Words and photos: Barley Nimmo
The most famous name in Sammarinese footballing history is not that of a man famed for his long career of dazzling displays of footballing excellence. Instead it is a name forged by a single David and Goliath moment that shattered the heart of a giant and brought pure ecstasy to the minnows of San Marino.
17 November 1993. England travel to Bologna’s Stadio Renato Dall' Ara for the final act of a dismal World Cup qualifying campaign that sees them lying second behind USA-bound Norway. There in the Emilia-Romagnan city a little over 100 km from Serravalle, they faced a San Marino side that had only existed for three years.
England’s objective, if they were to qualify for USA 94 was simple: beat the minnows - who Norway had put 10 past without reply earlier in qualification - by seven clear goals, then hope that the Netherlands failed to beat Poland.
This was an England team scattered with stardust at club level: Ian Wright, Paul Ince, David Platt, David Seaman; but like so many other generations who donned the Three Lions they couldn't get it together on the international stage. But the idea of England failing to qualify for a World Cup was, to many, unthinkable, and so as San Marino kicked off the task at hand seemed unlikely but not impossible.
Expecting to be camped in their own half for most, if not all the 90 minutes ahead, the Titani took the opportunity to attack straight from kick off. A couple of neat, quick passes that connected well and cut through the first two lines of England’s team, but appeared to break down when an overhit through ball was reached first by England’s skipper Stuart Pierce at left-back. However, England's number 3 made a limp attempt at guiding it safely back, as intended, to David Seaman, leaving it invitingly for the alert Davide Gualtieri to nip in front of the two English stalwarts and slide the ball under the onrushing keeper.
With 8.33 seconds on the clock, it was unbelievably San Marino 1-0 England.
Scenes of Sammarinese jubilation contrasted with the disconsolate, disbelieving faces of the England players who looked like they felt the full weight of a nation’s unfulfilled purpose. For Gualtieri, then one of the youngest players in the squad, it was his first goal for his beautiful, tiny nation and it had arrived on the biggest of stages.
Now, England had the steepest of hills to climb and despite coming back and winning the game 7-1 they were out and their reputations lay at the mercy of the notoriously unforgiving English press. The fact that the Netherlands won against the Poles mattered little and to this day Gualtieri is still seen as the man who stopped England qualifying for a World Cup. Davide had slayed Goliath. The media called it the ‘End of The World’ and for manager Graham Taylor it was as he resigned his post seven days later.
For his part, while Gualtieri continued to turn out for his nation until 2000 when he was forced to retire due to injuries, the goal that night in Bologna proved to be his only for his country. But for Davide, if there was to be one Sammarinese footballing moment to call your own, it would be that, “it was beautiful because it was a goal against England, and I still remember it today as one of the best days of my life”.
Gualtieri’s goal was the fastest scored in a World Cup game, qualifier or finals, a record it would hold until 2016, when it was beaten by Belgium's Christian Benteke, who opened the scoring against Gibraltar 0.2 seconds quicker. Still, for a player like Gualtieri to score that goal against England and hold that record for over 23 years is the stuff of legend.
Davide’s not the only one who remembers it either. His moment in the spotlight gave him a cult status with football fans from all over the world, who even now three decades on reach out to get his autograph on replica shirts and photos. “Occasionally some English fans send me postcards to sign and send back. I don’t speak much English but we always laugh and understand each other”, he explains.
Now in his 50s Gualtieri owns an electronics shop and has done so for the last 24 years. Proudly on display in the store is the shirt he swapped with Stuart Pearce on that fateful night in Bologna. For Davide and all involved in San Marino it remains one of their proudest nights. “To represent San Marino was a great fortune and honour. We are a small country but known worldwide”.
Read about San Marino's other exploits in Glory Issue 11, available to buy here.
