Under-21s, joint training session with Romanian peers

The San Marino and Romania Under-21 national teams met yesterday afternoon on the pitch of the "Valentino Mazzola" Stadium in Santarcangelo. It was a useful run-out for both head coaches ahead of their upcoming continental fixtures which, for Romania, will be the Final Tournament of the European Championship, co-hosted with Georgia. Emil Săndoi’s side will kick off on 21 June against Spain, before facing Ukraine and Croatia three days apart. The Biancazzurrini, meanwhile, are preparing for their opening match in the qualifiers for the 2025 EURO, away to Latvia (20 June, 17:00). An extremely testing workout for Matteo Cecchetti’s players, who faced high-quality opponents two years older. Indeed, Romania’s squad for the home European Championship is naturally made up of the outgoing age group, players born in 2000 and 2001. San Marino, instead, are already focused on the next cycle, which features players born no earlier than 2002. In the San Marino ranks, Santi catches the eye – he is only 19 – with constant movement that troubles the opposition back line. Romania almost take the lead on 10 minutes through Mazilu, but go in front four minutes later when Albu threads a ball through for Birligea. Beaten through the middle, San Marino respond with a fine move down the flank by Contadini: his cross sits up nicely for D’Addario’s left-footed volley, which is off target. That proves Contadini’s last contribution as he picks up a knock and makes way for Matteoni. Shortly afterwards Romania double their lead again through Birligea, then add a third from the penalty spot on 28 minutes via Petrila. Moments earlier, Amici had produced a miraculous save to deny the same wide man. On the half-hour mark, a piece of brilliance from Santi, who sets off from midfield and runs at the set defence, shifting the ball onto his right before curling a shot that misses the top corner by a whisker. Right before the break, Borza’s powerful strike from distance makes it 4-0 at half-time. After the restart, Săndoi sends on eleven fresh players, who continue to put their foot on the gas. The Titans, however, are fully in the game and stand up to the challenge, also benefiting from the energy of the substitutes introduced at half-time and on the hour. Amici deals well with a couple of tricky situations before handing over in goal to Terenzi. After an immediate intervention to deny Markovic, the San Marino keeper can do nothing to stop Pitu’s thunderous right-footed strike on 81 minutes. A minute later, he produces an outstanding save to keep out Cimpanu’s close-range effort. The Biancazzurrini finish strongly, threatening with the play of Sensoli and Famiglietti, who cause problems for the Romanian defence without, however, managing to properly test Gorcea first and then Hindrich. The joint training session between the San Marino and Romania Under-21s thus ends 5-0, with Săndoi and Cecchetti both taking away important insights to use in the coming days.

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SAN MARINO Amici (from 77' Terenzi), F. Pasolini (from 46' Guidi), Contadini (from 21' Matteoni), M. Sancisi (from 67' Renzi), Tomassini, M. Pasolini (from 46' Sarti), D'Addario (from 61' Famiglietti), N. Sancisi, Santi (from 77' Gatti), Zannoni (from 61' Sensoli), Toccaceli (from 46' Dolcini) Substitute: Battistini Head coach: Matteo Cecchetti   ROMANIA Popa (from 46' Gorcea, from 67' Hindrich), Pantea (from 46' Dumitrescu), Racovitan (from 46' Ehmann), Petrila (from 46' Popescu), Grameni (from 46' Pitu), Isfan (from 46' Miculescu), Borza (from 46' Ticu), Dican (from 46' Mihai), Mazilu (from 46' Cimpanu), Birligea (from 46' Markovic), Albu (from 46' Pop) Head coach: Emil Săndoi   Referee: Andruccioli Assistants: Cristiano and Zaghini Scorers: 14', 21' Birligea, 28' pen. Petrila, 43' Borza, 81' Pitu

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