficult customer for the Titans’ back line. Amici’s toughest intervention of the evening arguably came a quarter of an hour from time: Norway stretched the home defence with a slick passing move that ended with the ball at the left foot of Møller Wolfe. His placed effort looked destined for the corner, but Amici went down like a cat and, with the tip of his boot, cut short the full-back’s celebrations. Møller Wolfe did get some joy, at least in part, close to the 90th minute, when his well-weighted cross set up an easy tap-in for Karlsbakk, and the number 22 duly obliged. By then, Schjelderup had already made it 5-0 and completed his hat-trick at the end of a quick break led by Arnstad and finished with a toe-poke to evade the onrushing Amici. The exclamation mark on Norway’s victory came deep into stoppage time, with Arnstad providing yet another assist, this time for Edh, who did well to make space for himself in the area with his first touch before beating Amici with a wonderfully precise finish. The young Biancoazzurri will now have a few days’ rest before departing for Cork, where on Tuesday they will visit Ireland for the third fixture of their European qualifying campaign.

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Under-21, Euro 2025 qualifiers | San Marino – Norway 0-7 SAN MARINO Amici; Tomassini, Matteoni, M. Sancisi (from 75' Giambalvo); Giocondi (from 66' Guidi), Dolcini (from 46' D'Addario), N. Sancisi (from 52' F. Pasolini), Toccaceli, Contadini; Santi, Zannoni (from 46' Sensoli) Subs: Terenzi, Severi, Sarti, Famiglietti Coach: Matteo Cecchetti   NORWAY Sjøeng; Sjøvold (from 63' Edh), Opsahl, Hjelde, Møller Wolfe; Arnstad, Zafeiris (from 30' Gulliksen (from 63' Holm)), Mannsverk (from 63' Mugisha); Bobb (from 74' Karlsbakk), Hansen-Aarøen, Schjelderup Subs: Torkildsen, Østrøm, Fiabema, Løvik Coach: Jan Peder Jalland Referee: Mervan Bejtullahu (KOS) Assistants: Edmond Zeqiri and Fatmir Sekiraqa (KOS) Fourth Official: Vigan Iberdemaj (KOS) Booked: Zannoni, Tomassini, Matteoni, Hansen-Aarøen, Contadini Scorers: 34', 45+2' and 83' Schjelderup, 37' Mannsverk, 45' Hansen-Aarøen, 88' Karlsbakk, 90+4' Edh

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