Bilbao's Quarry

Every year around this time we are witness to the dance of the "billion euros legs". The football teams in Europe do everything and anything they can to secure the services of one of the top players in the different leagues across the continent. This year was exceptional, Spanish dictator Francisco Franco's team Real Madrid hired two of the top players in the world: Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaká. They want to be able to compete against the best team in Europe, Catalonya's pride Barcelona.

But there is one team in Europe that refuses to enter this maelstrom, Athletic de Bilbao... Nabarra's pride. Here you have this article featuring Athletic published at SoccerLens:

Athletic Bilbao and ‘Cantera’

Alasdair Sim

Chances are that if you’re in the pub with your friends and the inevitable topic of football is discussed, and perhaps less inevitably Spanish football is mentioned (unless it’s a dig at Real Madrid), then Athletic Club Bilbao will not be high on the list of subjects.

But perhaps it should be. Amongst the arguments of ‘who’s better Messi or Ronaldo’, ‘who will David Villa join’, and, ‘oh by the way who’s round is it’, Athletic Club barely get a look in. However in today’s ever declining lack of footballing morals, ethics and loyalty, Athletic Bilbao at least deserve a drunken supportive rant.

Formed by British migrant workers in 1898, Bilbao has become somewhat of a romanticised club. They are team whom are idealised in a modern world where cheap footballing imports and the EU have almost brought the great youth systems of Europe it their knees.

Gone are the days of the Lisbon Lions who won the 1967 European Cup with players who were all born within 30 miles of Glasgow. Look at every Premier League team in England, only an average of 3 English players per team start every weekend. And yet, in a small part of Northern Spain a team has consistently defied the globalization of football and strove to preserve its values and fundamental beliefs in an age where football is slowly falling into an abyss filled with greed, monetization and self-interest.

The sun quietly descends behind the Stadio San Mamés, or ‘The Cathedral’ if you’re a Los Leones, as it is still sometime before the hustle and bustle of the new La Liga season comes to these shores. When you think of all the great names that have graced this pitch: the prolific Telmo Zarra, José Ángel Iribar and Joseba Etxeberria to name just a few you begin to see the curiosity and interés that surrounds this club. They are all Basque. They all hail from the Basque region of Northern Spain. And what makes the club more intriguing is that since 1912, almost 100 years ago, the Athletic Bilbao team has only consisted on Basque players. Remarkable. Do you think you would ever see Arsene Wenger or Alex Ferguson only playing footballers born in London or Manchester?

This policy of Cantera (literally ‘quarry’) is one that the club, the supporters and the Basque people are immensely proud of. By implementing this policy the club is ensuring the survival and promotion of the Basque game, they choose to nature their own talent rather than buy an import. It is also more than this. It is a stand against centralization. A voice that yells “we are Basque!”. During the 28 year reign of General Franco the Basque people suffered terrible oppression; their unique language, culture, customs, style were all banned, persecuted and oppressed because they didn’t fit in with the ideal of a one-nation Spain. It was conform or suffer the consequences. Support for Bilbao was a vote against Franco. Much in the same way that Barcelona is self-described as ‘more than a club’, Athletic Bilbao are similar, but they take it a step further.

And yet, not everyone looks upon Athletic Bilbao as the ideal football club.. Admittedly these critics mainly come from outside the region but perhaps they do have a point when they say that Cantera is restrictive to Bilbao’s progress. While it has cemented its position in footballing history as a club that is genuinely local (if you overlook the fact that it was created by foreigners), it has also been somewhat left behind when it comes to success.

They haven’t won a domestic trophy since 1984 and since we have entered the 21st century their highest finish has been 5th. Not bad you might say considering they are up against the likes of Real, Barcelona and Valencia who can open their cheque books and sign anyone from any part of the world, but when you consider their success historically in that they have won 8 La Liga titles and sit 3rd behind Real Madrid and Barcelona in terms of league titles won; the policy of Cantera looks outdated and obsolete. A throwback to a distant age when football was idyllic and naïve.

