The Best Non-Competitive Team in Football: The History and Politics of the Catalonia National Team

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The Best Non-Competitive Team in Football: The History and Politics of the Catalonia National Team
Though Catalonia is not yet an independent country, they still have a Catalonian National Football team that has seen the likes of Alfredo di Stefano, Johan Cruyff, Carles Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Pique, Busquets and so many more top football players represent it. In this video, we’ll look at the history of the Catalan national team, as well as some of the politics and notable matches from their storied history.
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[@zsac18]

Catalonia: passa la pelota Bellerin: Oi wot u say blood???

[@pluvio.2001]

😂😂😂

[@diculdicul1]

Passa la pilota* haha

[@genisribaltahawkins4020]

Tf de que coño estas hablando

[@noelmedina6925]

Genis Ribalta Hawkins Esta hablando de Hector Bellerin que juega en el Arsenal y habla muy buen inglés

[@kritikal1993]

“Oi blud, mans a vegan now”

[@HalaMadrid234]

If you get a dislike it's probably someone from the Spanish Parliament that came across your video :D

[@footballicon3798]

It’s a Madrid fan simple as that

[@vPMFreshPrince]

@@footballicon3798 Nothing to dislike its basically club vs country. Not saying the political situation isnt complex I just think there are levels a nation has to go through before making a national team. That said from a footballing perspective Adrian covered this from a pretty objective point. You'd be crazy to argue that the lineups wearing that Catalan jersey(though Not recognized) isnt the up there with the best teams.

[@rubenbcn94]

Ha hahahaha, freedom 4 Catalonia!!!!!

[@jevon39]

Has to be 😂

[@telmopiqueras6271]

Erick Morales lol. No, it’s just that this is a strategy made by indipendantist Catalonians. This is fake news, Catalonia is not a country.

[@RabonaTV]

Hey guys, oversight on my part: despite Yugoslavia breaking up in the early '90s, what was later called Serbia and Montenegro still went by Yugoslavia until 2003. Thanks to those who pointed that out!

[@fortuny911]

Thank you for making a video of the Catalan national team!!! I feel very proud of my national team. I hope one day Catalonia competes in official fifa competitions. All the best and Visca Catalunya!

[@high-lowgaming633]

Stfu ur Spanish 🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸 ESPAÑA ES LA MEJOR

[@rozfly1109]

@@high-lowgaming633 AHAHAHA You stfu you clown 🤣🤡 He's not Spanish, He's CATALAN! CATALANS ARE NOT SPANISH!

[@ilocosmetro]

Can you anything related to the *BASQUE* in the near future?

[@aiborlangphanwar7254]

Yeah would love that 😆

[@ciaranbrenn1003]

Mad

[@culeluke9953]

Can you please do Barca Vs Espanyol roots of the rivalry

[@RabonaTV]

You know what? Sure. I'll work on that this week.

[@culeluke9953]

@@RabonaTV thanks m8 much appreciated

[@pepperoni_playboy]

Rabona TV that sounds awesome

[@GuinessOriginal]

Culé Luke Espanyol are older than Barca, Barca were actually founded by a Swiss guy hence why they play in the same kit as Basle

[@GuinessOriginal]

Rabona TV di Stefano was ordered by Franco to play for real Madrid. There is no allegedly about it. Franco was a brutal dictator who used hitlers Luftwaffe and vermarcht to bomb and shell civilian populations for the first time ever in history in the Spanish civil war as Hitler used it as a practice ground for ww2

[@CoCAVIC]

I think Catalonia would do well as a proper international team, it make take a few years but there has been some brilliant talent produced from the region as has been shown and with the teams that they have in the area there will always be class.

[@noelmedina6925]

I mean it would be most of Barcelona, if they started today, even Messi would be eligible to play for their national team

[@animehbkscm]

@@noelmedina6925 Messi can't play for any other international team. If he could do you really think Spain wouldn't have snatched him up?

[@noelmedina6925]

SeranaIsBae when a new nation is recognized by FIFA, they allow players to switch nationalities for a certain time as long as they are eligible to play for that nation

[@maelillusionesta9919]

On Wikipedia it says that Iniesta has played 2 games for Catalonia and he is not even Catalonian. He was born in Albecete.

