[15] Another unique aspect in the region is the emphasis that is placed on producing local talent, with Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao assessed as consistently using the highest proportion of homegrown players across the top European football leagues in the 2010s. Bayonne has given football more than just Deschamps. His ability to interpret what was happening on the pitch from a free role bills him as the countrys first modern footballer. While the French Basque Country has lacked the unity of a collective team, they can call their own at the highest levels of the club game. Real Sociedad are the better team in the second half, but they don't equalise . Their first match with that name was against Cantabria on 29 November 1936 in Santander, when the Cantabrians won 32. French Basque players in FIFA 20 . The recent re-emergence ofAthletic Club BilbaoandRealSociedadhas put Basque football back on the map. [13], In the early 21st century, Basque football is represented by many clubs old and new, some of them holding a strong presence in the Spanish top division La Liga, including Athletic Bilbao (who have played there on a constant basis since its formation in 1928 and been champions eight times, plus 23 Copa del Rey wins and two UEFA Cup / Europa League finals), Real Sociedad (present in all but a handful of seasons, champions twice and Copa winners three times, including 2020 which was a Basque derby between Athletic and Real), Deportivo Alavs (somewhat intermittent members of the top division but with strong periods and a UEFA Cup final appearance in 2001) and SD Eibar (from 2014 to 2021, characterised as one of the smallest clubs to take part at that level).[14]. [30], Between 1939 and 1975 the Basque football team played only twice due to General Franco's dictatorship which severely limited the freedoms previously enjoyed by the regions of Spain. With the dip in fortunes of the regions rugby teams combined with the looming visage of Euro 2016 on the horizon, the traditionally rugby-centric region might just find its young people leaning a little more towards the round ball rather than the oval one in the coming years. Bixente Jean-Michel Lizarazu ( Basque pronunciation: [biente lisarasu], born 9 December 1969) is a French former professional footballer who played as a left back for Bordeaux and Bayern Munich, among other teams. Only played in one unofficial wartime international: Only played in three unofficial wartime international: See. Category for Association football players from the Basque Country . Though Llorente is easily the top choice to start up top for Euskal Herria, make no mistake about it, he is by no means the only option. [1][11][12] In March 1903, Bilbao FC could not keep an independent structure and ended up being absorbed by Athletic Club[1][3] and the side that emerged from the unification was called Athletic Club de Bilbao.[4]. Media related to Basque Country association football team at Wikimedia Commons. Karra Elejalde, actor. After Franco's death in 1975, the team was reformed using the name Euskadiko selekzioa and from the early 1990s began playing regular friendly matches, usually during La Liga's Christmas break. [86] With no December fixture forthcoming, but UEFA Euro 2020 international matches to be played in Bilbao, it was reported that the Basque team may be able to arrange a match against one of the qualified teams who would meet Spain there (Poland or Sweden) as part of their preparations before the tournament. CA Osasuna was the only club with players called up for the match who refused to release them. The match itself, described in the press as "boring at times", "bland" and "poor", petered out into a goalless draw in humid conditions, although both coaches stated they were satisfied with the outcome and the effort shown. The United Kingdom provides one model for a sovereign state with more than one FIFA member, while the Faroe Islands is an example of an autonomous constituent country having a separate football team to the national team (Denmark). [13] Arana was involved in the creation of the flag, anthem, and ultimately the Basque Nationalist Party (Partido Nacionalista Vasco, PNV). RSS Feed Flickr Vimeo YouTube Pinterest Twitter Facebook Submit Search Search Euskal Kazeta HOME Culture Food Dance Handball Language Mus Music Research your Basque ancestry Basques in the Americas 1492-1592 Legends from the region, such asJosebaEtxeberria, have been regular faces for LaRoja, while the likes of FernandoLlorenteand Xabi Alonso helped the country win its first World Cup back in 2010. The team's first match against a nation from outside of Spain was a 32 defeat, also in May 1937, to Czechoslovakia, who had been runners up in the 1934 World Cup. The motto used to describe the reasoning behind it is Con cantera y aficin, no hace falta importacin (English: "with home-grown . [31] They then toured the country during that summer, playing against Lokomotiv Moscow (15), Dynamo Moscow twice (12) and (47), Dinamo Leningrad (22), Spartak Moscow (62), Dynamo Kiev (13), Dinamo Tbilisi (02), the Georgian football team (13), and finally Dinamo Minsk (16). Squad for the friendly against Costa Rica on 16 November 2020. [citation needed]. Griezmann is a fast winger who loves to run with the ball and take a lot of shots. [1] Permission was duly granted and the racetrack became the new home of