And yet this isn’t the view of the club nor the fans. Their president, Fernando Garcia Macua, announced that “we’d rather go down than change our habits, I know the supporters feel the same.” They have only a 3 million strong population in which to find their next Telmo Zarra.

If the Arsenal Board decided that the club could only buy players that are part of, or have descended from, the 7.5m people that live in London there would be a revolt. But yet we look upon Bilbao as well, somehow right and honorable. Of course clubs should have a ‘local’ presence, of course they should protect and nurture their own; it’s a sorry state of affairs that most clubs have neither the will nor the courage to do so.

So next time you’ve have one too many Carlsbergs in the local and have moved on to why Messi is a hundred times better than Ronaldo, spare a thought for Bilbao. Because unless the Basque country has a sudden baby boom of superstars, Cantera might not be around for another 100 years.

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Javier Aguirre's Basque Identity

Being a Mexican of Basque background is often misunderstood in Mexico, this is why we are glad to present this article about one of Mexico's must famous Basques, Javier Aguirre, the coach of the national soccer team published at Sign On San Diego:

Patriotic Aguirre leads with passion

El Tri coach follows no-nonsense path

Mark Zeigler

“Guernica” is the famous mural by Pablo Picasso depicting the 1937 bombing of the Basque village during the Spanish Civil War. It is painted in black, white and a dark blue.

Javier Aguirre looks at “Guernica,” at the haunting images of death and devastation, and sees another color.

Green.

Aguirre is Mexico's national soccer coach, the man charged with forging a route to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa at a time when a wide freeway has dwindled into a lonely dirt path leading into a dark, uncertain jungle. He is here not because it is necessarily a good career move, or because he thrives on the challenge of qualifying Mexico for the World Cup after a 1-3 start, or because of the six zeros on his paycheck, but because he has to.

“A commitment to my country, you know?” says Aguirre, 50, whose team plays Guatemala in a friendly today at 5 p.m. at Qualcomm Stadium. “I have to give something back to my people.”

Aguirre's nickname is “El Vasco.” The Basque. He wasn't born in the Basque region of northern Spain, but his parents were. His father fought in the Spanish Civil War at 17, was captured by Gen. Franco's nationalist army and later forced to fight for it in North Africa. His mother was from the village of Guernica.

She was there, standing in front of a church, when the planes from Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe began dropping the bombs. She was 7.

Someone grabbed her, rushed her into the church's bomb shelter.

That was 1937. Aguirre's father would get out of the army, meet Aguirre's mother, get married and look for a fresh start.

“Sometimes the worst part about the war is the post-war: no food, no job, (political) parties in jail, persecution,” says Aguirre, who speaks fluent English. “My parents decided to move to Mexico in 1950. My father changed his nationality from Spanish to Mexican.

“My parents spoke Basque at home, the food was Basque, but they knew that I was Mexican and I was born in Mexico. They told me the Mexican flag, the Mexican anthem, the Mexican language was the most important thing. My parents, they told me I have to love Mexico.”

In April, the bosses from Mexico's soccer federation called. They were desperate. The grand experiment of hiring a Swede, Sven-Goran Eriksson, had gone terribly wrong and El Tri found itself on the brink of not qualifying for a World Cup, on the brink of the unthinkable, the unfathomable.

Would he help?

Aguirre did this once before, swooping in during the rocky 2002 qualification and going 4-0-1 over the final five matches to secure a World Cup spot. He left to guide Osasuna, an unfancied club from the Basque city of Pamplona, to the UEFA Cup. From there he took Atletico Madrid, after a decade of embarrassing finishes, to the UEFA Champions League before a string of poor results led to his dismissal in February.

He was in demand. He could wait for another big club's job to open. He could stay in Spain, where his two sons attend college. He could let someone else step onto the bridge of El Tri-tanic.

And he couldn't.

A commitment to my country, you know?