[@squeaky9715]

And Johan is from the Netherlands

[@iMadrid11]

It doesn’t even matter which country you were born. Based on today’s FIFA eligibility rules. You can choose to represent any national team, of your parents and grandparents. For naturalized players, they must be continuous resident for a minimum of 5 years. Players who played in the youth levels can switch national team affiliation, as long they are uncapped in the senior levels.

[@amirsanchez8193]

It is a matter of time: the Catalonia National Team will compete in UEFA and FIFA

[@animehbkscm]

@Amir Sanchez I don't think you understand how the world works. If Catalonia separates from Spain, which would be needed for them to have an official national team, as right now they are not a nation, Barcelona would lose most of their sponsors, which would mean less money, which in turn would drive most of their talent away. Catalonia has a good team because they are part of Spain and they compete in La Liga.

[@elhachem3625]

@@animehbkscm monaco didn't lose their french sponsors even they got separated from France as a new nation and still they are competing on french ligue 1 so how could you feel the opposite for Catalonia teams

[@leverholme9894]

@@elhachem3625 because the president of La LIga, has said they won’t compete. Not every country is the same, loads of things will go down bad if the independence happens

[@purrfekt]

@@leverholme9894 That says a lot about how France treats Monaco compared to how Spain treats Catalonia. Not a good look.

[@leverholme9894]

​@@purrfekt Not really, Spain have the right to do what they want cause La Liga is their own league, so if a autonomous community wants to become independent and be separated from the country, then Spain have the right to not allow the football clubs based in that autonomous community which is Catalonia to not participate in their league since that autonomous community has chosen to leave and become its own country. Like I said every country has different ways of approaching things, not every country is going to be like France. Some ppl in the rest of Spain love Catalonia, but this constant talk of independence from the Catalans whenever Barca is playing makes ppl from the rest of Spain that liked Catalonia turn on them.

[@lukegaulke8755]

This was a video I didn't know I needed but was super interesting. I never really knew about any of this. Thanks for the info!

[@savydowden4445]

Scary thing is that with eligibilty rules, these players can change to Catalan team if it became recognised. Obviously not all would change but: -Messi -Suarez(eligible from July 2019) -Ter Stegen(eligible from May 2019) - Rakitic(eligible from June 2019) - Keita Balde Diao -Pedro -Dani Alves -Mascherano -Vermaelaen(eligible from August 2019) -Rafinha Neymar and Thiago Alcantara were both a year away from being eligible.

[@savydowden4445]

@Tom Golden No as if a nation becomes independent, players that are now eligible can change. If a player wanted to chang eto and already established team while playing competitively for another at senior level, they can't change unless they lost citizenship to that nation or it became defunct.

[@savydowden4445]

@Tom Golden exactly.

[@Ari-zp2qi]

I still want you to do a prediction to euro 2020 qualifiers

[@julesakers3051]

Another fascinating vid. You're the best footie historian on youtube imho.

[@prabhavdixit3639]

You have a nice attitude towards your viewers man.Appreciated.

[@krusher181]

Your intro and overall pace make your vids quite easy to watch. Good shit

[@adib7787]

Catalunya basically won the world cup in 2010

[@maxwellgarner2936]

That was great! Do more videos like that! Really cool to learn about football around the world

[@jesteril7211]

Your skills to find those stuff, news papers.. matches that where played before anything close to the recordings we have now.. it’s highly appreciated what you doing. Good job Adrian!

[@kalebs.gebrekirstos8041]

Great video man!!!

[@luxair1997andTAP]

Awesome video as always! Could you maybe make a video about what a UK unified national team would look like?? 🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@kiranjola4728]

Thanks n keep up the great work👍🏼

[@enochlee3601]

I could really see you do the full history of national teams and clubs, hell it could even become it's own series.

[@bossbaby909]

great vid man keep up

[@debabratamanna1358]

If catalan players were given the chance to play for catalonia in uefa or fifa games Spain would have never won euros and world cup because at that time Spain's national team was Barcelona

[@animehbkscm]

Not all Barcelona players are Catalonian.

[@kangenomegamanx3]

You just earned a subscriber. Looking forward for more cool videos from you in the future!