organised football in Viscaya. Selecting a keeper for the Basque National is very easy, because there is already a first-choice in Athletic's Gorka Iraizoz. In 2009 a consensus was reached to use the name 'Euskal Selekzioa'. Couple that with young talents such as Joseba Zaldua and the Basque Country has a lot of options to choose from. They could, in truth, elect to play for the team if given the choice. The Athletic Club winger would be a great player opposite toGriezmann for the Basques, as both would be able to beat defenders with pace and also provide assistance in defence. El Rey Leon would lead the attacking line of the Basque national team and is the perfect striker to do so. Victor Erice, film director. Ren Petit is regarded by many to have been Real Madrids first superstar footballer. This means the Basque squads are frequently below what would be considered their 'full strength', but also means those who do take part are fully committed to the concept, and in many cases would have no other opportunities to experience international football so consider the match to be an important matter. Since its inception in 1930, the team went through a series of names, was organised under exile in Latin America with some of the region's leading players of the time during the Civil War, and only played twice under Franco's dictatorship. [2][4][9] While Athletic Club was mainly formed by local players, having only one foreigner in its ranks, Alfred Mills,[3] Bilbao FC was mostly made up by foreigners, such as Walter Evans, George Langford, William Dyer, and George Cockram. Lower Navarre, Labourd and Soule form a region that is roughly the size of Lancashire, but in footballing terms the French Basque country is nothing like the English county; it is often the epicentre of French player development. [78] Eventually, a fixture was arranged for the Basque team to face Venezuela in October 2018 at Mendizorroza,[79] which they won 42. [6] Most of their home matches have been played in the San Mams Stadium which was replaced in 2013 by the new San Mams. He can also feature as a centre-back, which makes him a very useful player in any squad. In all likelihood, Griezmann would still choose to represent France and has been listed in the country's squad list for the World Cup. [73][74], On 28 December 2014, a centenary match was played in San Mames against Catalonia to celebrate 100 years since the first match between these two sides. Pairing Laporte and Inigo Martinez would be difficult due to both being left footed, but with their quality it would still be an incredible partnership and something that could be worked around. What do Basque Country (greater region), French Basque Country and List of Basque footballers have in common. Then, in 2007, after 69 years without playing outside Spain, the Basque Country faced Venezuela in San Cristbal, winning 43. The Basques came out6-0 victors. [2] A few months later, in February 1901, Athletic Club, probably encouraged by the first news about the founding of Bilbao FC, began conversations to officially establish the club, which they did on 5 September 1901, in the infamous meeting held in the Caf Garca, in which the 33 members decided to make it official and register as a sports organization with the local council. The Basque Country representative football team (officially, in Basque, 'Euskal selekzioa') represents the Basque Country in football. [16], On 22 November 1916 the Cantabrian teams left the North Federation, joining the newly formed Cantabrian Federation (Federacin Cantbrica de Clubes de Football), which encompassed Asturian and Cantabrian clubs. Note: For this list, a player must be born in the Basque Country, have Basque parents/grandparents, or have spent enough time in the Basque Country to qualify, just asplayers today must do for other countries. Galen Gering, actor. [1][2][3], The region has a representative squad the Basque Country national football team but they are not recognised by FIFA, were inactive for long periods and only play friendly matches against FIFA teams or against other sides with similar status such as Catalonia. Petit made his first team debut aged just 14 and he is credited with revolutionising the way the game was played in Spain. Bernard Blancan, actor. Fernando Llorente is a World Cup winner and has experience playing in Europe since he joined Italian giants Juventus last summer. Born in Dax in October 1899, to a mother from Madrid and a French father, Petit spent much of his childhood following his fathers work commitments as an engineer, moving back and forth between France and Spain on a regular basis until the family settled on the Spanish side of the Basque border in the town of Irun. Like the rest of Spain, it is in the midfield that the Basques would boast their biggest talents. Despite being mainly used a left-back under manager Jose Mourinho, Azpilicueta has played the majority of his career as a right-back and will likely do so with Spain in Brazil this summer. Herrera is an engine that is constantly running and would be a major catalyst in the Basque national team. [5], This temporary merge became known as Club Bizcaya (with a B), and following an invitation from Madrid FC (now known as Real Madrid), Club Bizcaya was sent to Madrid to represent the city of Bilbao in the 1902 Copa de la Coronacin, with the then Athletic president, Juan Astorquia, being