Do Barca players born in Catalunya like Puyol ever play in the non-FIFA sanctioned matches? How serious is the team taken in Catalunya? Will FIFA ever allow a Catalan team to participate in Competitions, or is that up to the Spanish government and/or FA? Any and all information on the Catalan national team would be greatly appreciated.
Re: Re: Catalan National Side Don't be so sure about that. FIFA allow Scotland, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland to have thier own teams so I see no reason to not allow a Catalunya team. And there is nothing wrong with wanting your own team or country. Catalunya breaking away from Spain is no different, imo, than Czech Republic splitting with Slovakia and Yugoslavia breaking up.
Re: Re: Re: Catalan National Side Umm, I'm no expert, but I'd say what happened in Yugoslavia is a hell of a lot different than any separatist/nationalist issues between Catalunya/Spain.
There is ample precedent for countries having multiple national teams. Not only Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales, and N. Ireland), but also Denmark (Denmark, Faroe Islands, and Greenland) currently maintain multiple teams in Europe. I believe that Hong Kong maintains their own team even though they have politically joined mainland China. Before the break up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918 Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia each had their own teams. Saar, a region in western Germany, had their own team in the 1950s.
Both the Basques and Catalonians have "national" teams and the Basques, at least, have repeatedly petitioned to be recognized as an independent football federation by FIFA. These have all been denied. With Europe coming together there is no reason why the national government should not welcome their teams to break into regional sides. It would be very interesting to watch a match between Catalonia and Sicily. Or Galicia and Bavaria.
Re: Re: Re: Catalan National Side And piss off Spain one of their biggest revenue makers?? I highly doubt it! Plus like bkn0528 said "what happened in Yugoslavia is a hell of a lot different than any separatist/nationalist issues between Catalunya/Spain". Your comparing apples to bananas try again.
Yeah, not likely than the Spanish authorities will allow the Catalans their own side anytime soon, even for something like a national soccer team. This comes after the Basque parliament last week passed a resolution that would set up a referendum for Basque citizens to vote on whether to establish an arrangement similar to what Puerto Rico has with the United States (the Basques would retain Spanish citizenship, but would have their own parliament (with internationally recognized power), citizenship laws, membership in the EU, etc.). Of course, this would probably include the soccer and other athletic teams getting representation in the international sporting community (Olympics, World Cup, etc.). Of course, the Spanish government in Madrid says no way because they say it would break apart the Spanish constitution and give some credibility to the ETA. As for the Catalans, yes, the independence drive has been going on for some time, but it's not as out there as the Basques' drive. However, one Catalan politician whose name escapes me made remarks saying he would like to see Catalonia's athletes compete with Andorra's team in the Olympics. Stay tuned.
Hey Bettendorf I went to grade school there. How are things in the QC's? Was there a soccer league on the Iowa side to rival the Moline Soccer Club. That was (and I'm sure still is) friggin' great. International tournaments for kids. Good stuff. As for the Basque vote you referred to - hadn't heard about it but I'll be surprised if it happened. Spanish gov wouldn't want it. ETA wouldn't want it either what if the people vote no?
TO answer your question, it seems that the thread went some other way, Catalunya does have a team and they play a handful of friendlies per year. Most notably, they played the brazilian National Team in preparation for the WC of 2002 at the Nou Camp. Puyol, Xavi, Valdes, and others are part of the team. If you speak or understand Catalan, you can look in their web site: http://www.futcat.org/ As for Fifa, well they have other issues to deal with first, such as their referee problem. bettendor, The goverment of Spain does not have to "allow" Catalunya to have their own "seleccion" Catalunya is "Autonoma" and can field a team. Its the Spanish Futbol federation that will not allow or recognize the team for "official" competitions.
Re: Re: Catalan National Side This is exactly why Spain WILL never win a world cup! cause some of the players don’t play for the honor of their country because frankly I don’t think they consider Spain to be their country. We choke in all international events because some of the players are day dreaming of a Catalonian team!!
RE: "This is exactly why Spain WILL never win a world cup! cause some of the players don’t play for the honor of their country because frankly I don’t think they consider Spain to be their country. We choke in all international events because some of the players are day dreaming of a Catalonian team!!" More than that... Phil Ball in his book Morbo notes "In 1994, two-thirds of the Spanish squad in the US were either Catalan or Basque." I believe that in earlier squads the ratio of "non-Spainish" to Spanish players was even higher.
Re: Re: Re: Catalan National Side Oh my God, what a joke of a post. To say idiotic is to praise it. Choking because Cataluyan players are daydreaming? Where do you get this stuff? Just going to the last WC, did you see Puyol daydreaming? This guy "sudo la camiseta" like no other. Playing his heart out, hardly dreaming of anything other than winning. Last WC it was a people from Egypt and Trinidad and Tobago that prevented Spain from going forward. While the separatist issue is there, the players have never shown that on the pitch. Its more an issue on people like you that won't support the team or make stupid comments like daydreaming. Or simply look at what Saez is doing calling Raul Bravo to the NT to face Norway, now, thats daydreaming. And Picaraza, what does the ratio of catalans and basque had to do in USA 94? Go back to the Luis Enrique elbowing incident and you find the biggest problem in the USA. Insinuating that this ratio prevents palyers from playing hard, is insane. It might prevent minuscapita from liking the team or believing in it.
