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.
Trailing at half-time, San Marino claimed its second-ever competitive win thanks to strikes from Lorenzo Lazzari and Alessandro Golinucci, and Nicola Nanni’s penalty.
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, has 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.
San Marino is international football’s bottom-ranked team but finished the group one point ahead of Gibraltar with whom it drew 1-1 on Friday thanks to a last-gasp Nanni spot-kick.
It 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 years.
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