Catalonia football team clinch impressive victory against Venezuela

A last-gasp winning goal by Espanyol youngster Javi Puado clinched a memorable triumph for Catalonia against world No.32 Venezuela on an atmospheric night in Girona.

More than 12,000 supporters came out in force on Monday evening at the Montilivi Stadium – the home of the rising stars of Spanish club football Girona FC, in the city seen as the heart of the Catalan independence movement – and few would have left disappointed.

Some of the fans speaking to the Catalan News Agency on their way into the stadium said "it was impossible that this would not be a night of demonstration", while others wanted to highlight the "symbolism" of an international match taking place during the Catalan trial.

In the end, the Catalan players did their talking on the pitch, coming away with an impressive victory against not only a fully-fledged international side, but one that managed to beat an Argentina team including Barça great Lionel Messi 3-1 in Madrid last week.

Familiar faces

Gerard Piqué figured among the high-profile starters for a strong Catalonia line-up, which was benefiting from their unique opportunity to play during an official FIFA window.

The Barça defender – a World Cup winner with Spain – temporarily suspended his retirement from international football to feature alongside fellow familiar faces such as Bojan Krkic, Marc Bartra and Aleix Vidal, as well as local favorites Pere Pons and Álex Granell.

Unique occasion

After fanfare and fireworks and heralded kick-off in the rare spectacle of international football – only an annual event at best in these parts – the visitors came closer in a relatively even start.

Venezuela rattled the crossbar on three occasions in the first half but the Catalans looked threatening on the counter-attack, and in particular, spearheaded by Piqué at set-pieces.

At 17 minutes and 14 seconds came the cry for Catalan independence (last recognized in 1714), more commonly heard during club matches at the Camp Nou and other Catalan grounds.

The hosts appeared to have taken inspiration from Barça, where a large proportion of the squad learned their trade. Although the blue and red of the Blaugrana was now striped yellow, they showed no fear for passing the ball at the back despite their inexperience as a collective.

Second-half strikes

As Piqué came off to a monumental round of applause shortly after half-time, the Gironins gave another warm reception to Pons, one of their own. Moments later, the home team took the lead through Bojan. The Stoke City striker had been played in by Barça teenager Riqui Puig, with an exquisite through ball splitting the lines, and timed his run to tip the pass towards goal.

Their initial advantage lasted less than six minutes as Venezuela's Roberto Rosales, currently on loan at Espanyol, made the most of a defensive blunder to slip the ball between the legs of the goalkeeper. A sizeable away crowd was on hand to bring some Latino zip to the party.

Both teams went for the win (neither especially fancied penalties) and the South Americans may feel they should have succeeded. With three minutes to spare, however, a slick strike from 20-year-old Puado capped a highly noteworthy outing for the locals on the global stage.