named the team's captain. Llorente is best known for being able to score headers from anywhere in the box, but he has a strong shot. Despite his age, Martinez plays with a commanding presence and isn't one to shyaway from a challenge. [52], The second time was in San Mams, Bilbao, on 21 February 1971 when a memorial match for Juan Gardeazbal was played between the Basque Country and Catalonia. comments sorted by Best Top New Controversial Q&A Add a Comment . ", "La Seleccion Vasca ha embarcado para Mjico", "La despedida de los futbolistas vascos en Mejico", "Los Vascos llegaron a Cuba el 13 de Enero", "Arrojos, dichas y nostalgias Vascos en el Valparaso del siglo XX", "El Real Madrid Derrota a la Seleccion Vasca por 20", "Ferenc Puskas s lleg a jugar en el Stadium Gal", "Hoy, homenaje nacional postumo a Juan Gardeazbal, en San Mams", "ABC newspaper archive, 2/3/78, in Spanish", "The symbolic day an Irish XI faced their Basque counterparts", "El Pas newspaper archive 17/8/79 in Spanish", "El Osasuna justifica la ausencia de Iriguibel en la seleccion de Euzkadi", "Los Vascos y los Paraguayos en un empate a 4 goals", "EUSKAL HERRIA- CATALUA 11: Empate en un partido histrico en San Mams", "Ibarretxe asegura que el cambio de nombre de la seleccin vasca "puede ser discutible", "El PNV pide a los jugadores que no caigan en la 'trampa de la izquierda abertzale', "Los futbolistas Vascos no irn a su seleccion si no se llama Euskal Herria", "Euskadiko Futbol Federakundea Federacin Vasca de Ftbol", "Seleccin Vasca ir con todo en el amistoso contra Per", "Catalonia and Basque Country reignite call for independent national football identities", "11: Euskadi y Catalunya empatan a goles en el partido del Centenario", "Aduriz da un nueva victoria de Euskadi ante Catalua", "La Euskal Selekzioa no jugar en navidades", "No se jugar el partido entre la Euskal Selekzioa y Chile", "La Euskal Selekzioa jugar ante Venezuela el 12 de octubre", "Euskal Selekzioa will play Panama on 29 May in South America", "Pobre empate de la Euskal Selekzioa en Panam", "Empate sin goles ni ritmo de la Euskal Selekzioa en Panam", "Empate sin goles de la Euskal Selekzioa ante Panam", Euskadi anuncia un amistoso ante Argentina, pero sta lo niega, Cancelado al partido entre la Euskal Selekzioa y Argentina, Euskadi pretende a un equipo de la Eurocopa que vendr a Bilbao, Javier Clemente da a conocer la convocatoria de la Euskal Selekzioa, Euskadi gana a Costa Rica en el descuento, La seleccin de Euskadi se queda sin partido navideo, "Maragall e Ibarretxe reclaman selecciones oficiales para Catalua y Euskadi", "Los jugadores vascos reclaman la oficialidad de la seleccin de Euskadi", "Euskadi juega en Venezuela y pide la oficialidad de su seleccin", "Urkullu reclama una seleccin oficial que pueda ser anfitriona en la Euro 2020", "Naziometroa: euskal herritarrak Euskal Selekzioari buruz", "La Federacin Vasca aprueba pedir a UEFA y FIFA su oficialidad", "Basque federation applies for UEFA, FIFA recognition", "Spanish clubs refuse to release players for Catalonia-Venezuela friendly", "Clemente, nuevo seleccionador de la Euskal Selekzioa", "Clemente propondr que en la Seleccin Vasca jueguen descendientes de vascos que emigraron a Sudamrica", "Clemente is the Euskal Selekzioa's new coach and is in favor of including players from the Diaspora (listen to his interview)", "Javier Clemente medita convocar a Marco Asensio con Euskadi", "Las bajas de Zubeldia, Zaldua y Dani Garca dejan la convocatoria de Clemente en 19 jugadores", "2005: Arroyo sparks Basque celebrations", "UEFA Regions Cup 2005 Official Programme", "Selecciones: Temporada 2007/2008: Masculino: Copa Regiones UEFA", "Selecciones: Temporada 2009/2010: Masculino: Copa Regiones UEFA", "Selecciones: Temporada 2011/2012: Masculino: Copa Regiones UEFA", "Selecciones: Temporada 2013/2014: Masculino: Copa Regiones UEFA", "Selecciones: Temporada 2015/2016: Masculino: Copa Regiones UEFA", "Selecciones: Temporada 2017/2018: Masculino: Copa Regiones UEFA", Search Mexican Newspaper archive for matches (pages cannot be linked individually), Basque National Football Team as a Political Tool, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Basque_Country_national_football_team&oldid=1142031976, European national and official selection-teams not affiliated to FIFA, National sports teams of the Basque Country, Articles with Spanish-language sources (es), Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2019, Pages using infobox national football team with unknown parameters, Articles containing potentially dated statements from December 2017, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles with Basque-language sources (eu), Articles with dead external links from October 2019, Articles with permanently dead external links, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. Olympic Games selection only, no full caps. Bilbao captain, Jose Angel Iribar and the Sociedad captain, Inaxio Kortabarria carrying Basque national flag. The game was played as a fundraiser for a campaign promoting the Basque language called "Bai Euskarari", organized by Sustraiak, as a response to its suppression during the dictatorship. Most of Real's players are Gipuzkoa locals from their academy, while Athletic's 100-year-old official signing policy limits themselves to players from the Greater Basque region (either born there, raised there i.e. As they