Sport in San Marino 624890 215241736 2008-05-27T10:16:06Z Sjmbarclay 2571479 /* International Football */ == Football == [[San Marino]], along with [[Italy]], enjoys [[football (soccer)]] as its most popular sport. === Domestic Football === The [[Campionato Sammarinese di Calcio|San Marino Championship]], founded under the auspices of the FSGC ([[San Marino Football Federation]]), is the premier footballing competition in San Marino. The fifteen teams that take part in the competition are split into two groups of eight and seven teams. The top three from each section at the end of the regular season progress into a semi-knockout style Championship Playoff. Prior to 2007, the playoff champion earned a spot in the preliminary rounds of the [[UEFA Cup]]. In 2007, [[UEFA]] granted San Marino a spot in the 1st Qualifying Round of the [[UEFA Champions League|Champions League]]. 2007 league champions [[S.S. Murata]] was the first team to represent San Marino in the Champions League when they participated in the [[UEFA Champions League 2007-08|2007-08 competition]], losing to Finland's [[Tampere]] team. San Marino also has a representative in the Italian system, with [[San Marino Calcio]] playing in the third tier of Italian football, [[Serie C2|Serie C2/B]]. San Marino play their home matches in the Sanmarinese at the [[Stadio Olimpico (Serravalle)|Stadio Olimpico]] of [[Serravalle, San Marino|Serravalle]]. === International Football === The [[San Marino national football team|San Marino national team]] played its first unofficial international match in [[1986]], in which it suffered a 0-1 defeat to the Canadian [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] team. Its first competitive outing was on [[November 14]], [[1990]], a 0-4 loss against [[Switzerland national football team|Switzerland]] in the [[European Football Championship|European Championship]] qualifier. These defeats set the tone for most of the following outings of the team, who are regarded as whipping boys in the qualifying sections of the European Championship and the [[Football World Cup|World Cup]]. They had a brief moment of glory when they faced [[England national football team|England]] in a World Cup qualifier on [[November 17]], [[1993]] and took the lead through [[Davide Gualtieri]] after just 8.3 seconds - still the fastest goal in World Cup competition [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3952361]. Despite this goal, only San Marino's third at international level, the microstate went on to lose 7-1. Until recently, San Marino's international record was one of almost total failure, with famous draws against [[Turkey national football team|Turkey]] and [[Latvia national football team|Latvia]] being the only partial successes in an international career that contains over 70 defeats. However, on the [[29 April]] [[2004]], San Marino recorded their first ever win, with a 1-0 victory over Liechtenstein in an international friendly. [[Andy Selva]] scored the only goal in a close game that finally gave this tiny republic a footballing victory. On September 6, 2006, San Marino suffered their biggest ever defeat, losing 13-0 to world giants [[Germany national football team|Germany]] in the Stadio Olimpico. It was also the largest goal margin defeat in European Championship Qualifying history. In the same competition on February 7th 2007, they came within 8 seconds of the best result in their history. They were level at 1-1 with the [[Republic_of_Ireland_national_soccer_team| Republic of Ireland]] after 94 minutes when [[Stephen Ireland]] scored within 8 seconds of the final whistle. The goal scored by San Marino was their European Qualifying first goal since losing 4-1 to [[Austria_national_football_team|Austria]] in 1998. As of May 2008, San Marino is 200th in the FIFA world rankings - jointly last with seven other teams. ==Formula One== One of the [[Formula One]] races, the [[San Marino Grand Prix]], is named after the state, although it does not actually take place there. It takes place at the [[Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari]] in the Italian town of [[Imola]], about 100 km northwest of San Marino, along the [[Via Emilia]]. The race was etched in infamy after two fatal accidents occurred at the [[1994 San Marino Grand Prix|1994 Grand Prix]], when [[Ayrton Senna]] and [[Roland Ratzenberger]] were [[killed]]. The race was removed from the calendar for [[2007 Formula One season|2007]]. ==Baseball== San Marino has a rather successful professional [[baseball]] team, [[San Marino (baseball team)|T & A San Marino]], which play in the top division of Italian professional baseball, the [[Serie A1 (baseball)|Serie A1]]. It has participated in the [[European Cup (baseball)|European Cup tournament]] for the top European professional baseball teams several times, hosting the event in 1996, 2000 and 2004, and scheduled to host in 2007. It won the championship in [[2006 in baseball|2006]]. ==Rugby Union== The [[San Marino national rugby union team|San Marino]] team represents the nation at rugby, and the "Rugby Club San Marino" also plays in the Italian leagues.[http://www.rugbyclubsanmarino.com/default.asp?id=1899] ==See also== *[[San Marino Basketball Federation]] *[[Federazione Sammarinese Pallavolo]] == External links == *[http://www.fsgc.sm San Marino Football Federation] (in Italian) *[http://www.fsp.sm San Marino Basketball Federation] (in Italian) {{Sport in Europe}} [[Category:Sport in San Marino]]