San Marino press officer blasts Thomas Muller after he calls WCQ match 'meaningless'

The San Marino soccer team's press officer has fired back with a scathing 10-point rebuttal of Germany striker Thomas Muller's statements about the relevance of playing minnows like their country.

Germany beat San Marino 8-0 in World Cup qualifying on Friday, and Muller wasn't shy about letting his feelings known about matches of this ilk: "Matches like the one against San Marino have nothing to do with professional football. I do not understand the meaning of games such as these, more so with such a busy schedule.

"I understand it for them, especially playing against the world champions, I also understand that we can only defend with hard work. Precisely for this reason, however, I wonder if these are not games that lead to unnecessary risks."

Former Bayern great and current chair of the European Club Association Karl-Heinz Rummenigga also weighed in in support of Muller's comments, saying “San Marino has got nothing to do with professional football.”

None of this sat well with San Marino's press officer Alan Gasperoni, who fired back in style, going to Facebook with a 10-point takedown of Muller and his arrogance on the part of Germany:

"Dearest Thomas Muller,

You're right. The games like that on a Friday night, they're nothing. To you. On the other hand, dear Thomas, you do not need to come to San Marino for almost nothing in a weekend in which, without the Bundesliga, you could have spent with your wife on the sofa of you luxury villa or, who knows, you could have taken part in some events organised by your sponsors to bank several thousand euros. I believe you, but allow me to give 10 good reasons for which I think the San Marino-Germany match was very useful and if only you could could think about it and let me know what you think:

1. It served to show you that not even against the teams as poor as ours you can't score a goal - and don't say you weren't pissed when Simoncini stopped you scoring...

2. It served to make it clear to your managers (and even at Beckenbauer and Rummenigge) that football is not owned by them but by of all those who love it, among which, like it or not, WE are included.

3. It served to remind hundreds of journalists from all over Europe that there are still guys who follow their dreams and not your rules.

4. It served to confirm that you Germans you will never change and that history has taught you that "bullying" is not always guarantee of victory.

5. It served to show the 200 guys in San Marino who play the game for whatever reason why their coaches ask them to always work their hardest. Who knows - maybe one day all their sacrifice will not be repaid with a game against the champions of the world.

6. It served to your Federation (and also to ours) to collect the money of image rights with which, in addition to paying you for your trouble, they can build pitches for the kids of your own country, schools, and make football stadiums safer... Our Federation, I'll let you in on a secret, is building a new football pitch in a remote village called Acquaviva. You could build it with six months of your salary, we'll do it with the rights of 90 minutes of game. Not bad right?

7. It served to a country as big as your pitch in Munich to go in the paper for a good reason, because a football match is always a good reason.

8. It served to your friend Gnabry to begin with, in the national team and scoring three goals.

9. It made some Sanmarinese people a little happy to remember that we have a real national team.

10. It's served to make me realise that even if you wear the most beautiful adidas kits, underneath you're always the ones that put white socks under their sandals.

With Love, your Alan."

Alan wasn't having any of the disrespect, and more power to him. While it is understandable for players like Muller not to want to play in "meaningless" qualifiers against tiny nations, the flip side of the equation is massive in terms of impact, as he so eloquently encapsulated in his critique. Good on Mr. Gasperoni.

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