‘San Marino 0-9 England’ was the scoreline on the stadium scoreboard during what looked like a logistics check the day before the country’s latest attempt to win a first competitive match.

One-thousand, two-hundred and 19 days since his last match in charge of his country, Michael O’Neill’s mission could not be any more different as he begins his second spell as an international manager.

An understrength side lost 6-1 to Germany in what was a meaningless Euro qualifier that night in November 2019, but it would be difficult for any Northern Ireland supporter to countenance anything but victory in the tiny San Marino Stadium in Serravalle.

Having been handed as kind a qualification draw as many of those fans could have wished for, Northern Ireland will kick off their bid to reach the Euro 2024 finals against a country currently bottom of Fifa’s world rankings, in 211th place.

As stark an indication as that might be as to San Marino’s level, there are more. The country with a population of 33,745, the lowest of any other Uefa member, have never won a competitive match in 166 attempts since they began playing international matches in 1990.

Their only victory in an international came in a friendly against Liechtenstein in 2004, while their solitary point in Euro qualifying came in a 0-0 draw at home to Estonia in 2014.

It was reflective of the upbeat and relaxed atmosphere that has, by all accounts, engulfed the NI camp this week that O’Neill laughed when asked if San Marino are due a win.

“I can’t think like that,” he said.

“It’s the same when you are drawn away in the cup and it’s not an easy tie, and you see teams come unstuck. That’s the nature of football but you can’t fear it.

“I’m comfortable going into the game and confident going into any game if the preparation has been good, and I have to say the preparation leading into this game has been as good as anything we’ve done.

“I think ideally you probably want a home game to open with but I never think these games are easy. We certainly don’t treat it as if it’s easy. The training has been as intense and as detailed in the last three days as it has ever been.”

That preparation, which involved intensive sessions in Belfast on Monday and Tuesday, continued with training on an impressive-looking pitch in the early evening San Marino sun on Wednesday.

The mountainous backdrop and historic architecture make for a picturesque scene in what is largely a sleepy microstate, though the general tone will no doubt become significantly more buoyant when more of the travelling green and white army make their presence felt on matchday.

Stand-in Northern Ireland captain Craig Cathcart – handed the armband in the absence of a number of senior players including Steven Davis, Jonny Evans and Stuart Dallas – talked of the “feel-good factor” being back this week after what was an unsuccessful reign under O’Neill’s successor Ian Baraclough.

Upbeat, and not lacking in volume, was certainly the tone of the songs played through the stadium sound system during the early parts of a training session that saw the warm-up led by new coach Diarmuid O’Carroll, with O’Neill observing, arms folded, in the centre of the pitch.

He and new assistant Aaron Hughes, former NI captain and current Irish FA technical director, had taken time to have separate individual chats with a few players while they had limbered up beforehand, with the conversation with Conor Bradley one that went on longer than most.

“We are trying to get a style of playing and a way of playing into a group of players, some of whom are accustomed to it, some of whom are new to it and some of whom have never worked under me either, so there is a lot to cram into two days and a night,” O’Neill said.

“I’m feeling good. It’s been enjoyable for me getting to know some of the younger players but also being able to put some demands and standards on them as well.”

‘We are not the old San Marino’

Far from the top of the list of key factors as it might be, the fact that the only journalists in attendance at the San Marino press briefing were those who had travelled to cover Northern Ireland was perhaps an indication of the public interest in their national football team.

However, those who were there heard a relatively new manager and an experienced midfielder sound a somewhat bullish note when responding to questions about their chances of finally getting that first competitive victory.

“We are motivated, have done better recently and also scored more goals. We respect Northern Ireland but we don’t want to be victims,” said manager Fabrizio Constantini, who replaced Franco Varrella in the wake of that 10-0 home defeat by England 18 months ago.

He added: “We hope it will be our first win in a competitive international. You never lose hope.”

Midfielder Alessandro Golinucci, who has 40 caps to his name, said that although the players were well aware of their reputation and ranking in world football, he believes times are changing.

“I have a positive feeling about the match,” he said. “We are very united and are ready to play a good match.

“Now we have the possibility to play well. We are not the old San Marino, we are a new San Marino and we have potential and possibilities to do more.

“We are aware that strong players in the Northern Ireland team who play for prestigious clubs are injured and we will do our best to get a good result.”

All eyes will be on that scoreboard to see if Northern Ireland make sure that good result does not materialise.

Sourced From BBC