[@iamsidd_j]

The world cup which Spain won in 2010 were mostly comprised of Catalunya players. I believe there were more than 80% players from Catalunya. Thus that year they might have won the world cup 🏆

[@zeyadgenena828]

Replace the other 20% with other Catalonians and you get a side that won't get past the quarter finals

[@danineira366]

Siddhant Jaiswal wasn’t even 50%

[@alexperez2720]

Catulunya is anyone who has played for Barca, girona or born there

[@amirsanchez8193]

That's right. That is the reason why many Catalans, for the first time, supported Spain in the WC, as normally there are celebrations with fireworks when Spain is eliminated from the WC.

[@Goreuncle]

More than 80%? ^^ Please, next time check your facts, it was actually around 30% Catalan players in the 2010 WC squad (23 players total): - Puyol - Piqué - Capdevila - Xavi - Fàbregas - Busquets - Valdés 7 players out of 23... that's around 30% But sure, they accounted for most of the quality in that team (the rest came from Iniesta, Villa and Casillas).

[@ashblitzhd6595]

Great video! I had no idea this was a legit team!

[@lukemurray8108]

Good video.

[@jordibordonau2463]

Huesca let 2 players play for Venezuela in 2 matches, one against Argentina and the other against... Catalonia. This is funny because Huesca was one the teams that didn't want his Catalans players to get injured.

[@tmak1129]

They need to bring back the Copa del Princep.

[@felixplatt3023]

Really interesting

[@davidpt]

Really interesting video

[@RabonaTV]

Cheers Dave!

[@davidpt]

@@RabonaTV Hey haha, os teus vídeos são ótimos, continua o bom trabalho ^-^

[@robertomaldini8923]

I'm watching from Egypt Saluting to you .. you are good

[@GP107HD]

Puig also played in the Friendly in 2019

[@goat9295]

Messi would be eligible for the Catalunya national team. He wasn’t just raised there, but also his great grandfather is a Catalan.

[@akshaychourasiya19]

Do more of this types video

[@TheNotoriousHRT]

you keep refering to the losing side as "republicans/nationalists", when the nationalists were the winners. the republicans and nationalists were the two opposite sides. i've noticed this in other videos too (specifically the derbi Barceloní video.)

[@andresesparza9484]

Thank goodness adrian is here to explain because I was confused when I saw pique playing in the catalunya team for that international friendly

[@snowyren5135]

Well done, good video, you’ve provided an excellent summary for English speakers of the challenges Catalunya or Catalonia faces - it’s interesting to note that the Uk has up to 4 representative teams of which it is very proud and whose citizens are mostly happy to represent irrespective of their chances of success on the international stage. By contrast, many Castilian speaking Spaniards, though not all, who control most things in Spain, including the central government, would see this an anathema. Just another example of why the Catalans are seeking independence.

[@rangariraishanterozvinonet9767]

I love your channel Adrian....I am in total support of an independent Catalan region...they would win the world cup countless of times and hope Messi plays for them #IndependenceForCatalanRegion

[@ejaaz7260]

What did I just read 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@rubenbcn94]

Freedom 4 Catalonia!!!!

[@iposteverythung3720]

This is my yard now.

[@aiborlangphanwar7254]

You're in the wrong video dude.

[@iposteverythung3720]

Aiborlang Phanwar BELIEVE. THAT.

[@aiborlangphanwar7254]

@@iposteverythung3720 ok!

[@etzjunior_]

First go treat your leukemia

[@iposteverythung3720]

victor xyz123_xyz456 I'm in recession y'all.

[@filipnielsen1000]

Plz do the basque-only policy in Bilbao!!!

[@ishtea]

Tifo football did one. You may want to check it out.

[@MrMillo-ng9ht]

Your background music sounds like something R. Kelly would make lol.

[@vsldrihaj]

Bridgette B, hot Catalonian adult actress

[@CHlEFFIN]

“Catalunya won the 2010 World Cup” -Johann Cruyff

[@TunaStrata]

Nah more like spain.