There was the new life that Mexico gave to his parents, and the life it gave him. There also was 1981, when Aguirre was part of the national-team player pool that failed to qualify for the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

“I don't want to talk about it, but of course I know what would happen if we don't qualify for this World Cup,” he says. “I remember that feeling. It was a disaster, terrible. It was devastating, for the federation, for the people, for everyone.”

So he said yes.

San Diego is a city Aguirre knows well. He has owned a condominium in La Jolla Colony for the past decade, vacationing here with his family during the offseason, going to beach, attending Padres games.

But this trip is no vacation. “We are not here to relax,” he says.

Aguirre is known for crafting teams in his image, of a kid discovered by pro scouts relatively late in his career, of a player who relied on raw grit more than raw talent, of someone who never stops working. Superstars often don't flourish in his system, and he is not afraid to jettison them if they pout.

“He tries to make a good group,” goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa says.

Aguirre also talks of wanting “hungry players,” and one of his first acts as national coach was to eliminate their per diem on road trips. Not so they literally wouldn't eat, but to reinforce the notion that you play for pride on the national team and nothing else.

His roster for today's game, and for the CONCACAF Gold Cup that begins next week, has few of the veterans who play for some of the biggest clubs in Europe – much to the consternation of Mexico's predatory soccer media. In their place are youngsters with little international experience.

Or, in other words, the exact type of player Aguirre loves to coach. To mold. To motivate.

“The Mexican national team does not depend on anybody,” Aguirre says. “There are no starters. We are all Mexican. There are some people who may not agree with me. They may have favorite players. But that's the right I have been given, to choose who I want.”

He taps his coaching jersey. It's green.

“I need people who want to win, who are proud of this shirt,” he says, “proud to be on the national team, proud of the anthem, proud to be Mexican.”

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Spain's Clumsy Censorship

As you may know by now, the Basque and Catalonian fans that were present at the Mestalla stadium in Valencia to witness the final of the Copa del Rey tournament between Basque team Athletic de Bilbao and Catalonian team Barcelona decided to express what Basques and Catalans feel regarding the anthem and king of an expansionist state that has impossed those foreign symbols on them.

Knowing that something like this could happen, the government lead by Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero decided to skip the opening ceremony and in doing so try to ensure that the entire world would learn that Basques and Catalonians do not feel Spaniards, they did it in such a clumsy way that now the Spanish government is the laughing stock around the world. Of course, when something like this happens in a totalitarian state with a king that was selected to the charge by the worst fascist dictator in Europe then someone has to take the blame and in this case, the scape goat is the Sports Director at the state television according to this article published at Soccer365:

Spanish TV station in hot water

While showing the game between Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona, Television Espanola (TVE) cut to reporters in Bilbao - the largest city in the Basque country - and Catalonian capital Barcelona instead of showing live footage of the Spanish national anthem being drowned out by whistles and boos from the two sets of fans at the Mestalla stadium in Valencia.

The station then aired the playing of the national anthem during half-time in the game, but with the jeers of the supporters edited out while also showing images of some of the supporters, who hail from two of Spain's most separatist regions, holding their hands to their hearts.

Antonio Gutierrez, PP representative for the Spanish autonomous region of Melilla, accused Luis Fernandez, president of the company which owns the channel, of "deciding which images or sounds may or may not be harmful for audiences".

TVE 1 presenter Juan Carlos Rivero apologised to viewers at half-time, explaining the decision to cut away from the stadium while the anthem was being played had been due to "human error".

The company which owns the channel, RTVE, then issued a statement at the end of the broadcast which again put the incident down to human error.

This morning TVE director Javier Pons held a press conference at which he announced that the station's director for sport, Julian Reyes, had left the broadcaster as a result of the incident, and that "an investigation had been begun to seek out others who may have been responsible".

On the pitch Barcelona overcame the surprise of conceding an early goal to Gaizka Toquero by romping to a comfortable 4-1 win thanks to strikes from Yaya Toure, Lionel Messi, Bojan Krkic and Xavi.

Barca are one point away from clinching the Primera Division title while Manchester United lie await in the Champions League final in Rome on May 27.

