Catalonia national football team

Infobox National football team
Name = Catalonia
Badge =|75px
FIFA Trigramme =
Elo Rank =
Nickname = "La Selecció"
Association = Federació Catalana de Futbol
Confederation = None
Coach = Pere Gratacós (2006–)
Captain = vacant
Most caps = Roger García (12)
Top scorer = Mariano Martín (6)

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pattern_la2=_yellowshoulders|pattern_b2=_thinyellowsides|pattern_ra2=_yellowshoulders
leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=FFFFFF

First game = flagicon|France France 7 - 0 Catalonia flagicon|Catalonia (Paris, France; February 21 1912)
Largest win = flagicon|Catalonia Catalonia 5 - 0 Lithuania flagicon|Lithuania (Barcelona, Spain; 22 December 2000) flagicon|Catalonia Catalonia 5 - 0 Nigeria flagicon|Nigeria (Barcelona, Spain; 22 December 1998)
Largest loss = flagicon|France France 7 - 0 Catalonia flagicon|Catalonia (Paris, France; February 21 1912)| Regional name =
Regional cup apps =
Regional cup first = -
Regional cup best = -

Catalonia national football team is the official football team of Catalonia, Spain. It is organised by the Catalonia Football Federation. The team has been referred to by various names including Selecció Catalana, Selecció de Barcelona and the Catalan XI. Catalonia is not affiliated to either FIFA or UEFA and the team does not participate in either the FIFA World Cup or the European Championship. Catalonia has tried to join UEFA, citing Scotland and Wales as similar regional sides with UEFA membership, but has always been rejected. However since 1904 the team has played nearly 200 games against various national, regional and club teams [http://www.esportcatala.com/news.sdf/news?id=85470&ref=6] . Since 1997 they play international games more regularly. Among the teams they have played are Nigeria, Brazil and Argentina. Their most recent game was a 0-1 with the Argentina national team at Camp Nou in May 2008. A match was intended to be against the United States on October 14, 2007 at Camp Nou. [cite news| url=http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_281960.html| title=U.S. MNT To Travel for October Friendlies vs. Catalonia, Switzerland | date=2007-05-25| publisher=U.S. Soccer Federation| accessdate=2007-05-27] but the Spanish Football Federation denied permission for the match to take place.

History

First Games

Catalonia national football team made their debut in 1904. Initially they played against various club teams such as Club Espanyol, Madrid FC, FC Barcelona and Irún Sporting Club. On February 2 1912 they made their international debut against France, losing 7-0 in Paris. On December 1 1912 the two teams met again in Barcelona and this time the Catalans won 1-0. In 1914 the Catalan XI played the Euskadi XI for the first time, but there is no record of the result [http://www.fcbarcelona.com/eng/noticias/noticias/n06100306.shtml] . The first recorded game between the two teams took place on January 3 1915 at San Mamés Stadium. The Catalan XI lost 6-1.

Copa Príncep d'Astúries

Between 1915 and 1926 the Catalan XI competed in an inter-regional competition. They finished as runners-up in 1915 and won the "Copa Príncep d'Astúries" for the first time in 1916, beating a Castile XI 8-5 over two games. They then retained the trophy in 1917 after beating the Castile XI 2-0. During the 1920s a team featuring Josep Samitier, Paulino Alcántara, Sagibarbá and Ricardo Zamora helped the Catalan XI win the competition in 1922, 1924 and 1926. The last competition in 1926 was a play-off between the two teams who had won the competition the most. The Catalans beat an Asturias XI 6-3 over two games.