[@Kongorlobo]

It wasn't Cruyff who said that

[@CHlEFFIN]

@@TunaStrata Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Sergio Busquets, David Villa (FC Barcelona center forward) - there you have the heart of the defense, the 3 midfielders & the goalscorer - among those players you will find the man who scored in the quarterfinals against Paraguay, the goalscorer in the semifinals against Germany and the sole goalscorer of the final against the Netherlands - “nah”, try again bud👍🏽

[@vPMFreshPrince]

Thanks for not baiting us with short detailed videos regarding everyone and their mom being linked to madrid like some other channels. I really appreciate it cant even trust some sources nowadays. But if you do change your mind Please adress the increase In Joa Felix's price tag to fend off poachers. Ohh and Do you think the epl put too much pressure on foreign coaches asking cause what Sarri is going through is similar to what mourinho went through just minus the trophies. Regarding Saari I think he's a victim of his own success. He's known as the guy whos a fixer. He wants to be original and tries too hard to have his own identity that its hurt him in the process. Similar thing happend to mourinho when I came to the PL. The "special one" tag lines and all the expectation just eroded his soul leaving only the ego. Hope Sarri recovers

[@RabonaTV]

"REAL MADRID IN FOR DOUBLE SWOOP OF *THESE* PORTUGUESE TALENTS!!!!!"

[@vPMFreshPrince]

@@RabonaTV Havent spent (in madrid standards) any significant amounts in 3 years so its incredibly feasible. Initially thought all that money was going to stadium renovation as a benchmark for first club to build modernized setting for the next 100 years. #Back2BckClubOfTheCenturyThings Buuut all that went out when I saw mbappes tag

[@ishtiaqhasan7137]

Do a video on how Real and Franco stole Di Stephanie

[@etzjunior_]

Arab money

[@angeldn10]

victor xyz123_xyz456 he wasn’t talking about man city

[@animehbkscm]

And then he can make another about how Franco saved Barcelona from bankruptcy. Once again for the retards that know shit all about Franco, he was an AVID Atletico de Madrid fan.

[@mishagelenava2962]

Comment about Yugoslavia. It was not the same as the former country, but until 2003 the country was still called Yugoslavia. It was renamed as Serbia and Montenegro in 2003 and split up in 2006. So, that 1999 match against Yugoslavia as not against some kind of come together Yugoslavian team including Croats, Slovenians and other.

[@GG-ec4lu]

Great team may be , but they are still spanish

[@Agile19]

They're Catatonian not Spanish Catalonian

[@Valencia79ny]

@@Agile19 Catalonia is in Spain... they're Spanish

[@johnniebunzl3009]

Can you do the rise of Juventus, Pirlos and Contes juve

[@notgivingmyrealname1013]

Psg vs marseille. Root of the rivalry

[@moshiadnfusionfallfa]

I thought it was going to be some Harlem Globetrotters equivalent.

[@dipesh5009]

Euro 2020 prediction 🙏

[@ogipavlovic5830]

Yugoslavia excited up until 2002. They played in euro 2000 as Yugoslavia. Do some research rebona before you sound ignorant

[@RabonaTV]

Pretty funny to say someone sounds ignorant and tell them to do research, and then spell their channel name completely wrong when it's right there in front of you. The easiest research of all! 😅 But seriously, thanks for pointing that out. I didn't realize that Serbia and Montenegro still went by "Yugoslavia" up until 2003 (not 2002 as you said). And thanks for the tip on doing research - the entirety of this video just came to me in a dream and didn't require any research at all. Unfortunately, it left out that Yugoslavia was the name that Serbia and Montenegro went by, and not the entirety of Yugoslavia.

[@Leoz10]

They would have won 2010 wc

[@nohi2725]

Some one please tell me the name of the outro song!

[@RabonaTV]

Text Me Records - Water Please

[@rozfly1109]

Catalonia basically won the world cup in 2010

[@MuunNii]

Might do very well as a national team (and why bother, let them!), but catalunya would totally go under as a independent nation...

[@kingofmanchester7748]

Please do manchester united vs manchester city the manchester derbu roots of the rivalary

[@Masternaldo]

So this is how Real Madrid won so many UCL's and other cups

[@deancawley806]

15/10 years image the team they would have at least 6/7 world cup winners

[@miguelpincay]

Pique only said he supports the people's right to vote for what they want. He has not once, publicly, favored independence. There might be reasons to think he would support independence, but that's a different story.

