San Marino is a country in Europe enclaved by Italy.
San Marino is a country in Europe enclaved by Italy.
San Marino, along with Italy, enjoys football (soccer) as its most popular sport.
The San Marino Championship, founded under the auspices of the FSGC (San Marino Football Federation), is the premier footballing competition in San Marino. The fifteen teams that take part in the competition are split into two groups of eight and seven teams. The top three from each section at the end of the regular season progress into a semi-knockout style Championship Playoff. Prior to 2007, the playoff champion earned a spot in the preliminary rounds of the UEFA Cup. In 2007, UEFA granted San Marino a spot in the 1st Qualifying Round of the Champions League. 2007 league champions S.S. Murata was the first team to represent San Marino in the Champions League when they participated in the 2007-08 competition, losing to Finland's Tampere team. San Marino also has a representative in the Italian system, with San Marino Calcio playing in the fourth tier of Italian football, Serie D. San Marino play their home matches in the Sanmarinese at the Stadio Olimpico of Serravalle.
The San Marino national team played its first unofficial international match in 1986, in which it suffered a 0–1 defeat to the Canadian Olympic team. Its first competitive outing was on November 14, 1990, a 0–4 loss against Switzerland in the European Championship qualifier. These defeats set the tone for most of the following outings of the team, who are regarded as whipping boys in the qualifying sections of the European Championship and the World Cup, calling into question the merits of San Marino and the other 'microstate' teams (Andorra, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Malta) being included in the main qualifying groups for said tournaments.
They had a brief moment of glory when they faced England in a World Cup qualifier on November 17, 1993, and took the lead through Davide Gualtieri after just 8.3 seconds - still the fastest goal in World Cup competition. [1] Despite this goal, only San Marino's third at international level, the microstate went on to lose 7–1.
Until recently, San Marino's international record was one of almost total failure, with famous draws against Turkey and Latvia being the only partial successes in an international career that contains over 70 defeats. However, on 29 April 2004, San Marino recorded their first ever win, with a 1–0 victory over Liechtenstein in an international friendly. Andy Selva scored the only goal in a close game that finally gave this tiny republic a footballing victory.
On September 6, 2006, San Marino suffered their biggest ever defeat, losing 13–0 to world giants Germany in the Stadio Olimpico. It was also the largest goal margin defeat in European Championship Qualifying history. In the same competition on February 7, 2007, they came within 8 seconds of the best result in their history. They were level at 1–1 with the Republic of Ireland after 94 minutes when Stephen Ireland scored within 8 seconds of the final whistle. The goal scored by San Marino was their European Qualifying first goal since losing 4–1 to Austria in 1998.
As of August 2021, San Marino is 210th in the FIFA world rankings - almost last place with 805 points (the bottom is The Turks and Caicos Islands.) [2]
The most notable Sanmarinese footballer was Massimo Bonini, a midfielder, who played for the national team, but most notably for Italy's Juventus F.C. from 1981 to 1988. [3]
In 2020 San Marino made it through a round for the first time in a UEFA competition making it to the playoffs of the 2022 Futsal EURO. [4]
Although named after the Republic, the San Marino Grand Prix of Formula One was actually held at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in the Italian town of Imola, about 100 km northwest of San Marino, along the Via Emilia. It was removed from the sport's calendar in 2007 due to no negotiations to renew the contract with the event organizers. This Grand Prix became etched in infamy after two fatal accidents occurred in 1994, when rookie Roland Ratzenberger and three-time World Champion Ayrton Senna were killed while competing.
San Marino motorcycle Grand Prix has been held during the years in Imola, Misano and Mugello. Currently, Misano hosts both the Grand Prix and the World Superbike Race. Sammarinese Manuel Poggiali won two World Championship titles: 125cc in 2001 and 250cc in 2003. Alex de Angelis has won one 250cc race and was riding in the Moto2 and MotoE classes until retiring in 2020. He is the last sammarinese rider to appear on a grand prix weekend.
Since 2006, from San Marino starts the FIA Alternative Energies Cup event Ecorally San Marino - Città del Vaticano, organized by the Automobile Club San Marino. [5]
San Marino has a professional domestic baseball team, T & A San Marino, which play in the top division of Italian professional baseball, the Serie A1. It has participated in the European Cup tournament for the top European professional baseball teams several times, hosting the event in 1996, 2000 and 2004, 2007 and in 2016 where it co-hosted along with Italy. It won the championship in 2006, 2008 and 2014. It has also more recently achieved 3rd place in the 2017 Regensburg tournament in Germany. [6] [7] Baseball is generally regarded as one of San Marino's more successful sporting fronts when compared to the state's performance in other sports.
San Marino also has a vibrant basketball scene. San Marino Basketball Federation (Italian: Federazione Sammarinese Pallacanestro) is the governing body of basketball in San Marino. It was founded in 1968. It organizes the internal league and runs the San Marino national basketball team. There is also an annual international basketball tournament held every summer called San Marino Basketball Cup.
