FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - International Friendly - San Marino v Cyprus - San Marino Stadium, San Marino - June 11, 2024 San Marino coach Roberto Cevoli reacts REUTERS/Alberto Lingria/File Photo
(Reuters) - San Marino finally enjoyed their first ever competitive win by defeating Liechtenstein 20 years after their only other victory came against the same opposition, and managing the country was always in his destiny, Roberto Cevoli told Reuters on Friday.
That 1-0 win in the Nations League on Thursday ended a 140-game winless streak since their previous friendly success, and the man who led them to victory, although Italian-born, has strong links with the tiny republic landlocked within Italy.
"San Marino has given me so much in professional terms and, after many years spent here and marrying a San Marino girl, I also chose San Marino citizenship," Cevoli told Reuters.
"San Marino was in my destiny. As a young player, one year I played in a club in San Marino where I was noticed and called up by a professional club.
"It all started from there, up to Serie A with Modena and my subsequent career as a coach."
Cevoli was appointed manager of San Marino at the end of last year and in his first five games in charge has given debuts to 13 players, including Nicko Sensoli who scored the goal against Liechtenstein.
Despite their lack of success, even the more experienced players in a side ranked lowest in the world never gave up in the search for that elusive win.
"Staying motivated is in the nature of each of us. We can't lose heart when we don't win games, it's part of football and we have to be aware of that," Cevoli said.
"The important thing is to have the right determination to always want to improve and look for a cue to grow in every training, every day."
It may be fitting that until now one of San Marino's most famous moments ended in yet another heavy defeat. In a World Cup qualifier with England in 1993, San Marino scored after 8.3 seconds to take a shock lead, before losing 7-1.
In Cervoli's first game in charge, they also went in front against Saint Kitts and Nevis, but lost 3-1, so when Sensoli opened the scoring against Liechtenstein on Wednesday, worry over throwing away another lead could easily have set in.
"Not really, we kept calm and stayed in the game until the end," the manager said.
"The hard part came when the referee awarded seven minutes of added time, then we got nervous and anxious. Fortunately, we managed to keep our advantage and thanks to the performance of the boys, to celebrate victory."
San Marino's next game is a friendly with Moldova on Tuesday, before continuing their Nations League D group which along with Liechtenstein also contains Gibraltar, but Cevoli is looking even further ahead.
"I would love to meet stronger teams, because in my career as a player and coach I have never met them. I want to compare myself with the best in the world, like England, Germany, France or Spain," he said.
"And at least we are assured of drawing one of the top-tier nations in the World Cup qualifiers."
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