[@TechEvolution781]

Better than Argentine midfield

[@manasgoel9547]

They will be one of the best team in the world

[@ani4226]

👏👏👏

[@raggierluson9982]

Waiting for Messi’s guest apperance...

[@zalduna]

Basque national team

[@ivanlabra1322]

Cataluña, basically won the 2010 world cup.

[@deftone4656]

You’re an idiot

[@ObxCalderon]

Deft One 7 out of 11 of the player on the Spanish team were Catalan.

[@Fisch.]

You skipped Catalonia vs Tunisia

[@tanmayarora46]

*Trying my level best to not to go Political here* Arggghh xD

[@richposports7030]

Q: Which denotes the Republic n nationalist team?

[@ismarbegovic2763]

Same situation with Serbia and Kosovo.

[@nope2morrow145]

new team Win's LA liga league next season Barcelona 2nd

[@genisribaltahawkins4020]

You know it’s red and yellow not yellow and orange, well and visca catalunya

[@sametozkan9175]

Hopefully Messi would play there.

[@ilocosmetro]

*Is* *ThE* *iNtErNaTiOnAl* *BrEaK* *oVeR* *yEt* *?*

[@hussainabbas1475]

Still no

[@mad-franks6581]

we would win every game

[@francpujolar2481]

Yellow and orange???

[@miguelpincay]

The info is readily available online. Maybe looking into it would be great before trying to sound factual about anything: elpais.com/deportes/2017/08/06/actualidad/1502042406_757005.html

[@hassancheikh1626]

Di Stefano was stolen form us Franco took him that how Real Madrid were successful never won a Laliga in 24 years until franco came! outstanding history 🙄

[@RabonaTV]

So I've heard! I touched on it in my video on El Clasico. I think it deserves a video of its own.

[@hassancheikh1626]

Rabona TV yeah I deserve one to show how barcelona got fucked over by a cunt named Franco

[@rswpt]

@@RabonaTV Alguma possibilidade de fazeres um video sobre a Equipa nacional francesa? (Seleção francesa) em que praticamente todos os jogadores que compõe o 11 inicial são jogadores naturalizados, ou descendentes de imigrantes? / Hello, any chance of doing a video about the France national team, world cup holders, where hardly any of the 1st eleven are really french or even born in french soil but descendent of imigrants or imigrants who were given french citizenship? a recent study reveals that in the France national team are not 3 or 4 but 12 different nations represented where it goes to the point that there arent any 'french' players in the 1st eleven being the team composed mainly of ex-french colonies natives and how unfair that is to countries who use native players

[@1997lordofdoom]

If you think Franco was helping Madrid then you know nothing about history, Barcelona won more trophies than Madrid during his era. How can you be this clueless?

[@hassancheikh1626]

1997lordofdoom yeah just stole one if our players told our players if u beat Real Madrid we will kill u in be copa del rey helped them win 5 ucl in a row he clearly didn’t help them

[@hussainabbas1475]

It's really only barca players

[@RabonaTV]

Which makes sense, since it's the hub of Catalonia. 🙂

[@hussainabbas1475]

@@RabonaTV even the world cup 2010 side had a lot of catalonian player , puyol, pique,xavi and iniesta won it for them

[@user-ui7ph7vo9e]

@@RabonaTV and girona

[@williamohman5469]

@@hussainabbas1475 Pretty sure Iniesta isn't Catalan

[@indrajithm280]

@@williamohman5469 but Iniesta did represent Catalonia while playing for barca

[@mjdouglas9665]

My question is why dint messi just play for spain and he would have a world cup and 2 euros under his name

[@DaRoyalSaif]

Michael-John Douglas he could have played for Italy because his grandmother is Italian I think 🤔

[@mjdouglas9665]

@@DaRoyalSaif i dont know but he could habe played for spain as his great grandfather was born there and was catalan.. He also qualified due to residence so yeah maybe he is just to loyal

[@mjdouglas9665]

@@Carlos_Alcaraz true but he could have build there legacy with them and not get crucified by his own people.. Ay least the spanish populace would appreciate him and not treat him like a piece of shit

[@luizmatte4345]

@@mjdouglas9665 That's not true tho. Argentinians don't treat him like shit, they do love Maradona more for the most part. I don't even know why people keep spreading this blatant lie, and I say this as a brazilian.