Sorry I wasn't insinuating that Spain's team in 94 was due to a lack of patriotism. I was merely responding to minuscapita's post and pointing out that there are Catalans AND Basques. I intended no praise or endorsement.
I offer my apologies, I thought otherwise. The team in Korea/Japan had (off the top of my head) Asturia Rioja Catalunya Castilla Basque Valencia Galicia etc. I can't remember anyone daydreaming other than me, when I though about strangling Ghandul. These was an increadibly hard working group, that was robbed not by separatists but by inept refs. Also, minuscapita, in your first post yoou mention that your "only" problem with catalans are that they want to "break" out of Spain. This has not been the case for long time. The autonomous goverment of Catalunya does NOT want to break out.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Catalan National Side Hey newbie boy!! The truth can cause a lot of pain and emotional feelings in ones self and obviously evident in you pathetic reply!! I never said it was %100 the reason that we will never win a world cup but EVERYBODY knows that this is one of them. And just sticking your head in the toilet won’t change the truth. Grow up! Some of the best player that play for Spain are Catalans and they play hard and love and represent Spain well, but some publicly stated that they would drop Spain in a heartbeat if there was a Catalonian team!!!! That means one thing; they DO NOT SEE Spain first. These players should be thrown in the garbage can; I would rather have a bad player that wants to REALLY win a world cup playing for Spain than a superstar that is playing just because it’s available! When I was a kid I always dreamed to win a world cup FOR Spain and not just a world cup!! Spain was in my dream first. Please think before you throw insults around.
The historical precedents mentioned above are shaky. The England/Wales/Scotland/NI situation is sui generis. They have always competed as separate nations in world soccer since soccer's inception. As for Yugoslavia, that was a confederation of several different South Slav countries that was stitched together over the course of the early 20th century--then in the 1990s when the countries became politically separate, they began competing as separate nations. If Catalonia were to break away and form a separate nation (as opposed to being an autonomous region), I'm sure they would have their own national team status granted by FIFA. And while there is probably more support for the national team in Madrid than in Barcelona, you can't attribute this to the players themselves. All indications are they give their all for hte seleccion regardless of their region of origin.
um_chili, And what of Denmark (Faroe Islands, Greenland, Denmark)? And what of China (China PR, Macao, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei-- they nearly qualified for the Asian Cup next year on the mainland)? And what of Austria-Hungary prior to 1918? And what of Saar? (1953-56) 9 games. Beat Norway in a WC qualifier. There is plenty of precedent for nations supporting more than one team. This does not necessarily mean that the country is going to break apart. If China and Taiwan can find a workable compromise -- Taiwan = Chinese Taipei, then anything is possible. I agree that the Yugoslav and Soviet example are not relevant here. But, I think you'd agree that those nations were false monstrosities, and that we are all better off as fans now watching Croatia, SAM, Slovenia, Russia, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Armenia, Georgia, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, etc. etc play instead of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. It is to bad that the Soviets and Yugoslavs could not see their way to allowing multiple teams before their empires fell apart.
What of Austria-Hungary prior to 1918? Did Austria and Hungary play separately? As for the Catalan national side, one question, how good are they?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Catalan National Side Thanks for the welcome What have you said that its true? how about nothing. Other than calling me newbie boy. I am indeed male and I am new here. Following is your exact quote: This is exactly why Spain WILL never win a world cup! cause some of the players don’t play for the honor of their country because frankly I don’t think they consider Spain to be their country. We choke in all international events because some of the players are day dreaming of a Catalonian team!! I equate exactly to 100% Don't you? What does "exactly" mean to you? I think that the only person not thinking is you. I suggest that you stop contradicting yourself, it doesn't make you look really smart. And your anger, boy oh boy, it certainly makes you look like Mr. Grumpy. Cheer up. The first post here was a person asking for information regarding the catalan side. You took the completly different approach and started to kill the catalan side and gave mis-information saying that catalans have been daydreaming in the pitch and even said that Catalunya wants to separate from Spain. Pure BS. Hard to have a newbie correct your information. Sorry I had to do it.
If I may and not upset the veteran of the forum (off the top of my head) --------Victor Valdes--------- -------Tortolero-Puyol-------- Gabri-----------------Navarro -------Roger---Gerard------- Riera------------------Luis garcia --------Tamudo--Luque------- Not bad, if you ask me.
Chesco United, Yes, prior to 1918 Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia all had teams. Both Austria and Hungary began in 1902. Their first game was against one another Hungary won 5-0. They maintained separate teams until the end of Austria-Hungary. Bohemia played 7 games between 1903-1908. A Nazi puppet-state team played another in 1939. I am pretty sure that these teams were comprised entirely of German-speaking players and not Czechs, but I don't know for sure. I found no evidence of other Austro-Hungarian sides. The fascists also set up puppet sides for Croatia and Slovakia during the war. -- Also, a bit of an overstatement in an earlier post. I said that Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) almost qualified for the Asian Cup 2004 in China. Actually, they were knocked out in a preliminary qualifying round by Sri Lanka. But the point is this, they did compete and if things had gone their way might have qualified for the tournament. The Chinese communists (China PR) and Chinese nationalists (Chinese Taipei) have never played a game. Both teams have played Macao and Hong Kong. (In case you are wondering Hong Kong has won six of their seven matches with Macao. In case you were wondering...