San Marino Volleyball Federation or FSPAV (Italian: Federazione Sammarinese Pallavolo) is the governing body of volleyball and beach volleyball in San Marino. It was formed in 1980. It organizes the internal league and runs the San Marino national volleyball team.
The San Marino team represents the nation at rugby, and the "Rugby Club San Marino" also plays in the Italian leagues.
San Marino have competed at 15 Olympic games since 1960 (with the exception of 1964). The country has won a total of three medals, all at the Tokyo 2020 summer games, where target shooter Alessandra Perilli made San Marino become the smallest sovereign country to win a medal of any color at the games. [8] The country has also appeared at 10 Winter Olympic Games, but have not yet managed to win any medals. [9]
San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino and also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino, is a European microstate and country enclaved by Italy. Located on the northeastern side of the Apennine Mountains, San Marino is the fifth-smallest country in the world and covers a land area of just over 61 km2, with a population of 33,660 as of 2022.
The San Marino national football team represents San Marino in men's international association football competitions. The team is controlled by the San Marino Football Federation and represents the smallest population of any UEFA member. They are currently the lowest-ranked FIFA-affiliated national football team.
Campionato Sammarinese di Calcio is an amateur league competition for football clubs located at the only level of the Sammarinese football league system and has been operating since the 1985–1986 season. Currently, Campionato Sammarinese di Calcio is ranked last at number 55 among European leagues according to UEFA's league coefficient, which is based on the performance of Sammarinese clubs in the Champions League, Europa League and the Europa Conference League.
S.P. Tre Penne is a football club based in the City of San Marino. Literally meaning "Three Feathers", the club was founded in 1956, and currently plays in Campionato Sammarinese di Calcio. The team colors are blue and white when home, and red when away.
Associazione Calcio Libertas is a Sanmarinese football club, based in Borgo Maggiore, that competes in Campionato Sammarinese di Calcio.
S.S. Murata is a Sanmarinese football club, based in Murata, a civil parish of the city of San Marino. The club was founded in 1966. Murata currently plays in Girone B of Campionato Sammarinese di Calcio. The team's colours are black and white.
Massimo Bonini is a Sammarinese former professional football player and coach, who played as a midfielder for Italian sides Bellaria Igea, Forlì, Cesena, Juventus and Bologna.
Andy Selva is a Sammarinese former footballer and current manager of Tre Fiori. During his playing career he played as a forward and captained the San Marino national team, finishing his career as their record goal scorer.
The San Marino Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Serravalle, San Marino. First opened in 1969, it is currently used mostly for football matches. It is the national stadium of San Marino.
Matteo Valli is a Sanmarinese football striker.
Marco Macina is a Sammarinese former footballer.
Sport in Serbia includes football, basketball, handball, tennis, volleyball, and water polo. Professional sports in Serbia are organized by sporting federations and leagues. Serbian professional sports includes multi-sport clubs, biggest and most successful of which are Crvena Zvezda, Partizan, Radnički and Beograd in Belgrade, Vojvodina in Novi Sad, Radnički in Kragujevac, Spartak in Subotica. Serbia had successes in basketball, winning the Olympic silver medal and Nikola Jokic winning 2 NBA MVPs, as well as the 2023 NBA Championship and Finals MVP, Novak Djokovic winning a record setting 24th Grand Slam, and in handball, volleyball and water polo as well.
Sport in Europe tends to be highly organized with many sports having professional leagues. The origins of many of the world's most popular sports today lie in the codification of many traditional games, especially in the United Kingdom. However, a paradoxical feature of European sport is the extent to which local, regional and national variations continue to exist, and even in some instances to predominate.
Massimo Agostini is an Italian football manager and former striker.
Football is the most popular sport in San Marino, as well as in Italy, the country within which it is an enclave.
The San Marino national under-21 football team represents the under-21s of San Marino in the UEFA U-21 Championship, and is controlled by the San Marino Football Federation, the governing body of football of the state.
Tre Fiori Football Club, also known simply as Tre Fiori, is a semi-professional football club based in Fiorentino, San Marino. The club, formed in 1949, has been awarded 8 national championship titles and 8 national cup titles, making them the most successful club in the history of San Marino football. In 2018 Tre Fiori was the first team from San Marino to qualify for the next round of a UEFA competition, winning 3–1 against Bala Town F.C. on aggregate in the preliminary round of the UEFA Europa League. Tre Fiori currently hold the record for most goals scored in European competition by a Sammarinese team: eight goals. They currently play in the Campionato Sammarinese di Calcio. The club colours, reflected in their crest and kit, are yellow and blue.
Mirko Palazzi is a Sammarinese footballer who plays for S.S. Cosmos.
Mattia Stefanelli is a Sammarinese footballer who plays for Fiorentino and San Marino national team. He scored San Marino's first away goal in the World Cup UEFA qualification competition since 2001.
The 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 22nd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by UEFA for the men's under-21 national teams of Europe. The final tournament was hosted by Italy in mid-2019, after their bid was selected by the UEFA Executive Committee on 9 December 2016 in Nyon, Switzerland.
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