[@mjdouglas9665]

@@luizmatte4345 ahh yes and now you lie.. If you said not all argentinians sure.. But and entire stadium once booed him of the field in argentina and no im not talking about what happened at the elithad. And then there are large crowds that blatantly and clearly shows hate towards him and if it isnt enough they fill the stadiums with posters producing hate towards him.

[@tigercap100]

Nationalism will save the world

[@baryonyx9642]

Viva Catalunya!!

[@vPMFreshPrince]

Spain has many regions with different cultures and languages. Some in Catalonia are basically stuck up and think theyre better than every other culture. Similar to Texas and the US or Quebec and Canada these Catalonians want separatism. Catalionian Separatists are criticised for downplaying its benefits received from Spain in form of lax taxing and redirection of resources far beyond the norm other regions in spain see. Some may argue that Catalonia has enjoyed this grace due to their ties to not only Barca FC but the famous Tourism centered experience this Spanish territory uses to generate a sizable amount in revenue. It goes far beyond football and unfortunately Barca is being used as emotional leverage for this pompous side to gather outside support. Its Extortionist practice in my opinion is shameful especially when considering how often they have back stabbed the capital through downplaying their involvement with franco and use of aminities borderline favoritism granted by spain in efforts to be diplomatic (Work rights taxing etc). Spain has often times bailed them out in rough times solving problems ranging from unemployment to energy allocation. This is simply a side which refuse to accept the loss of a civil war. Nothing against conservatives but it seems that Spain has been too diplomatic leading to tensions that should not even exist today. The liberal approach over the past years has eroded many if not all of the major agreements resulting from the Civil War. They have taken inch by inch weakening any serious terms negotiated after the war. It didnt help that some of them were harsh. i.e Not being able to speak in the Catalan native tongue. This isnt the case today as amendments have reimpowered this region and Barcelonas success has brought many benefits to the region. That said the significance of the loss of lives from that war is questionable today as they seem to keep pushing a separatist agenda every chance they get. In short, Franco was a dictator who did what dictators did spread their influence without regard for consequences faced by future generations. Catalonia did benefit from him when he saw fit because dictator ( so did everyone else but he had favorites and great biases). Spain (Madrid) as a nation feels guilt and has made amendments to appease sometimes to the detriment of other regions but Catalonia is stronger now and wants more. Basically the same old separatist storyline with some special traits. Point is Colonialism was evil and wars are dumb but they have to mean something when the line is crossed especially when its an inhouse fight...Civil war. www.cairn-int.info/article-E_PSUD_020_0009--the-esquerra-republicana-de-catalunya.htm www.politico.eu/article/catalonia-independence-nationalist-government-is-a-threat-to-europe-referendum/

[@silentDD]

basque country is better

[@X1a0dr3]

First

[@aidantoner8313]

Visca Catulyna

[@kamabokogonpachiro6099]

Messi should be Catalan captain

[@fernandocruvinelcasas7732]

Visca Catalunya

[@tomasnunes4831]

Visca Catalunya Lliure

[@hussainabbas1475]

Joao felix> jadon Sancho don't @me

[@johnc916]

Joao Felix is good but sancho is better

[@belfigue]

“That is a very brief and general history of Catalonia...” and you forgot to say biased. No, Catalans do not overwhelmingly want independence, (supporting a referendum and independence are two different things, not always linked). The growth in Catalan nationalism and support for independence is a very recent phenomenon (from 2010 on). Before then these ideas were only espoused by 15% or less of the population. Historically it was even more marginal, being born during the early XX century. And don’t talk about medieval shit, the whole of Europe was split in small kingdoms back then. In the late 1970’s Catalonia voted overwhelmingly in favor of the current Spanish democratic constitution. During the past 30 years Catalonia has benefited and become wealthy from that regime; the geographical proximity to Europe made Catalonia Spain’s point of contact for industry and commerce with Europe, and the Spanish government encouraged its development. Now, however, many Catalans say they want independence. They are the equivalent of the son who runs the family business and when the parents die, doesn’t want to give anything to his siblings. The fact is that the company, Catalonia, wasn’t built by him, it was built by his parents and is the rightful property of all the descendants, the Spanish people.