There you have it, more evidence that Spain has not yet evolved since the time when Francisco Franco ruled with iron fist.

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Messi's Basque Nemesis

This article featuring Basque football player Koikili Lertxundi was published at Times OnLine:

Only way to stop a genius

Chelsea can learn from one of the few to have tamed Messi

Ian Hawkey

KOIKILI LERTXUNDI is an unusual footballer. He has a degree in history and was once the Spanish under-15 champion at Greco-Roman wrestling. During his spare afternoons, he runs a human resources business in Vitoria, the capital of the Basque country. In the mornings, he drives his camper van to his other work, parks up next to the sports cars and high-performance vehicles of his colleagues and trains as the left-back for Athletic Bilbao.

Koikili , 28, is an especially rare footballer in this season’s Spanish first division for another reason: he has tamed Lionel Messi. Many full-backs have tried, several have approached the task with an X-rated brutality, but very few have anaesthetised the menace of the little Argentinian as effectively as Koikili. Messi scored when Barcelona defeated Athletic 2-0 at Camp Nou last month but only by converting a penalty. Otherwise, he had a diminished influence, tightly policed throughout by the brainy Basque.

“I was impressed with the marking job Koikili did,” said Barça’s head coach, Pep Guardiola, who is usually keener to draw referees’ attention to how often Messi gets fouled.

“With Messi, there’s no special secret,” says Koikili. “The key is to stay right on top of him, stick close and not let him enter a duel with the ball at his feet. Once he does that, he’s at his best.”

Koikili was Leo’s limpet for most of the Barça-Athletic game, so much so that Messi drifted into a more central position and even briefly tried switching wings. He had scarcely seemed so thwarted since, 12 months ago, Barcelona went 180 minutes without a goal in the European Cup semi-final games against Manchester United. On those nights, his marshal was Patrice Evra.

You can take a good guess at Messi’s first instinct in a duel. He is conspicuously left-footed and, though his ability to attack the space outside the left-back and cross or control with his right foot has improved in the past three seasons, his natural deviation is to move inside the pitch from right wing. When Real Madrid went to Camp Nou in December, coach Juande Ramos put Sergio Ramos, a right-footer, at left-back to counter the manoeuvre. Other managers have thought likewise.

“You can understand it,” says Koikili. “Messi is stronger on his left foot and, as his marker, you are aware that’s the side he’s going to want to go past you. But left-footer or right-footer, the main thing is to stop him being in the position to set off on one of those runs.”

Continues...

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Football's Identity Matters

The article you are about to read was published at Goal.com and it tip-toes around the fact that the inhabitants of Euskal Herria and Catalunya (two out of the three abducted nations by Spanish colonialism) do not feel Spanish and therefore do not support Spain's national football team. Here you have it:

World Cup Debate: Spain - Divided, But Still Successful

Goal.com takes a look at that land of many cultures - Spain - and the status of the national team...

It's a rare country that has everyone within its borders cheering for national team success. Virtually everywhere on earth you will find ex-pats, immigrants, and the children of immigrants - sitting quietly at home while the majority are out watching the national team compete in the World Cup.

What's more, in quite a few you will even find native-born citizens, stretching back generations, who are not the least bit interested in the fortunes of the national side. Perhaps nowhere in Europe is this more true than in Spain.

A House Divided

The Spanish football roadshow - easily one of Europe's more mobile national teams - seems to cover a heck of a lot of ground, but this is deceptive. The vast, vast majority of the matches are played in the various pro-Spain heartlands of Castile and Leon, Castile-La Mancha, Andalucia, Asturias, Extremadura, and even Galicia and Murcia. Valencia is well-resented, too, while La Rioja, Navarre, Aragon and the Canaries are also visited. But Catalonia? The Basque Country? No.

There are parts of Spain, then, in which the national side simply is not relevant. Catalonia is the first example: sure, there are Spain fans there, but not many, borne out by the fact that the Furia Roja have not played there since 2000. (To give some context, Spain have in the meantime visited such footballing hotbeds as Vila-Real, Elche, Logrono, and Leon.)

