Reputation
San Marino's dismal record gives them a lowly reputation in world football. The republic have never won a competitive fixture, a 1–0 friendly match win against Liechtenstein being their sole victory to date. With the smallest population of any UEFA country, the talent pool is small. Players are predominantly amateurs; only a small number of players such as Andy Selva and Aldo Simoncini are professionals. Their 13–0 defeat at home to Germany is a European Championship record, and they have conceded ten goals on four other occasions. In the FIFA World Rankings, San Marino usually have the lowest rank of any UEFA country. Since the creation of the FIFA rankings in 1992, San Marino's average position has been 159th.
Opponents anticipate easy wins in matches against San Marino, and failure to win comfortably can reflect poorly on a team. In 2001, Latvia manager Gary Johnson resigned after failing to beat San Marino in a World Cup qualifier; The Republic of Ireland's 2–1 win in February 2007 (due to a last-second goal) resulted in scathing press criticism.
San Marino set a European record when they went over 20 games without scoring between October 2008 and August 2012.
Read more about this topic: San Marino National Football Team
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