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Rosell called up by Catalonia for Cape Verde Islands friendly

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Photo by Bill Barrett/ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

Oriol Rosell will soon be playing alongside the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique, and it’s not because he will be transferring away from Sporting Kansas City.

Rosell has been selected to represent Catalonia in an end-of-the-year friendly vs. Cape Verdes Islands on Dec. 30 at Estadio Olimpic Lluis Companys in Barcelona, joining a roster that also includes a number of the world’s top players. Some of the other players picked by Catalonia manager Gerard Lopez include FC Barcelona’s Fabregas, Pique, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets.

The 21-year-old Rosell, who was previously a member of Barcelona’s youth academy and just helped Sporting KC win the MLS Cup, is one of two players on the Catalonia roster currently not playing in La Liga.

“It will be an amazing experience to play with these players,” the midfielder said in a statement prepared by Sporting KC. “They have a lot of quality and are some of the best in the world. It’s going to be a big party and a big game and I could not be more excited. I always say I’m from Catalonia and now to be with the first team with those great players will be a very emotional experience for me.”

Catalonia’s national team is the official squad of the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonian. While it is organized by the Catalonia Football Federation, it is not affiliated with FIFA or UEFA.

What do you think of Rosell being selected to represent Catalonia? Impressed?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Major ups to Uri Rosell.

    I think he shows signs that he is one of the top passers of the ball in MLS. He is accurate with short and long passing, and I think there is a great chance that he cements himself in 2014 as THE top passer in MLS.

    Reply
  2. Catalonia could have qualified out of UEFA.. Spain probably could qualify a couple teams.. Awesome for Uri!

    Remember a year or two ago Dike from Portland at the time scored against the Catalan team for Nigeria; see if Rossell can overturn that.

    Now, how about a California vs Texas game here? Or NJ vs Florida?

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    • Would be interesting to see if they would’ve qualified, for sure. They’re young up front and don’t really have a true #9, but still, you could do way worse than….
      —- Tello —– Krkic —-
      ———- Cesc ————–
      —– Xavi —- Sergi Roberto –
      ———- Busquets ——–
      Alba – Bartra – Pique – Montoya
      ———— Valdez ————-

      Then of course, Spain can still counter with:
      Pedro — Negredo — Villa
      —— Iniesta – Silva ——
      ———— Alonso ———-
      Monreal – Ramos – Albiol – Arbeloa
      ———- Casillas ——————–

      And then just for sh*ts and giggles, if you pieced together the remaining guys without worrying about regional allegiance, you could still field:
      — Navas – Soldado – Cuenca —
      —— Mata — Cazorla ———
      ———— Thiago —————–
      Azpilicueta – Puyol – Javi Martinez – Juanfran
      ————– DeGea —————–

      And I still can’t get Isco or Koke on the field……..

      Reply
  3. Congrats to uri. Has really grown and matured in his 2 seasons. He plays his position perfectly and is rarely caught out of position. Wont fill up a stat sheet but his presence is felt in every game. Basically plays exactly like we need j jones to play. If this leads to a bigger club showing interest skc should demand top dollar for a 21 yr old representing one of the greatest football regions in the world. I know he has expressed his desire to finish his education at umkc but I’m sure he could do that online.

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    • Not islands this is a region of Spain with its own language, Barcelona is its capital. Many of the people from this region don’t consider themselves Spanish and call for more or complete independence is common.

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    • Spain is made up of several regions. Catalonia is the northeast region that includes it’s capital, Barcelona. So, in short, this isn’t made up of islands. There’s a significant history there that goes back to the former dictator Franco. He banned them from speaking their language, Catalan, among other things. They have seriously considered establishing their own independence from the rest of Spain. The recent fiscal crisis hasn’t helped in that regard, either. In any case, there’s Catalonia, Basque region (north central, they don’t even share the same alphabet), Galicia (northwest), and Andalucia (south). I believe that Catalonia is the sole region that has established its own national team outside of FIFA.

      Reply
      • Most regions have established their team but only Catalonia plays traditionally every year. The Basque NT has a strong history too (at some point of the dictatorship the whole team moved to Mexico) but it hasplayed intermittently due to having been banned for several reasons throughout the years.

        This year the Basque Country will play vs. Peru on Dec 28th.
        Catalonia will play against Cape Verde because Bosnia rejected the game citing Catalonia not being FIFA-affiliated.

    • If you are talking about Cape Verde, it is an independent island nation. They affiliated with FIFA and qualify through Africa. They speak Portuguese.

      Reply
    • Do soccer fans not understand how to navigate the intricacies of Google & Wikipedia?

      First the questions about Armenian league, now “someone please explain Catalonia to me”. Conversation is one thing, but seriously, you can make a little effort to educate yourself, instead of expecting people to do it for you

      Reply
      • I agree. No need to ask a question on a thread when you can easily find the information you’re asking online, probably in the time it takes you to write your post.

  4. This is actually pretty significant. To me this says that the best countries in the world rates mls players. Even if Catalonia is only a portion of the Spanish national team. This shows better than when Columbia wouldn’t even look at Freddy Montero

    Reply

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