Faroe Islands flipped a deficit in Serravalle, winning 2-1 and extending San Marino’s long search for a home victory. Eyðun Klakstein’s 3-4-3 took a while to settle, but once it did the visitors found the calm that Roberto Cevoli’s 4-3-3 could not sustain.
San Marino actually dictated the tone early. Nicola Giacopetti put them ahead in the 22nd minute, finishing the best move in open play after Lorenzo Lazzari and Nicola Nanni had pinned the Faroese wing backs narrow. For a side that rarely enjoys an advantage on the scoreboard, that moment mattered, and the intensity edged into rashness when Nanni collected a yellow card in the 30th minute.
Faroe Islands wanted clearer passing lanes, and Sonni Chukwudi plus Jóannes Danielsen were pushed higher to stretch the home back four. The response arrived right before the interval: Jóannes Andreasen scored in the 45th minute, a gut punch that was compounded seconds earlier by Lorenzo Capicchioni’s booking which left Cevoli shouting for calm.
Cevoli reacted instantly, sending on Filippo Berardi in the 46th minute and then launching a full triple shift on the hour with Giacomo Benvenuti, Mattia Mularoni, and Giulio Capicchioni replacing three starters including the goalscorer Giacopetti. Those changes fractured the home shape just as Klakstein added Heini Vatnsdal and Jóannes Benjaminsen to freshen the Faroese legs. Four minutes later Adrian Frederiksberg found the winner in the 64th minute, capitalising on the space that opened between San Marino’s new lines.
From there the cards racked up: Benvenuti was booked in the 66th minute, Géza Dávid Turi in the 68th, and the hosts kept chasing. Cevoli added three more substitutes in the 71st minute, even turning to Benedikt Riggioni and Federico Salicioni in the 80th minute as he emptied the bench, but the rhythm never returned. Berardi summed up the frustration with a yellow card in the 87th minute after another attack broke down.
Klakstein preserved control with an 80th-minute triple change of his own, introducing Paetur Klettskard, Patrik Johannesen, and Ári Dam for Paetur Knudsen, Hákan Sørensen, and Mads Agnarsson to see out the contest. Andreasen and Frederiksberg already had the job done, their composure punishing a San Marino side that again lacked the conditioning to defend a lead deep into a match.
Statistics
- Official friendly match figures were not released.
Faroe Islands leave Serravalle with the kind of confidence boost Klakstein wants before the summer qualifiers, reinforcing the idea that Andreasen and Frederiksberg are fixtures in his preferred front line. San Marino must regroup quickly before their next friendly window in April: Cevoli needs to decide whether Giacopetti can be the central reference or if rotation, like the one seen on the hour, is undermining rare spells of momentum.