had run out of money and had no way of raising any, many of the big Argentine sides raised money for them. [20][21] They played once against the Argentine national side, losing 40, then drew 11 against Porteo, and finally winning 04 against a team selected from Argentina's interior league. In 1980, in Vitoria, they lost 15 to Hungary. At international level Deschamps clocked up 103 appearances for Les Bleus and was, of course, the captain when they won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. In June, they played Czechoslovakia again losing 21. The team plays in the biennial UEFA Regions' Cup; they won the overall pan-European tournament in 2005, having won the preceding Spanish qualifying tournament in 200304. [60], In 2007 the team's name was changed to 'Euskal Herria' (Euskal Herriko Futbol Selekzioa), and on 29 December they played a match against Catalonia in San Mames. [89] With the pandemic still ongoing in late 2021 (earlier causing the Euro fixtures to be moved from Bilbao to Seville), the Basque federation confirmed there would be no festive match that year, but an attempt would be made to arrange one for March 2022. For the politicians of the PNV who favoured the name 'Euskadi', they saw this as the historic name used by the Basque football team since the 1930s and geographically they said it always included the Spanish Basque Country, the French Basque Country and Navarre (from where the players are selected), but to the players and the politicians supporting them, only the term 'Euskal Herria' had this geographic meaning and to them 'Euskadi' only referred to the Spanish Basque Country. A few months later the Basque team won again, 40 against Bulgaria in San Sebastin's Atotxa Stadium. [30] In May 1937 they toured France beating Olympique Marseille 25,[35] losing 31 to Ste, and playing Racing Paris twice more, 33 and 23. Though he is only Basque by birth, he relates well with the culture and has found a home in Bilbao. Above all else, he excels in holding up play and can create chances for otherssomething that would come in handy with Muniain and Griezmann flanking him on the wings. Apart from Balenziaga, Nacho Monreal is another prime candidate to start at left-back for the Basque national team if Azpilicueta stays on the right. [90], Several organisations including the Basque Government[91] and the Basque Football Federation are trying to persuade FIFA and UEFA to accept the Basque Country as an affiliated member. Save Rules. His passing ability is exquisite and he loves tracking back to make tackles as well. He was young enough to still be playing a decade later when La Liga was launched, claiming two further Copa del Rey winners medals during the 1920s. The latest in the sports world, emailed daily. If Laporte was to snub the Basque national team for France, there are several other options in defence such as Mikel Gonzalez, Carlos Gurpegui and Mikel San Jose. Only played in one unofficial wartime international: See, Only played in two unofficial wartime international matches: See, Includes 1 match not counted by some sources: See. [7] Alongside the development of football was the introduction of Basque nationalism by Sabino Arana, considered by some as the founding "father". Xabi Prieto could likely make a case for a starting role, maybe even as captain, while the likes of Mikel Arteta and Markel Susaeta have plenty of matches under their belts. [25] Head-to-head against other Autonomous Communities, Liga Mexicana de Football Amateur Association, List of Basque Country international footballers, Basque Country national football team results, Basque Country women's national football team, "Para Prieto todo empez contra Honduras", "Basque Country: The Spain internationals playing for a different team", "ABC newspaper archive, 2 January 1931, in Spanish", "Mundo Deportivo newspaper, 21 December 1914 in Spanish", "Vizcaya-Gupscoa The lawsuit gives the contrast with National Committee", "La Federacion Norte contina su asambleas", "El Equipo Vasco est en camino de Amrica", "En el Uruguay, pierden nuevamente por 31", "El Mundo Deportivo newspaper archive, 28 August 1922, in Spanish", "ABC newspaper, 6 October 1922, in Spanish", "Gran triufo de la seleccion Vizcaina sobre la Asturiana", "La orgullosa gnesis de la Seleccin Vasca de Ftbol", "La seleccin de Euskadi parte para Amrica (1937)", "Todos los futbolistas vascos siguen a las rdenes de su Gobierno", "De la Seleccion Vasca que triumf esplndidamente", "Apre un match joue sous la pluie, l'OM battu est devenu Champion de France", "La FIFA reconoce la beligerancia a Franco? With Basque spoken readily, they must be the only tri-lingual football fans in the world, apart from the Dutch. Castile and Len won a penalty shootout 42. Martinez would form a solid pivot in front of the defensive and would partner well with the Basque midfielders. [51] Don Santiago Bernabu had the honour of kicking off. In the summer of 1922 a team calling itself 'the Basque team' (Equipo Vasco) was sent to South America. Since then, the Basque winger has been a regular in the line-up and a fan favorite at the San Mames. Can sign French under 17s (since they will become Basque). If Laporte was to snub the Basque national team for France, there are several other options in defence such as Mikel Gonzalez, Carlos Gurpegui and Mikel San Jose. 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