If there is no history, what is the fun in sports! A major is a lifetime frame for any team. San Marino, who are at the bottom of the FIFA rankings at number 210, wrote history last night.
San Marino's 34-year wait ended last night at the Rainpark Stadium. The team got the first victory in the foreign field in 101 attempts. In the group-1 match of League 'D' of the Nations League, Liechtenstein was defeated 3-1 by the team ranked 210 in FIFA ranking. Lichtenstein took the lead in the 40th minute with defensive midfielder Aaron Sale's goal. Trailing 1-0 in the first half, San Marino chose to surprise in the second half. San Marino equalized in the 46th minute with Lorenzo Lazzari's goal. Nicolas Nanni and Alessandro Golinucci scored two goals for San Marino in the 66th and 70th minutes.
With this historic victory, San Marino moved up from Group D to Group C of the Nations League.
Portugal, ranked number 210 in the FIFA rankings, did not win on a history-making night. Cristiano Ronaldo was rested in the match after scoring an eye-catching bicycle kick. Ronaldo-less Portugal drew 1-1 against Croatia last night. Portugal took the lead in the 33rd minute by Joao Felix. It took a while for Croatia to get back on track. Croatian defender Josko Guardiol scored the equalizing goal in the 65th minute. After the 1-1 goal, Portugal has retained the top spot in the points list of Group-1 of League 'A'. 4 wins and 2 draws in 6 matches, 14 points for the Portuguese. Croatia is second with 8 points. Croats also played 6 matches.
Liechtenstein, however, are San Marino's favorite opponents. San Marino have won three of their three against Liechtenstein. In 2004, San Marino got their first win by beating Liechtenstein 1-0 in a friendly match. Then in September of this year, San Marino got their second win against the same opponent. So far the team has lost 198 matches against 3 wins in 211 matches. The team at the bottom of the FIFA ranking has drawn 10 matches.