More amazingly, the last time Spain hosted international opposition in Bilbao was in 1967 - at the height of Francoism, in other words - and San Sebastian/Donostia in 1923. Have they any immediate plan to return? Why would they? The attendance would probably be low and the outcry massive.

Flying The Flag

Yet despite the groundswell of opposition at grassroots level, when it comes to professional football, Spanish recognition remains the big prize. Proud Catalans such as Xavi and Bojan without hesitation - and without moderation - play for Spain as readily as they would their clubs. So fulsome were Xavi's efforts last summer, in fact, that he was named Euro 2008's Player of the Tournament.

That's not to say that there cannot be tensions. This current squad is undoubtedly one blessed with camaraderie and spirit, but previous coaches have not quite managed the same. Just look at Javier Clemente. He was accused by Marca, among others, of having a bias towards his beloved Athletic Bilbao, and selecting players who had 'a couple of half-decent games' for the San Mames outfit. Later, Luis Aragones weathered the same controversy for his Atletico Madrid predilection, but in Clemente's case there was, sadly, an ethnic undertone to both his (alleged) policy and some of his critics.

In other words, it's a minefield, and specifically so in the Basque country. This video, courtesy of Carlsberg and partofthegame.tv, featuring football writer Phil Ball, may explain more.

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What they do not point out is that unlike England that allows for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to play in international tournaments, Spain will not even allow Euskal Herria, Catalunya and Galiza to do the same which once again proves that those who call the shots in Madrid have little regard for the right to self determination of all nations in the world.

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Football and Politics

In this article published at Goal the author takes the act of courage and solidarity towards the Palestinians by Frederic Kanouté to go deeper into the (awkward) relationship between politics and sports in Francoist minded Spain:

Spanish Debate: The Politics Of Football In Spain

Cyrus C. Malek looks at the interplay between politics and sport in Spain - something that has seemingly always been the case and forever will be...

Celebrating a well-taken goal against Deportivo La Coruña in a Copa del Rey match, Sevilla's Frederic Kanouté lifted his club's shirt to reveal a second shirt with the Spanish 'Palestina' and the Arabic, 'Phillistine' (فلسطين) emblazoned across the chest in a public cry of protest against the atrocities being committed in Gaza. While the Spanish Football Federation fined the player a hefty 3,000 euros, Kanouté, a native of Mali and a follower of Islam, has won much praise from many quarters for using his position on the pitch as a stage for socio-political commentary. The Palestinian Embassy released a statement thanking the striker for providing an inspiration for Palestinian children, Barcelona's Pep Guardiola has publicly condemned the fine as excessive and voiced his own condemnation of the massacre, and Iranian first division club Zob Ahan Isfahan has even offered to pay the player's fine as a tribute to the cause.

Politics is no stranger to Spanish football. Throughout its lifetime on the Iberian Peninsula, football has been inexorably linked to the political events of the era. No saga more infamous, of course, than the politically-charged rift between Barcelona and Real Madrid.

The Spanish Civil War, Generalissimo Francisco Franco's rise to power, and Spain's eventual transition to democracy (or more precisely, a constitutional monarchy) are marked by the blood rivalry -in the very real sense of the expression- between Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona. During the first month of the Spanish Civil war, Barça's politically left-leaning president, Josep Sunyol, was murdered by the Falangistas (the Nationalist military movement) and Spanish football became a symbolic forum for the political ideologies of the day.

Barcelona, which was already the ensign for the progressive movements of fashion, food, architecture, and art, became the symbol for progressive politics—the resistance against the oppression of dictatorial government. With the banning of the Catalán, Gallego (Galician), and Euskera (Basque) languages under the fascist regime, one of the few places that Catalán could be spoken freely (and safely) was in the Barça stadium. Adopting the Catalán motto, 'Més que un club', FC Barcelona became 'more than a club' in its encounters against Real Madrid, the club associated with the oppressive rule of the capitol government.

