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Sporting KC’s Rosell appears for Catalonia in win vs. Cape Verde

OriolRosellCatalonia1 (SportingKC)

By DAN KARELL

Fresh off winning the 2013 MLS Cup with Sporting Kansas City, Oriol Rosell achieved another milestone in his young career.

Rosell made his first-ever appearance for the Catalonian National Team on Monday evening as a second-half substitute in Catalonia’s 4-1 victory against Cape Verde. The 21-year-old played 22 minutes in the match, featuring alongside fellow Barcelona academy (La Masia) graduates Cesc Fabregas, Sergio Busquets, Bojan Krkic, and Gerard Pique.

In his first full season with Sporting KC, Rosell stepped into the starting lineup and emerged as one of Major League Soccer’s lock-down defensive midfielders, finishing fourth in the league with 66 fouls committed. Rosell moved to MLS from Barcelona in August 2012.

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What do you think of this news? Glad to see an MLS player represented alongside Barcelona stars?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Catalonia is like Guadelopue or martinique. Not a FIFA recognized nation. FIFA doesnt recognize there matches and they are equivalent to scrimmages for FIFA sake.

    Reply
    • Well, if you’re a vegetarian that’s a pretty apt analogy – a personal conviction rendering unappealing something which many, if not most, people would find highly desirable.

      Reply
      • Except that cow, bull, or ox for centuries have only eaten grass. Corn has only be introduced over the past 100+ years.

        I’d stick with history.

      • The surest way to turn arable land into desert is to grow corn for cattle. Ranging cattle on diversity of grass species is not only natural in a historical (evolutionary) sense, but prevents erosion and desertification. I’ll take an aged steak with less ‘marbling’ over another dust bowl catastrophe.

      • I don’t think eating grass-fed beef is going to curb agribusiness. Corn is used for a lot more than animal feed. Thank the Native Americans (north and south) for that gift.

  2. Catalonia is a “nation” in the technical sense of the word. A nation is not the same thing as a country or a “state” in the political science sense of the word. So, for instance, one can speak of the Yavapai-Apache Nation of Arizona, even though this tribe does not form an independent country. Catalonia is very much a nation with its own language, cultural heritage, sense of communal identity, and so on. Moreover, the Catalans are on the verge of voting for independence from Spain–the Catalan Self-Determination Referendum will be held on 9 November 2014–and thus Catalonia and its football team could very well become recognized both by the UN and by FIFA in the near future. In any case, the Catalans are not yet associated with FIFA.

    But the point here is that it’s a tremendous honor for Uri. It brings attention to his stellar play, to SKC, and to MLS. It also puts him on the radar of the Spanish national team as well as the future, FIFA-recognized Catalonia National Team, which would be a real contender in European football.

    Reply
  3. Is it accurate to call it a “National Team”? In the sense that most Americans think of the term National Team, they’d be eligible for UEFA National competition & the World Cup, but I don’t think that’s the case, right? Maybe we need a less literal label. The way I read wikipedia, Catalonia is more akin to our States.

    Not to discount Rosell’s accomplishment (:

    Reply
    • Catalonia is a part of Spain and as much as many people in that area would like to be an independent country, they are not. so this is a way for them to celebrate their roots as only players born in Catalonia can play on that team.

      Reply
    • Think of California forming a team for a charity tournament, call it the Seccession Cup, and playing Texas in a friendly.

      And then the winner gets to take on winner of New Jersey vs Missouri.

      The Cup winner meets the winner of a similar .Mexican tourney.

      Reply

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