The US-Catalonia friendly would have been potentially embarassing anyhow
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by Foolsgold
Originally the US Men's National Team was scheduled to play a friendly with Catalonia on October 14th at Camp Nou, but that has since been vetoed by the Spanish Football Federation. They made several reasons for this decision, one being that Spain plays a Euro-qualifying match the day before and two days later, and another is that the Catalonia side usually only plays around Christmas and occasionally once in May. As a USMNT fan, I have to say, I'm a bit relieved.
By no means would this have been an easy match. I wonder if US Soccer even took the time to do research on the Catalans. First of all, they are primarily made up of La Liga players, and not just Reserves. Víctor Valdés, Curro Torres, Oleguer Presas, Roger Garcia, and Albert Luque were all part of the squad that squared off against a Basque County side around the same time last year. Potentially though, the Catalans could offer spots to players that probably won't be representing Spain in next month's qualifiers including Luis García, Raúl García, and Raúl Tamudo.
It's probably a good thing that they would have played while most of the players that are eligible for the Catalonia side would be away on International duty with Spain. In the past, a full Catalan side has done pretty well, including wins over Costa Rica, Ecuador, Chile, and Lithuania, just to name a few. By the way, if you're wondering what a full strength could look like, Xavi, Cesc Fabregas, Iniesta, Carlos Puyol, and Pepe Reina could all feature. Not bad for a region of Spain that boasts a population of only 7,000,000.
Furthermore, they would be going into a very hostile Camp Nou with a crowd that would make sure they know what they think of Americans. Add that to the fact that the prideful Catalans would fight to the death and you've got what could be a recipe for disaster. Seriously, what's the point? A win for the US means nothing anyhow. A boost in confidence? Maybe, but Catalonia is not a FIFA team, so it wouldn't have any affect on our rankings.
If they need a win away from the States so badly, why don't they just schedule a friendly with American Samoa? At least then they can give the money to a team that is probably in more need of it.
Originally posted here