How close the ties between the Madrid club and Franco's fascist government were in actuality remains ambiguous to say the very least, but the arrival of Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stéfano at the Bernabéu remains a near-undisputed instance of political influence. Wholly left out of the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, a war-torn and impoverished Spain was under Franco's all but total control. Had Di Stéfano signed for Barcelona, the public attention would have shifted toward Spain's gateway to free-thinking democratic ideals and thus the necessary strings were pulled to have Di Stéfano, a player of unmatched talent, call the Spanish capital home.

While some (perhaps not completely unwarranted) claims are made that the government played a more direct role in footballing affairs by influencing referees to favour Madrid in domestic matches, one cannot deny the unsurpassed superiority of Di Stéfano's Madrid that won 5 consecutive titles on the European stage—beyond the scope of Franco's "influence". Nonetheless, the stigma remained throughout the latter half of the 20th century and footballing great Johan Cruyff chose Barça over Real Madrid stating that he could not play for a club associated with Franco.

Since the years of fascism, the historical rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona has assumed a less dual role with respect to political implications. But the sphere of politics still envelops Spain's football clubs in regional disputes. The issues of political/social autonomy from the central government and distribution of resources (e.g. high speed trains) across the Spanish country remain contentious talking points, especially for the Galician, Basque, and Catalunyan provinces. Where Catalán, Gallego, and Euskera were once banned under Franco, now the first language taught in schools are those of their respective provinces. As a result, Spanish is taught for only a few hours a week and the children of Spanish-speakers in these provinces have limited options of studying Castilian Spanish. These tensions lend a distinctly political flavour to matches featuring Barça, the Galician Deportivo La Coruña, or the Basque Athletic Bilbao.

Of course the famous Athletic Bilbao have taken the devotion to their unique situation a step further by only employing Basque players (it is worth noting that the ethno-political ties run so deep, that Athletic captain, Joseba Etxeberria has pledged to forego his wages and play next season, his last as a professional, for free). While the all-Basque roster has seen a few exceptions to the rule (now players of any origin can play for Athletic, just as long as they acquired their skills in the Basque Country), one can imagine the sort of tension that might have surrounded a match during the 90s when the Basque militant group ETA was at at its height. As an aside, there is something to be said for Athletic Bilbao's impressive feat of having remained contentious in La Primera for so long despite such a limited talent pool from which to fish.

Back in Madrid, the country's two main political parties, the conservative Partido Popular (PP) and the socialist Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE), have footballing connections as well. PSOE leader and Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Zapatero is an ardent Barcelona supporter and makes public predictions for El Clásico while his predecessor, José María Aznar of the PP, has even been linked to the Real Madrid presidency in the upcoming summer elections. On the northern edge of Madrid, the regional disputes between the central government and the semi-autonomous provinces make their home at the royal governing body of football, the Real Federación Española de Fútbol (RFEF) where debates are periodically held on whether Catalunya and the other provinces should be able to compete in international competitions as separate entities from La Roja, the Spanish national team. And not so far away from the Bernabéu, Spanish sports daily Marca, a publication first printed as an iconic form of propaganda for Franco's Falange, now exposes the obstruction of democratic principles as Ramón Calderón was forced to resign in a scandal involving the rigging of votes at Real Madrid's general Assembly.

One of the greatest beauties of Spanish football lies in the fact that its purview is not solely limited to a vessel of entertainment. In a country with a tumultuous history, where language itself was oppressed and women could not open a bank account until 1975, the sport transcends sport, serving as both an implicit and explicit conduit for political and cultural expression. As more foreign players bring their diversity of backgrounds and political views to La Liga, it seems fitting that the political debate would take the next step to the global stage. In the case of Freddy Kanouté's gesture, one can only speculate how the act contributed in raising awareness and mobilizing over 250,000 Spaniards at the midweek, from Madrid to Málaga, to take part in the largest pro-Palestinian demonstration in Europe. The beautiful game, indeed.

