By David Redshaw
Every player from Barcelona and Espanyol has informed the Catalan Football Federation (FCF) they will be available to represent the nation in the traditional friendly over the Christmas holiday period. This year's opposition will be Tunisia and the game will be held at the Estadio Lluis Companys - the former home of Espanyol before the move to their present Cornella El-Prat stadium - on December 30.
Eight Barcelona players (Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernández, Victor Valdés, Gerard Piqué, Cesc Fabregas, Sergio Busquets, Andreu Fontàs and Isaac Cuenca) and eight from Espanyol (Sergio García, Joan Verdú, Javi Márquez, Álvaro Vázquez, Jordi Amat, Didac Vilà, Raúl Rodríguez and Kiko Casilla) have already been photographed in the Catalan selection's kit. However, the final squad will not be named until one week before the game when boss Johan Cruyff, who took the reins in November, 2009, announces his 23-man squad.
Before finalising their selection the FCF has first to negotiate with La Primera clubs to make sure their Catalan players are available for the game. For example, Valencia have Jordi Alba, Bruno Saltor and Víctor Ruiz as potential participants but Cruyff and his assistant Oscar García will also draw on players from Segunda A and Segunda B teams Gimnástic de Tarragona (Nastic), Girona, Sabadell and Barcelona B.
While Catalonia is not affiliated to either UEFA or FIFA (and by extension not allowed to take part in the World Cup or European Championships) the matches are seen more as exhibitions and almost 200 have been played since 1904. Last year's game against Honduras ended in a 4-0 victory with goals from Bojan Krkic (2), Coro and Sergio García.
http://www.adifferentleague.co.uk/p6_1_11707_catalonia-to-play-tunisia-in-traditional-christmas-friendly.html
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