San Marino beat Liechtenstein to claim historic Nations League promotion
San Marino made history on Monday after coming from behind to beat Liechtenstein 3-1 and obtain a stunning promotion to the third tier of the Nations League.
Un equipo de hรฉroes que siempre recordaremos, el mejor equipo de la historia de San Marino lo ha logrado. ๐ฅ
โ San Marino Fรบtbol ๐ธ๐ฒ (@SanMarinoTeam) November 18, 2024
ยก๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ข๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฃ๐ข ๐ฌ ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ฆ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐จ๐! ๐#Siempre๐ฆ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ข ๐ธ๐ฒ โญ๏ธ pic.twitter.com/Q1vaExTlQg
Trailing at halftime, San Marino claimed their second-ever competitive win thanks to strikes from Lorenzo Lazzari and Alessandro Golinucci, and Nicola Nanni's penalty.
FINAL DEL PARTIDO
โ San Marino Fรบtbol ๐ธ๐ฒ (@SanMarinoTeam) November 18, 2024
๐ฑ๐ฎ LIECHTENSTEIN 1-3 SAN MARINO ๐ธ๐ฒ
LOS MUCHACHOS HAN JUGADO EL PARTIDO DE SU VIDA, GOLEAMOS EN EL CLรSICO, GANAMOS POR PRIMERA VEZ EN LA HISTORIA DE VISITANTE Y ASCENDIMOS A LA LIGA C DE LA NATIONS LEAGUE ๐
GRACIAS TOTALES, TE AMO SAN MARINO ๐ธ๐ฒ pic.twitter.com/g4FtVFsYmZ
San Marino's players charged onto the pitch in joy after securing promotion to League C at the Rheinpark Stadion in Vaduz.
The micro state's national team, whose first competitive win came against Liechtenstein back in September, have been promoted after topping Group D1.
"Finishing that first half 1-0 down was an insult to football, but the boys were brilliant and deserved what they've managed to achieve," said San Marino coach Roberto Cevoli.
NECESITAMOS SOLO UN GOL MรS pic.twitter.com/LT6oleXuNV
โ San Marino Fรบtbol ๐ธ๐ฒ (@SanMarinoTeam) November 18, 2024
San Marino are international football's bottom-ranked team but finished the group one point ahead of Gibraltar with whom they drew 1-1 on Friday thanks to a last-gasp Nanni spot-kick.
They scored three goals in an official fixture for the first time and Golinucci's first-time finish in the 76th minute, which decided the match, came from a slick passing move which would have once been unthinkable.
"Apart from suffering the serious risk of heart attack, all I can say is that these boys made history tonight," said a visibly emotional Marco Tura, the president of the San Marino Football Federation.
"As people, as athletes, as men they have shown what they are worth... I cried with the boys."
The whipping boys of international football had been building up to their historic Nations League campaign after also claiming draws in friendly matches against Seychelles, Saint Lucia and Saint Kitts and Nevis over the last two
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