Something to point out; the children of Spanish speaking families have absolutely no problem getting their education in Spanish (Castillian), for public education in the part of the Basque Country occupied by Spain is in Spanish. That misconception has been making the rounds in the mean stream media ever since a "journalist" by the name of Keith Johnson who happens to be in the payroll of José María Aznar published an extensive article against the teaching of Euskara (Basque language) in Euskal Herria. The truth is, there is plenty of public schools where education is in Spanish, even more, most of the ikastolak (Basque schools) are private so Basque parents have to pay an extra amount to get their kids to receive their education in Euskara, as opposed to the public schools which are free of charge.

One more thing, in 1998, Aitor Zabaleta, a Basque follower of Donostia's Real Sociedad football team was murdered after an Spanish police officer tricked him into entering a bar full of Atletico de Madrid followers.

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Lies

Unbelievable, according to the Tehran Times the Basque government has issued a letter of apology in which they lie to the Iranians about the reason why the friendly match was cancelled.

Here you have the report as is:

Basque football chief apologizes to Iran

Tehran Times Sports Desk

TEHRAN - Basque Football Federation president has sent a letter of apology to Iran Football Federation (IFF) over the cancellation of the friendly match.

This friendly was scheduled on December 23 at the San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao but the Basque officials cancelled it because of quarrel between their players.

The Basque Football Federation has requested its counterpart to hold a friendly at another time.

Iran will travel to Galicia, north-west Spain, on Wednesday to play a warm up with a team from the region.

First of all, there is not such thing as a Basque Football Federation, the Basques can only dream of the day when their sports team will gain international recognition. But anyway, the real reason why the friendly match had to be canceled was because the government of the Basque Autonomous Community (which comprises only three out of the seven Basque provinces) decided to betray the players by changing the name from Euskal Herria, a designation that encompasses all of the Basque Country for Euskadi, a term that in recent years have come to include only the three provinces included in the Basque Autonomous Community. The players of the Basque national team come from all seven provinces and even Basque descendants in other countries are considered and this is why they decided to stick with the Euskal Herria designation.

Boy, those Basque politicians from the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV for its initials in Spanish) are as trecherous as their French and Spanish counterparts.

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The Importance of a Name

The government of the Basque Autonomous Community has decided to give a step backwards in the struggle by the Basque sports' teams to compete for the Basque Country. But the Basque football players are not buying it, this note published by the International Herald Tribune addresses the issue:

Basque players may boycott Iran friendly over name

The Associated Press
Published: November 13, 2008

BILBAO, Spain: Basque Country players may boycott a football friendly against Iran next month because of a dispute over the team's name.

One hundred and sixty-five current and former Basque players said in a statement on Thursday that they will not be available for the Dec. 23 match if the Basque football federation returns to calling the team Euskadi instead of Euskadi Herria.

The federation changed the name to Euskadi Herria last July at the urging of the players, who felt it was a better overall reference to the players' origins.

Basque County had been referred to as Euskadi since 1990.

Twenty-seven players from Basque club Athletic Bilbao and others from a variety of clubs ranging from Real Sociedad to Panathinaikos signed the letter.

Like other Spanish regions, players native to the Basque Country occasionally gather to compete in friendlies against international teams but aren't permitted to play in official competitions.

Actually, the name that the players want is Euskal Herria, not Euskadi Herria. The thing is, the name Euskadi has been increasingly associated with only the three provinces that conform the Basque Autonomous Community, a political entity that is ruled by the Basque Nationalist Party, a political party that has been veering off the path to independence for the Basque Country to comply by the goal of its leadership to obtain financial profits from the current political status with Spain. Euskal Herria on the other hand is a term that encompasses the seven historic Basque provinces, this is why the players prefer it over the other one, because their will is to participate in the broader project of conforming a Basque nation, recognized by the international community.

As its obvious, the Basque football players have much more integrity and dignity that the Basque politicians that rule the destiny of the Basque Nationalist Party.

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Real Union's Victory

Spaniards must be quite upset right about now, but why?

