Who is the Argentine Who Ended Up as Captain in San Marino’s Historic Victory?

There is always an Argentine, no matter the context or the place . Not even if the match is between the lowest ranked team in the FIFA ranking and the one that is only 11 places above. Yes, in San Marino’s historic victory against Liechtenstein , the second in its history (the previous one was a friendly against that same rival in April 2004) and the first in an official way, Dante Rossi , who was born 37 years ago in Guerrico (PBA) and even had the luxury of finishing as captain, had an outstanding participation.

His story is as unique as it is impressive: how does a person who lives in a town of less than a thousand inhabitants in the Pergamino Party and who was a well-known central defender in the Casildense League playing for San Marino end up? The link is family: his great-grandfather was from that country and, thanks to carrying his mother’s surname and a change in the law, he was able to obtain citizenship and moved in mid-December 2019.

Who is the Argentine Who Ended Up as Captain in San Marino’s Historic Victory?

Thus, with the dream of playing for the national team for which he had been sending videos for 10 years, he left behind his steps through the Newell’s youth teams (he was a teammate of Mauro Formica), the Griffa Academy, Atlético Pujato (yes, the town where Scaloni was born) and Centenario de San José de la Esquina and went to try his luck at Pennarossa in the San Marino league. It didn’t take long for the call-up to arrive: a standout for his club, in September 2020 he made his debut in a 1-0 defeat against Gibraltar on the first date of the National League.

He did so well in that first experience that days after that debut he moved to Chiesanuova , from the Italian second division. His raid, in similar clubs and from the same country, went through Chions (Serie D), Cattolica, Foligno Calcio (Serie D) and Tropical Coriano, where he currently plays. “I consider myself lucky because I always lived off football. I am not and will not be a millionaire, but I am grateful to life because I only dedicate myself to doing what I love, which is playing football ,” he told La Capital four years ago.

San Marino ‘s national team may not be the elite, but it has opened unforgettable doors: for example, on March 25, 2021, it played against England at Wembley in the World Cup Qualifiers (a 5-0 defeat). Like its national team, it had not won until Thursday: in 34 games, it had 29 defeats, four draws and the aforementioned historic victory, which was celebrated until the early hours in the country located in northern Italy and one of the oldest republics in the world.

A historic day.

“We feel the affection of the Argentine Twitter users, we are a team that people like. I send them many greetings. To achieve such a historic victory, in an official match. We had to suffer a little, but we made history, which is what remains. This is the starting point, our two rivals are a bit better, but with our weapons we can catch up to them,” said Rossi, speaking to Espn. In the match he had 10 clearances, two blocked shots, one interception, four tackles and 9/11 wins.

San Marino will now have a free date, given that there are three teams in Group 1 of League D of the Nations League (Gibraltar and Liechtenstein will face each other on Sunday). Even though there are two games against each rival, the chances of a possible and heroic promotion to League C increased with this victory.