Under-19: Romania show no mercy, Titani nonetheless inches away from scoring

In the Under-19 qualifying tournament currently taking place in Ostrava, Romania picked up their first win with a 7-0 victory over their San Marino counterparts. For the 2nd matchday, Nicola Cancelli keeps faith with seven of the eleven who started the game against the Czech Republic. The new faces in the line-up – at least from kick-off – are goalkeeper Hoel, Della Balda, Bugli and Cervellini. The Titani have an early scare when, after just 2 minutes, Aioanei hits the woodwork. But in terms of frights dished out, the San Marino side more than return the favour to their opponents with two big chances created between the quarter-hour and the 20th minute. On the first occasion it is Valli Casadei who has the opening goal at his feet. Tommaso Benvenuti delivers a perfect cross from the right flank and the San Marino number 4 meets it with a header from a great position, only to find Frânculescu’s gloves in the way. The second chance falls to Della Balda, who breaks through on goal, but the Biancoazzurri forward hesitates at the crucial moment, allowing the defence to get back. There is work to do as well for Hoel, alert in dealing with two efforts from Pop. The breakthrough arrives on 35 minutes, when Romania manage to unlock the game through Tudose, well picked out by Sali. Three minutes later Dulcea’s side double their lead thanks to a move down the Florea-Banu axis. Banu himself then goes close to a brace, denied by Hoel, who moments later has to repeat the feat on Pop. After the restart, San Marino immediately introduce Alberto Riccardi and Ugolini. On 49 minutes Hoel is called into action again, while another couple of Romanian efforts drift wide of the target. The scoreline is updated between the 57th and 67th minute, with Capac and Răducan getting their names on the scoresheet, the latter set up by Rădulescu. San Marino try to knock on the Romanian door through Valli Casadei, who is off target with his finish. A quarter of an hour from time Romania add further gloss to the scoreline through Gogescu, who moments later is denied a personal brace by the woodwork. On 79 minutes there is a huge chance for San Marino from a move fashioned by two substitutes: Capicchioni sends in a perfect cross for Alberto Riccardi, who stretches to meet it in estirada but misses by a whisker, with the goalkeeper completely out of the picture. Rădulescu, having provided the assist for 4-0, then gets on the scoresheet himself with Romania’s sixth. After further attempts by Capac (saved by Hoel), by Alberto Riccardi and by Rădulescu (both off target), Romania put the final seal on their victory with Capac’s second of the evening (assist by Aioanei), scored virtually at the death. In fact, the referee does not even restart play. The Titani’s next – and final – fixture in the qualifying group will be on Tuesday 17 October at 15:00 against Finland.

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Euro U19, 2024 – Qualifying Round | Romania-San Marino 7-0 ROMANIA Frânculescu; Dutu, Jalade, Tudose (from 63' Rădulescu); Aioanei, Banu, Florea (from 53' Gogescu), Anișorac; Pop (from 75' Vlăsceanu), Stan (from 63' Răducan), Sali (from 53' Capac) Substitutes: Rafailă, Stancovici, Bădescu, Cibi Coach: Pavel-Adrian Dulcea   SAN MARINO Hoel; Zafferani (from 77' Gasperoni), M. Ciacci, F. Ciacci; Valli Casadei, Cervellini (from 80' Renzi), Bugli (from 46' A. Riccardi), Casadei, Benvenuti; Della Balda (from 46' Ugolini), Famiglietti (from 80' Capicchioni) Substitutes: Borasco, Molinari, S. Riccardi Coach: Nicola Cancelli   Referee: Miloš Savović (MNE) Assistant referees: Marko Gojkovic (MNE), Jakub Bureš (CZE) Fourth official: Filip Kotala (CZE) Booked: Dutu, Răducan, M. Ciacci Scorers: 35' Tudose, 38' Banu, 57' and 90+3' Capac, 67' Răducan, 75' Gogescu, 83' Rădulescu

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