As well as playing other regional teams from throughout Spain and Europe, the 1920s also saw the Catalan XI play several internationals. On March 13 1924 at the "Les Corts", the Catalan XI played Spain for the first time. A Spain XI team that included Josep Samitier and Ricardo Zamora, two of the best Catalan players of the era, beat a Catalan XI featuring Paulino Alcántara and Sagibarbá. Samiter scored twice as the Spain XI won 7-0. On December 13 1925 Samitier, Zamora, Alcántara and Sagibarbá were on the same team as the Catalan XI beat Czechoslovakia at the "Sarria". After conceding a penalty and going down 1-0, Sagibarbá then equalised with another penalty before Samitier clinched a 2-1 win. On July 7 1926 the Catalan XI played Czechoslovakia in Prague. Despite Samitier putting the Catalans 1-0 ahead, they eventually lost 2-1.

Catalonia vs Brazil

During the 1930s Catalonia continued playing against an array of teams. However 1934 was a particularly good year. On February 2 they played Spain and lost 2-0 at "Les Corts". However four months later they played Brazil twice. On June 17 the Catalan XI beat Brazil 2-1 at "Les Corts" and then on June 24 they held them to a 2-2 draw at the Vista Alegre in Girona. The Brazil team had been in Europe to play in the 1934 FIFA World Cup and included the legendary Leônidas in their team. The Catalan XI completed a good month when on June 29 they beat the reigning La Liga champions, Athletic Bilbao 5-1.

The Franco Era

After the Spanish Civil War, the Franco regime imposed several restrictions on Catalonia, abolishing the Generalitat de Catalunya and banning the official use of the Catalan language and the flag. However the Catalan XI continued to play regularly during this period and even played Spain twice. On October 19 1947 at the "Sarria", with a team featuring Velasco, Marià Gonzalvo, Joan Segarra and César, they beat Spain 3-1. However on August 9 1953 Spain avenged this defeat with a 6-0 win.

During this era several notable FC Barcelona players, including Ladislao Kubala, Luis Suárez, Evaristo and later, Jesus María Pereda, all guested for the Catalan XI. On January 26 1955 in a game against Bologna at "Les Corts", Kubala was also joined by another guest player, Alfredo Di Stéfano. The Catalan XI won 6-2 with two goals from Kubala and one from Di Stéfano. On September 1 1956 Di Stéfano returned to "Les Corts" with Real Madrid, recent winners of the first European Cup, and played a "Selecció de Barcelona". Real won the game 7-3.

The Catalan XI marked the end of the Franco era with a game against the USSR at the Camp Nou on June 6 1976. The team included Carles Rexach and guest players Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens. The game finished 1-1 with Neeskens scoring for the Catalan XI. Cruyff’s son, Jordi, would subsequently play regularly for the Catalan XI.

The recent democratic era

With the democracy, the Catalonia national team has regularly played international matches. They subsequently put together a string of successful results against Bulgaria, Nigeria, Yugoslavia, Lithuania and Chile. On May 5 2002 Catalonia hosted Brazil in a warm up game before the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Brazil, who went onto win the competition, beat Catalonia 3-1. In 2004 Brazil returned for a second game and this time won 5-2 in the Camp Nou, where some months later Argentina defeated Catalonia 0-3. The last matches have been against Paraguay, Costa Rica, Basque Country and Argentina.

elected Internationals

Current squad

Squad for game vs. Argentina on 24 May 2008.

elected Players

elected former coaches

* Pichi Alonso , 1995-2005

Honours

*Copa Príncep d'Astúries
** "Winners" 1916. 1917, 1922, 1924, 1926: 5
** "Runners-Up" 1915: 1

Notes

External links

* [http://www.fcf.cat Catalonia Football Federation]
* [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesc/cata-intres.html Results at rsssf.com]
* [http://www.futcat.org/html/futbol_catala/SELECCIO_CATALANA/partits.htm Detailed results at www.futcat.org/html]
* [http://www.esportcatala.com/news.sdf/news?id=85470&ref=6 List of games at www.esportcatala.com]
* [http://www.futcat.org/html/futbol_catala/COMPETICIONS_ESPANYOLES/altres_compet/princep.htm Copa Príncep d'Astúries]
* [http://www.fcbarcelona.cat/web/catala/noticies/club/temporada07-08/02/n080228103413.html Info at www.fcbarcelona.com]