Can't wait, it couldn't be slower in the office atm. Would be cool if Bojan has to politic with the ref and he shows off some Italian-style mannerisms he's picked up.
Incredible wasted chance by Bojan. All alone vs the keeper, waited to get it on his right foot rather than just thump it in with the left.
They put on a great footballing display today to represent Catlunya well, just couldn't buy a goal. Roberto and Cuenca in particular looked great in the 2nd half. Bojan looked sharp and was dangerous, created a lot of chances but couldn't put any of them away.
On Thursday Vicente Temprado, president of the Madrid Football Federation (FFM) confirmed to Radio Marca that a match between the national teams of Madrid and Catalunya will take place sometime during the second week of June 2013. (Keep in mind that La Liga ends on Saturday June 1st while the Spain national team will be involved in the FIFA Confederations Cup beginning two weeks later on Saturday June 15.) Temprado said the the contest will be part of the Centenary celebrations of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). The match will take place in Madrid with the venue being either the Vicente Calderón or the Bernabéu. The Madrid team will possibly be coached by either Luis Aragonés or Vicente del Bosque, and Madrileños who could feature in the team include Raúl, Fernando Torres and David de Gea. A few other Madrileños I'm aware of: Javier Arizmendi (recently moved from Getafe to Mallorca) Carlos Cuéllar (recently moved from Aston Villa to Sunderland) Álvaro Domínguez (recently moved from Atletico Madrid to Borussia Moenchengladbach) Koke (Atletico Madrid) Álvaro Negredo (Sevilla) MARCA: http://www.marca.com/2012/08/01/futbol/1343821721.html SPORT: http://www.sport.es/es/noticias/futbol/catalunya-madrid-disputaran-amistoso-2013-2177457 This should bring about a interesting type of 'morbo'.
Bumping this since all the Catalan separatism stuff has gotten me thinking about how breaking the current Spain team into distinct Spain and Catalunya teams would play out. I'm having trouble coming up current with Catalan forwards. Are Tello, Bojan, and Cuenca the only ones in top leagues?
Also Gerard Deulofeu, Álvaro (Getafe), Jonathan Soriano (Red Bull Salzburg), Raúl Tamudo (Pachuca), Crusat (Wigan), Corominas (Elche). They are the ones I can remember at least.
Tamudo lel, Crusat lel, Corominas lel. I think they're better off playing Cesc in that false 9 role heh.
Catalonia would beat most teams in the world with a lineup something like this: ----------Valdés------------- Montoya-Puyol-Piqué-Alba --------Busquets------------- ----Xavi--------Iniesta------ Cuenca----Cesc----Tello---- Bench/reserves: Codina ,Casilla, Fontàs, Bartra, Vilà, Verdú, Sergi Roberto, Bojan, Sergio García, Deulofeu and Álvaro. Starting lineup really strong, bench maybe not so strong but with potential.
Iniesta isn't Catalan though. But I guess you could swap Thiago for him since Thiago's a naturalized Spaniard based on his time spent in Catalunya. And thanks for the forwards help. No Romeu on the bench though for midfield?
Actually, I think Catalonia's "NT" is weaker than one would suppose nowadays because - exactly - Iniesta isn't a Catalan, Puyi is injured a lot, and the attacking line-up isn't "Barca level" especially when depth is concerned. Many promising young ones though, and obv for a small area pretty nice.
Oh you are right, my bad. Iniesta just feels so Catalan somehow. And I forgot about Romeu, he should be there as well. Maybe a midfield with Busquets, Xavi and Cesc. Bojan or Alvaro taking his place as a forward. But it's true that there are very few Catalan forwards, wingers there are some but no really good player to play that '9' role. No really promising one either, our best forwards/strikers in the youth teams are all non-Catalans. I don't know about Thiago, I think both his parents are Brazilian but he pretty much grew up in Barcelona. He is born in Italy though.
He did afterall get naturalized in Barcelona..err Catalunya lol. He's very much Catalan Valdes Montoya, Pique, Puyol, Alba Xavi, Busquets, Thiago Cuenca, Cesc, Tello Subs: Mino, Bartra, S.Gomez, Fontas, Romeu, Sergi Roberto, Deulofeu, Bojan
ValdesPuyol Pique RuizMontoya Xavi Busquets AlbaCesc VerduBojan Bench: Codina, Bartra, Fontas, Vila, Romeu, Roberto, Garcia, Cuenca, Alvaro, Tello
Confirmed fixture for the holiday period: Catalunya -v- Nigeria Estadi Cornellà-El Prat (Espanyol's home ground) Wednesday 2 January 2013 kickoff: 19:00 CET (1:00pm North American eastern) The two teams met at Montjuïc in December 1998. Catalunya ran out 5-0 winners. (Guardiola played entire 90 minutes, Xavi was a second half substitute.) The new kit was presented last week. Isaac Cuenca (bottom left) shows the front of the shirt while the others are displaying the back. Nigeria will likely use this match as preparation for the African Cup of Nations where they will open their account on January 21 v Burkino Faso.
Coach Johan Cruyff has announced a 22-man squad for the friendly against Nigeria on January 2nd. GOALKEEPERS Kiko Casilla .................... RCD Espanyol Víctor Valdés ................. FC Barcelona DEFENDERS Jordi Alba ....................... FC Barcelona Jordi Amat ...................... Rayo Vallecano Marc Bartra ..................... FC Barcelona Joan Capdevila ................ RCD Espanyol Martín Montoya .............. FC Barcelona Gerard Piqué ................... FC Barcelona Carles Puyol .................... FC Barcelona Raúl Rodríguez ................ RCD Espanyol MIDFIELDERS Sergio Busquets .............. FC Barcelona Xavi Hernández .............. FC Barcelona Sergi Roberto .................. FC Barcelona Víctor Sánchez ................ RCD Espanyol Sergio Tejera .................... RCD Espanyol Joan Verdú ...................... RCD Espanyol FORWARDS Cristian Tello ................... FC Barcelona Sergio García ................... RCD Espanyol Bojan Krkic ...................... AC Milan (ITA) Francisco Medina 'Piti' ..... Rayo Vallecano Jonathan Soriano ............ Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) Álvaro Vázquez ............... Getafe CF
He's hurt. He might be coming back not long after that game, but I don't think Cruyff would risk him or the team would let him play. Romeu would be there too probably but he is hurt. Too bad for the Catalan national team because he could probably play false 9 since the forward line seems to be the only weak part of that team.
Kickoff about to start. If you're in the U.S. the match is on beinSport. Catalunya starting XI... (positioning unconfirmed) CasillaBartra - Piqué - Puyol - CapdevilaXavi - Verdú - Víctor Sánchez - Sergio GonzálezSergio Garcia - Bojan Victor Valdes has had to withdraw due to an inflammatory left heel.
who is this sergio gonzalez? he's not listed in the squad list above, he's wearing the captains arm band, and he just scored a penalty - 1-0 to catalnya
I believe the game is also being treated as a sort of testimonial for him. Former Espanyol and Deportivo midfielder who is currently without a club. I assume he is/has retired.