Under-16s: Arlotti brace not enough against Kosovo, who prevail on penalties

The Under-16 National Team open the Albanian Development Tournament with a very good performance against Kosovo, who edge it on penalties after an entertaining 2-2 draw in normal time. The deadlock is broken just after the 10-minute mark: Shala bursts into the box and, after winning a rebound, fires a right-footed diagonal past Cenci. The other number 4 on the pitch, Meloni, tries to reply two minutes later: his effort from the edge of the area is read well by Hasimi, who gets down and gathers. San Marino stay camped in the opposition half, finding the equaliser on 15 minutes after a handball by Graishta that sends Arlotti to the spot. The number 8 in sky blue and white is ice-cool: ball one way, keeper the other. Midway through the half Tamagnini tries to make the most of a scramble from a corner, drilling a powerful effort towards Hasimi’s goal, but the goalkeeper punches clear to preserve parity. Cenci is also called into action on 27 minutes: Bonesso’s keeper sticks out a boot to deny Ademi from close range after he was picked out by Ahmeti. San Marino immediately push back upfield, but on 29 minutes they concede a penalty for a fortuitous handball by Colombini. Ahmeti steps up, having already found the net before the whistle for the spot-kick only to see that goal ruled out: Cenci gets a touch but cannot divert the Kosovo captain’s effort, which makes it 2-1. At the start of the second half the scores are levelled again thanks to a second dead-ball strike from Arlotti. This time the Sammarinese number 8 curls a perfect free-kick from the edge of the box: the ball kisses the post and there is absolutely nothing Hasimi can do. The response from the young Kosovars comes via a right-footed curler from Tahiri that flies just over the far top corner. Meloni opts for power rather than curl on 73 minutes: his right-footed strike is fierce but central, and Hasimi gathers. From the ensuing counter, Ahmeti goes for glory from mid-range, but Cenci is alert to the captain’s left-footed effort. The scoreline remains unchanged up to the final whistle. Under the regulations, there is no extra time, so the match goes straight to penalties. Kosovo go first and Bajrami scores, quickly followed by Coletta’s conversion. Ahmeti and Demolli are also successful before Cenci saves from Mehmeti. Immediately afterwards, Montali fires wide. Further successful spot-kicks follow from Demolli and Salihu on one side, and from Meloni and Baldazzi on the other. It then goes to sudden death. Cenci immediately foils Osmani and Hasimi does the same to Guidi. Malaj, Molinari and Sekiraqa all score. Hasimi then saves Canarezza’s effort, bringing the shoot-out to a close and sealing victory for Kosovo. The Titans are back in action on Monday at 11:30 against Belize. These are the 20 players called up by head coach Alessandro Loris Bonesso:

PLAYER	POSITION	DATE OF BIRTH	CLUB
ARLOTTI Leone	Midfielder	21/06/2008	RIMINI F.C.
BALDAZZI Alessandro	Forward	15/07/2008	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
BUCCHI Francesco	Midfielder	16/04/2009	CESENA FC
CANAREZZA Lorenzo	Forward	13/03/2008	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
CENCI Alessandro	Goalkeeper	09/09/2008	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
COLETTA Leonardo	Midfielder	23/06/2008	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
COLOMBINI Alex	Defender	01/07/2008	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
CONTI Achille	Goalkeeper	01/04/2008	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
GIORDANI Lorenzo	Midfielder	20/10/2008	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
GRANDONI Giacomo	Defender	22/01/2008	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
GUIDI Federico	Defender	19/06/2008	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
MELONI Cristian	Midfielder	12/03/2008	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
MOLINARI Nicola	Midfielder	27/10/2008	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
MONTALI Gabriele	Defender	26/06/2008	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
PENNACCHINI Luca	Midfielder	12/05/2008	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
PODESCHI Tommaso	Midfielder	15/01/2008	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
RASCHI Lorenzo	Defender	15/10/2008	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
TAMAGNINI Simone	Forward	17/01/2008	SAN MARINO ACADEMY
TERNI Filippo	Defender	01/03/2009	CESENA FC
ZAVOLI Marco	Midfielder	17/02/2008	SAN MARINO ACADEMY

 

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UEFA Under-16 Development Tournament, Matchday 1 | San Marino - Kosovo 2-2 (5-6 pens)   SAN MARINO Cenci, Meloni, Colombini, Montali, Podeschi (from 75' Raschi), Arlotti (from 55' Coletta), Tamagnini (from 55' Molinari), Zavoli (from 55' Guidi), Terni (from 75' Giordani), Bucchi (from 80' Canarezza), Grandoni (from 80' Baldazzi) Substitutes: Conti, Grana Head coach: Alessandro Loris Bonesso   KOSOVO Hasimi, Morina (from 46' Mehmeti), Osmani, Shala (from 55' Sekiraqa), Demolli, D. Bajrami, Idrizi (from 55' Malaj), Ademi (from 46' Zekaj), Ahmeti, Graishta (from 55' Salihu), Tahiri Substitutes: N. Bajrami, Bytyqi, Macastena, Podvorica Head coach: Mehmet Kurda   Referee: Jetmir Potka Assistant referees: Anxhela Sula and Bariokels Hamzaj Fourth official: Mario Mustafa Scorers: 11' Shala, 15' pen. Arlotti, 30' Ahmeti, 50' Arlotti Booked: Zekaj Penalty shoot-out sequence: Coletta GOAL - D. Bajrami GOAL; Colombini GOAL - Ahmeti GOAL; Montalti MISS - Mehmeti MISS; Meloni GOAL - Demolli GOAL; Baldazzi GOAL - Salihu GOAL; Guidi MISS - Osmani MISS; Molinari GOAL - Malaj GOAL; Canarezza MISS - Sekiraqa GOAL.

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