It's not often (if ever) that a team comes away from a 4-1 defeat taking any positives from their performance.
A period of reflection follows a chastening result like that, but for a team like San Marino, defeats of that magnitude are commonplace. Often referred to as "whipping boys" of whatever World Cup or European Championship qualifier group they are in, every team sees them as a set of fixtures where they can pick up six points.
A formality for most, teams show up, win and go home, wondering was there any point in the trip in the first place. Harsh, but the reality is you would have to go back 72 international games to the last time they registered a victory in an international fixture - vs. Liechtenstein in a friendly in 2004.
However, last night saw special significance for the European minnows as they scored their first away goal in a World Cup qualifying game in 15 years.
The goal, an equalizing strike no less, was scored by Mattia Stefanelli after his side had fallen behind to an own goal.
San Marino went off https://t.co/t5SzrDqZAw
— Limbs AOTS (@Limbs_AOTS) October 11, 2016
It wasn't a bad finish either. Now, they did go on to lost 4-1 but in the grand scheme of things, that goal could offer some real encouragement for the team.
And to make things even better, here was the reaction in the studio as Norwegian football pundits watched the goal go in.
VGTV Norway's reaction when San Marino equalizes... pic.twitter.com/Rnt9ixsQWI
— VGTVsport (@VGTVsport) October 11, 2016
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