Surely being on the bench means he is ready for the first team since he's...in the first team.
If he wasn't ready for the first team he'd still be in the reserves/u21s.
And when San Marino get knocked out what do they do then?
Friendlies against larger nations? If they still want the money spinning games against the big boys.
The larger nations will be playing the qualifiers.
So they'd be left with no-one to play.
It's better that they play the big boys in qualifiers then play other minnows in friendlies.
Arsenal do it to get into the Champions League qualifying group every summer.
No they play qualifiers to get into the group stage of the main tournament.
That's what San Marino are doing now.