World Soccer – August 2019

Steve Menary reports

For the worst league in Europe, San

Marino’s Campionato reached a thrilling

conclusion last season. Trailing 1-0 to

holders and overwhelming favorites La

Fiorita in the play-off Final, Tre Penne

equalised in the seven minutes of injury

time with a goal from Stefano Fraternali.

As the club’s ultras, Tifosi Corretti

Sambuca (TFC), used a loud hailer to

broadcast support from a balcony on

a building overlooking the Stadio Fonte

Dell’Ovo, Tre Penne went on to win 3-1

and claim their place in this season’s

Champions League preliminaries.

That was on May 25. A month later,

Tre Penne were out of the Champions

League, beaten 1-0 by FC Santa Coloma

of Andorra.

Their exit was disappointing because,

although the national team is one of

the world’s weakest sides, Sammarinese

clubs have been showing tentative signs

of improvement – which makes watching

their games more appealing than those

of the national side.

“Sometimes it’s embarrassing to watch

the national team,” sighs Tommaso

Verzini, one of the TFC ultras’ leaders.

“That’s why we don’t follow them. The

players know they are going to lose. They

are going to resist and maybe to score.

“It makes me cry. You can feel the

agony among the players.”

The agony has reduced somewhat

for San Marino at club level, and those

appearances in European competition

which used to involve heavy defeats, even

against clubs from other small countries,

have mainly stopped.

In July 2013, Tre Penne became the

first Sammarinese club to win a game in

Europe, beating Armenian side Shirak

1-0 in a Champions League qualifier,

although they still went out, losing 3-1

on aggregate. In 2018, Tre Fiori became

the first Sammarinese club to win a

continental tie, beating Bala Town from

Wales 3-1 on aggregate in a Europa

League preliminary.

This season, in addition to Tre Penne’s

defeat, La Fiorita and Tre Fiori both

went out of the Europa League in the

preliminary round. But as Enrico Cibelli,

a Sammarinese international who plays

for Tre Penne, explains: “Our league

has improved because there are

opportunities to play in Europe and the

Champions League.”

For most clubs, European competition

is a significant source of income, and just

appearing in the Champions League

preliminaries is worth around €460,000.

However, in a system that is inconceivable

almost anywhere else in Europe, all the

UEFA money earned by Sammarinese

clubs is pooled and then split 15 ways by

the national federation, the Federazione

Sammarinese Giuoco Calcio (FSGC).

In 2017, club revenue in San Marino

averaged €100,000 – making its teams

the poorest off the pitch in Europe as well

as on it – and according to UEFA’s latest

eye

witness

SAN MARINO

End of the dream

The Champions League is already over

for the best team in Europe’s worst league

“Sometimes it’s embarrassing to watch the

national team. That’s why we don’t follow

them. The players know they are going to lose”

Tre Penne supporter, Tommaso Verzini

Final...Tre Penne

and La Fiorita

Champions...

Tre Penne

Pi

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e:

F

SG

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