Basque Country national football team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Basque Country

Nickname(s)

'Euskal Herria'

Association

Euskadiko Futbol Federakundea

Head coach

José Angel Iribar & Mikel Etxarri

Captain

Joseba Etxeberria

Most caps

Julen Guerrero & Joseba Etxeberria (11)

Top scorer

Julen Guerrero (6)

FIFA code





First kit





Second kit

First international

Basque Country 6 - 1 Catalonia

(January 3 1915; Basque Country)

Biggest win

Denmark B 1 - 11 Basque Country

( August 29 1937; Denmark)

Biggest defeat

Mexico 8 - 4 Basque Country

( October 16 1938; Mexico)

Basque Country 1 - 5 Hungary

(August 31 1980; Basque Country)

The Basque Country national football team (officially, in Basque, Euskal Herriko futbol selekzioa) is the official football team for Basque Country, located in both Spain and France. They are not affiliated with FIFA or UEFA, because it is represented internationally by the Spanish National Football Team. It only plays friendly matches. The team is referred to by various names including the Euskal Herriko Selekzioa, Selección de Euskadi, Euskal Selekzioa, Euskadi XI and Basque XI. The team was named Euskadiko Selekzioa until 2007, when changed its name to Euskal Herriko Selekzioa.

The first Euskadi XI made their debut on January 3 1915 against a Catalan XI, winning 6-1. In 1915 and 1916 and then again in 1930 and 1931 the two sides played each other in a series of games. However it was until 1937 that a Euskadi XI played outside Spain. José Antonio Aguirre, the president of the Basque Country and a former Athletic Bilbao footballer, initiated the idea of a Euskadi XI going on tour to raise funds for the Basque cause during the Spanish Civil War. This team subsequently toured Europe and Mexico and even entered the Mexican league. During the Franco dictatorship from 1939 to 1975, regional and non-Spanish national identities were severely repressed in the Spanish state and the Euskadi XI did not play. However since 1979 a Euskadi XI has regularly got together, usually at Christmas and usually at Athletic Bilbao's San Mamés Stadium, to play a game. They have played opponents from Africa, South America and Europe, although unlike Catalonia, who have played Brazil and Argentina, among others, they have never attracted a major football power. Their most recent game was a 1-1 draw with Catalonia at the San Mamés stadium in Bilbao on 29 December, 2007.

1 Last game
- 1.1 Current squad
2 Famous players
3 Famous managers
4 All Matches (Modern era)
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Last game

Last game : Basque Country 1-1 Catalonia San Mamés Stadium Bilbao, Spain- 29 December 2007.

[edit] Current squad

Squad called up for the friendly against Catalonia on December 27, 2007.

Caps and goals as of December 27, 2007.

Goalkeepers

#	Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut
1	Iñaki Lafuente	January 24, 1976 (1976-01-24) (age 32)	RCD Espanyol	3 (0)	v. Wales, 21 May 2006
13	Asier Riesgo	October 6, 1983 (1983-10-06) (age 24)	Real Sociedad	1 (0)	v. Uruguay, 27 December 2003

Defenders

#	Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut
2	Andoni Iraola	February 18, 1979 (1979-02-18) (age 29)	Athletic Bilbao	5 (0)	v. Uruguay, 27 December 2003
3	Asier Del Horno	January 19, 1981 (1981-01-19) (age 27)	Athletic Bilbao	4 (0)	v. Uruguay, 27 December 2003
4	Mikel Labaka	August 10, 1980 (1980-08-10) (age 27)	Real Sociedad	6 (0)	v. Cameroon, 28 December 2005
5	Fernando Amorebieta	March 21, 1985 (1985-03-21) (age 23)	Athletic Bilbao	2 (0)	v. Venezuela, 20 June 2007
15	Patxi Puñal	September 6, 1975 (1975-09-06) (age 32)	CA Osasuna	3 (0)	v. Macedonia, 28 December 2002
14	Aitor Lopez Rekarte	September 18, 1975 (1975-09-18) (age 32)	UD Almeria	9 (0)	v. Morocco, 29 December 2000
20	Jon Urzelai	September 29, 1984 (1984-09-29) (age 23)	SD Eibar	1 (0)	v. Catalonia, 29 December 2007
12	Mikel González	September 24, 1985 (1985-09-24) (age 22)	Real Sociedad	2 (0)	v. Venezuela, 20 June 2007

Midfielders

#	Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut
6	Pablo Orbaiz	February 6, 1979 (1979-02-06) (age 29)	Athletic Bilbao	3 (0)	v. Cameroon, 28 December 2005
8	Xabier Prieto	August 29, 1983 (1983-08-29) (age 24)	Real Sociedad	5 (0)	v. Honduras, 29 December 2004
10	Mikel Aranburu	February 18, 1979 (1979-02-18) (age 29)	Real Sociedad	7 (0)	v. Macedonia, 28 December 2002
11	Fran Yeste	December 6, 1979 (1979-12-06) (age 28)	Athletic Bilbao	5 (3)	v. Uruguay, 27 December 2003
16	Gaizka Mendieta	March 27, 1974 (1974-03-27) (age 34)	Middlesbrough	5 (1)	v. Nigeria, 29 December 1999
18	Igor Gabilondo	February 10, 1979 (1979-02-10) (age 29)	Athletic Bilbao	9 (1)	v. Macedonia, 28 December 2002

Strikers

#	Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut
7	Joseba Etxeberria (captain)	September 5, 1977 (1977-09-05) (age 30)	Athletic Bilbao	11 (2)	v. Uruguay, 22 December 1998
9	Fernando Llorente	February 26, 1985 (1985-02-26) (age 23)	Athletic Bilbao	5 (1)	v. Cameroon, 28 December 2005
17	Joseba Llorente	November 24, 1979 (1979-11-24) (age 28)	Real Valladolid	2 (0)	v. Honduras, 29 December 2004
19	Aritz Aduriz	February 11, 1981 (1981-02-11) (age 27)	Athletic Bilbao	4 (3)	v. Catalonia, 8 October 2006