Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s friendly clash between San Marino and Cyprus, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Cyprus will be aiming to avoid what would be a shock third loss in a row when they take on San Marino in an international friendly on Tuesday night.
San Marino will enter the contest off the back of a 4-0 defeat to Slovakia, while Cyprus suffered a 3-2 loss to Moldova in their last game on Saturday.
Match preview
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San Marino have incredibly only ever won one game, which proved to be a 1-0 success over Liechtenstein in a friendly back in April 2004. As a result, it is more than 20 years since they last tasted victory.
La Serenissima did manage to draw 0-0 with Saint Kitts and Nevis at the end of March, but they will enter this clash off the back of a 4-0 defeat to Slovakia last week.
Roberto Cevoli‘s side, as expected, finished bottom of their qualification group for Euro 2024, losing all 10 of their matches, scoring just three times and conceding 31.
San Marino will be back in competitive action against Liechtenstein on September 5 in the UEFA Nations Lrague, before tackling Moldova in a friendly five days later.
Tuesday’s contest will be the seventh time that San Marino and Cyprus have locked horns, with the latter winning all six of their previous encounters, including a 4-0 win in their last meeting in September 2019.
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Cyprus will enter the match off the back of a 3-2 defeat to Moldova on Saturday, which followed a 1-0 loss to Serbia at the end of March.
Temur Ketsbaia‘s side have not been victorious since a 1-0 success over Lithuania in a friendly last November, while they lost their last competitive match 3-1 to Spain.
Cyprus have never played in the finals of a major tournament, and they will also not be present at Euro 2024, having finished bottom of Group A, losing all eight of their matches and conceding 28 times in the process.
The national team’s qualification record was their worst since attempting to book their spot at Euro 1992, and they will now be looking ahead to their 2024-25 UEFA Nations League campaign.
Cyprus will take on Lithuania, Kosovo and Romania in Group 2 of League C in the UEFA Nations League, and Ketsbaia’s team will be aiming to improve on their performance in the 2022-23 competition, when they only won one of their six matches.
San Marino friendly form:
San Marino form (all competitions):
Cyprus friendly form:
Cyprus form (all competitions):
Team News
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Filippo Berardi is the only player in the San Marino squad to have scored more than once for the national side, and he should again feature in the final third of the field against Cyprus.
Nicola Nanni, who plays his club football in Italy’s third tier, has only netted once for the national team, but he is set to operate as the centre-forward on Tuesday night.
Edoardo Colombo is in line to win his fourth cap between the sticks, while there should be another spot in the XI for 36-year-old defender Dante Rossi.
As for Cyprus, head coach Ketsbaia could decide to name the same side that took to the field for the first whistle against Moldova before again making changes in the second period.
Ioannis Pittas should feature in the final third of the field, while it is also likely that there will be another start for 20-year-old Loizos Loizou, who represents Heerenveen at club level.
Alex Gogic, who turns out for Scottish outfit St Mirren, is also expected to be in the XI here, in addition to Peterborough United’s Hector Kyprianou.
San Marino possible starting lineup:
Colombo; Fabbri, Cevoli, Rossi, Tosi; A Golinucci, E Golinucci; Berardi, Contadini, Sensoli; Nanni
Cyprus possible starting lineup:
Mall; Malekkides, Gogic, Kastanos, Chrysostomou; Spoljaric, Satsias, H Kyprianou, Panagiotou; Pittas, Loizou
We say: San Marino 0-2 Cyprus
It would be a shock if Cyprus did not win this match, but they are not in the best of form, and we are therefore finding it difficult to predict a really comfortable success. That said, we are still expecting Ketsbaia’s side to have more than enough to put a victory on the board.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.