Conceding fewer goals seen as a victory

Home advantage may not be enough to save the Sammarinese come kick-off at the Serravalle Stadium in the tiny mountain republic, but as was underlined yesterday it does at least confer some benefits during the build-up to games like this.

As Steve Staunton and Robbie Keane addressed the travelling press corps in a marquee in a corner of the 5,000-seat ground that should be two thirds full this evening, their opposite number held forth in the comparative luxury of their nearby (well, everything is here) hotel.

For Giampaolo Mazza and Andy Selva the crowd was smaller but there, in a brightly lit basement meeting room, it was also mainly Irish with a handful of visitors dropping by to hear the minnows' manager of some nine years provide an insight into the ups and mainly downs of running a team that almost never wins.

Clearly the scenario is familiar Mazza, who spoke with warmth and charm of the particular challenges he faces while trying to prepare students, office workers and one professional footballer (Selva, who is playing in the Italian third division) to take on the bands of multi-millionaire sportsmen who stop briefly by to grab three points before going on their way again.

At one point wires are crossed with the association's translator, who tells the Irish that Mazza's first duty before each game is to tell his players to lose.

Quickly, the coach good-naturedly clarifies the situation. He must, he explains, tell them to keep on playing even though they are losing and to consider each goal fewer that they concede a small but significant victory.

There has been nothing resembling even a success on this minor scale so far in the current campaign, with 25 goals conceded in just three games. But the Sammarinese, who believe passionately in their right to compete at this level and who relish the honour of representing their tiny country, have no hesitation about subjecting themselves to considerable adversity once again. "The other teams are almost all on a very different level to us and so we cannot really expect to win," says Mazza, "but even we must hope that the German result (0-13) was a one-off. They are the best team in the group and we did not play nearly as well as we can on the day."

The team has, in fact, won just one international - against Liechtenstein - with Selva having scored the game's goal. The 30-year-old striker rates it as their proudest achievement - well, that, and the 5-0 defeat in Spain where their efforts prompted a standing ovation at the final whistle from the home support.

This evening's game will be special for Mazza and his players because it will be the first since 24-year-old student Frederico Crescentini, a 72nd-minute substitute at Lansdowne Road last November, drowned while trying to save a woman in difficulty during a holiday in Mexico.

Shocked by the loss from their midst of a genuine hero, more than 4,000 of the 30,000 population turned out for Crescentini's funeral, and this evening his team-mates will pay their respects again immediately prior to kick-off.

Afterwards, they hope, they will play with considerable pride against a team made up of vastly superior footballers. But in the end they fully accept that they are, once more, virtually certain to lose.

San Marino

Official language: Italian.

Area: 61 km² (23.5 square miles).

Population: 28,117.

Third smallest nation in Europe (after Monaco and Vatican City)

Fifth least-populous sovereign country in the world (after Vatican City, Tuvalu, Nauru and Palau).