U21s: Cyprus come to the Stadium. Jacopo Casadei: “The fans’ support will be vital”

The calendar year’s fixtures come to a close with the home clash against Cyprus, the only side not yet faced by the Under-21 National Team in this opening phase of the European Qualifiers. It will be a sort of play-off to move off zero points, currently shared by both Matteo Cecchetti’s side and that of Konstantinos Makridis, who are coming off a 4-0 defeat to Kosovo. The young Titans, for their part, are fresh from the away match in Spain, the dominant force in the group, from which the Sammarinese head coach took many positive indications, especially in the first half. Tomorrow’s opponent will be different, but the level of focus and concentration required will be exactly the same. “Cyprus are an opponent we absolutely must not underestimate,” warns Jacopo Casadei. “But this is always true in international football and we are fully aware of it. Over these past few days, together with the coach, we’ve analysed Cyprus in great detail – I’d say virtually every aspect. The coach is demanding maximum attention in every moment of the match. We are ready for the battle and confident we can produce a good, effective performance.”

Borasco is still suspended. Against Spain it was Amici who guarded the Sammarinese goal, but tomorrow it could be Jacopo’s turn, and the last time he played at home, against Romania, he produced some outstanding saves. “If it’s my turn, I hope to do well tomorrow. But above all I hope that home advantage will give a special lift to the whole team. I believe playing at the Stadium is every young Sammarinese footballer’s dream and seeing your own fans cheering for you is something truly exhilarating. I hope that tomorrow this factor can make the difference for our National Team,” the light-blue goalkeeper concludes.

The appointment is tomorrow at the San Marino Stadium. Admission is free, kick-off at 18:00 and live coverage will be available on the platform Titani.TV, on www.sanmarinortv.sm and on channel 550 of digital terrestrial television.

On Titani.TV it will also be possible to follow the post-match interviews live, produced by San Marino RTV.

These are the 23 players pre-selected by head coach Matteo Cecchetti: