San Marino take on Belarus today in the third matchday of the Nations League, and they will do so without spectators. The match will be played at the Illovszky Rudolf Stadion in Budapest, on neutral ground, with live coverage on San Marino Rtv starting at 5:50 pm. «It’s a shame to have to play without fans against Belarus», head coach Roberto Cevoli said on the eve of the match.
This is the third meeting between the two national teams and the second away from home, though this time far from Minsk and eight years on from their first encounter, which ended 5-0 in Belarus’s favour. The team has changed since then, Cevoli warns, now built around physical strength as its main asset, and one that should not be underestimated.
The Group C1 standings explain why this is the match of the round. Albania lead with a perfect record of six points, with Finland chasing on four, while Belarus sit on just one point, having scored none and conceded two. San Marino are bottom with zero points, following a 0-7 defeat to Finland on 26 September and a 0-3 loss to Albania on the 29th.
There is also something new in the schedule. For the first time in its history, the national team will play more than two matches in quick succession, a requirement of the new format that Cevoli nonetheless sees as a chance to gauge the squad’s progress. After Budapest, San Marino will travel to Albania on Tuesday 6 October at 8.45 pm, at the Arena Kombëtare.
The starting point remains the performance against Albania, a defeat but one built on a solid defence, with goalkeeper Edoardo Colombo producing several top-class saves. The group stage will then close with the return fixture against Belarus at the Stadium on 12 November and the away trip to Finland on the 15th.
