Hodgson stopped short of the time-honoured "no easy games in football" cliche in the build-up because if there is one this is it. And for pretty much every one of these 90 minutes San Marino did their best to prove the point quite spectacularly.This place is so hospitable that if fans do not actually fancy paying for the privilege of watching an international, both ends of the stadium are open with perfect vantage points if you do not wish to part with cash. The choice is yours.Highlights for the home team were seeing one of their players actually far enough inside England territory to have the honour of being adjudged offside in the first half then the relative riches of winning a corner in the second. You could almost call them moral victories.San Marino last scored in a competitive international in October 2008 and have conceded 116 goals since that glorious day when they hit the back of Slovakia's net. They have lost 58 qualifying games in a row. Swiss referee Alain Bieri, like a boxing referee stepping between a battered old pug and his lethal opponent, even showed mercy by declining to add any time on for England to inflict further punishment. San Marino remain pointless in the group and many regard them as pointless in terms of international opposition but, as Hodgson suggested before the game, if Fifa insist they are worth their place they must be played and beaten.
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