Size matters in soccer and Germany's record 13-0 victory means San Marino are probably the worst international team ever to visit Lansdowne Road.
The Germans scored for fun in San Marino's Olympic Stadium last September, though Michael Ballack has insisted that the 2006 World Cup hosts took San Marino seriously.
"All the talk before the game was about the size of the German victory," said the Chelsea midfielder.
"We just focused on winning, not scoring 10, 13 or however many goals. You can't do that. I cannot tell Ireland how they should approach the match, but I was very happy with 13-0, the team played a very concentrated match which is what we set out to do and this was reflected in the large victory."
Germany's game plan was simple. "You can be more attacking against an opponent like San Marino," said the Germany captain. "Our aim was to stabilise our game and our first priority was to be successful. However many goals we scored was irrelevant."
Lukas Podolski, struggling for his best form with Bayern Munich but a consistent goalscorer for the national team, said Germany could show no sympathy for the Marino minnows.
"After all the emotion of the World Cup it could have been hard to play against a team like San Marino," said Podolski who scored four of the 13.
"But we want to qualify and to qualify we have to beat teams like San Marino. We set out to win and score goals and that's what we did."
Even Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann wanted to get on the scoresheet. Germany were awarded a penalty in stoppage time and Lehmann ran the length of the field to take it.
"As I went forward, there were cries of 'fair play' from the San Marino players," said Lehmann. "So although my team-mates wanted me to score, I decided it was best if I didn't, not wanting to further dishearten San Marino."
Bernd Schneider assumed penalty duties with more than a touch of traditional German confidence at spot-kicks. Schneider even signalled where he would put the ball, but Aldo Simincini still failed to save. There was further disappointment for the San Marino goalkeeper after the final whistle - apart from conceding a European Championship record 13 goals. Simincini wanted to exchange shirts with four-goal Podolski, but the German striker had to explain he had already promised his jersey to another player.
San Marino's only win in 14 years since they entered competitive football was a 1-0 friendly win over Liechtenstein in 2004, Andy Selva the scorer - his six goals make him his country's all-time leading goalscorer. They might be winless in competitive football, but San Marino hold the record for the fastest ever World Cup goal when Davide Galtieri scored after eight seconds against England in 1993.
