San Marino coach Giampaolo Mazza stands down after winning just one point in 15 yearsBut after finishing with an 8-0 home defeat by the Ukraine, he's still proud of the courage his team showed
Long-suffering San Marino coach Giampaolo Mazza has reportedly quit after 15 years in charge of the national side ranked joint bottom of FIFA's world rankings table.Mazza oversaw a total of 85 matches, collecting just one win - beating Liechtenstein 1-0 in 2004 - while losing 75 of 76 qualification games: a draw with Latvia in 2001 the only time they avoided competitive defeat, a game since described by Mazza as "epic but illusory."Mazza bowed out with an 8-0 home defeat by Ukraine on Tuesday, having been Europe's longest-serving national team coach and he remains proud.
"The regret is that we never won an official game, but I am proud that we never used a naturalised player," said Mazza, speaking to Italian media group Mediaset.
"The team has improved in recent years and also we play with courage."
The 57-year-old Genoa-native took charge of La Serenissima in January 1998 and has since led the microstate, with a population of just 32,000, through the qualification rounds of eight World Cup's or European Championships. On each occasion they finished bottom of their group.
During his 15-year tenure, San Marino only found the back of their opponents net on 15 occasions and scored more than one goal on only one occasion - during a 2-2 draw with Liechtenstein in 2003.
Their heaviest defeat was 13-0 at home to Germany, one of three occasions when they had the misfortune of being on the wrong end of a double-figure scoreline.
Their most recent qualification campaign saw them concede 54 goals in 10 matches, including a 13-0 aggregate defeat to England, although they did score in the 5-1 defeat by Poland, defender Alessandro Della Valle doing the honours.
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