Well, a humble Basque football team just expelled the mighty Real Madrid from a football tournament that honors Franco's appointed ruler Juan Carlos Borbon (whom some people call king for some obscure reason).

Back in October when Irun based Real Union defeated Real Madrid in their home field this was the reaction:

Madrid loses 3-2 to third-division Real Union in Copa del Rey

Oct 30, 2008

IRUN, Spain — Third-division Real Union upset Real Madrid 3-2 in the Copa del Rey on Thursday, continuing the Spanish league champion's poor record in the knockout competition it hasn't won since 1993.

Juan Dominguez scored twice and Inaki Goikoetxea netted the winner for Real Union, while Gonzalo Higuain and Javier Saviola replied in the fourth round first-leg match for Madrid, which will need a victory to progress from the return leg at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Nov. 12.

Madrid was the fourth top-flight team to suffer an upset in this week's Copa del Rey games. On Wednesday, Villarreal was humiliated 5-0 at third-division Polideportivo Ejido, Racing Santander went down 2-1 at second-division Murcia, while Sevilla lost 1-0 at third-division Ponferradina.

There was a scare in the 14th minute when Madrid's Spain midfielder Ruben De La Red fell as he walked away from the Real Union penalty area. De La Red was carried off on a stretcher after being treated for two minutes. Reports said De La Red fainted but quickly recovered consciousness at Real Union's Gal Stadium. The 23-year-old player was taken to hospital as a precaution but would reportedly be allowed to travel back to Madrid with his teammates.

Madrid coach Bernd Schuster fielded an understrength team, with goalkeeper Iker Casillas, captain Raul Gonzalez, striker Ruud van Nistelrooy among those rested. Real Union, which won the competition in 1924, stunned the league champions in the second minute when Dominguez forced his way past Madrid right back Michel Salgado and sidefooted his shot past goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek.

Madrid took eight minutes to tie the score, Higuain capitalizing on a defence-splitting pass from captain Jose Maria "Guti" Gutierrez to sidefoot home. The minnows regained the lead in the 21st after Madrid defender Christoph Metzelder lost possession. Joseba Aguirre crossed from the right and Dominguez ran in to power a header past Dudek.

Saviola, who had wasted a clear chance moments earlier, made amends by equalizing in the 53rd minute with a curling, rising shot after Real Union failed to deal with a corner. However, Real Union again responded and Goikoetxea turned home Felix Quero's cross from the right in the 63rd for his team's winning goal.

Noticed? Not a single mention that Real Union is a Basque team, which really matters since Real Madrid represents the Spanish most backwards ultra-nationalism.

Here you have a bit of history about Real Union provided by Goal.com:

Early Pioneers

Real Unión de Irún were one of the founding members of the inaugural Primera Liga competition back in 1928. They only spent four seasons in the top flight before being relegated and subsequently disappearing off the map of Spanish football, but they enjoyed some glory years while it lasted.

They won the Copa del Rey three times in the early days, two of which came by beating their very opponent on Thursday, Real Madrid, first in 1918 and then again in 1924. That was some 90 years ago. Nowadays, the club’s main focus is to slowly crawl back up the divisions and they appear to be on the right track at this stage of the campaign.

Currently leading the Group I Segunda B (third tier) standings after ten rounds, the Basque outfit coached by Iñaki Alonso have only lost once in all competitions so far this season and they have won their last four games in a row. Unión might not have the same kind of rivalry and animosity as an Athletic Bilbao or a Real Sociedad would have towards Los Blancos, but Bernd Schuster’s men can still expect a frosty reception.

So, you can imagine the general mood when Real Union went to Madrid to oust Spain's most representative team:

Madrid humbled by battling Union

A Raul hat-trick was not enough to save Real Madrid from an embarrassing Copa del Rey exit on their own turf against Segunda B side Real Union. Madrid lost the opening leg 3-2 in Irun on October 30, and although they again struggled against a team who plays in the same league as their reserve side, they looked to be going through when Raul completed his treble with five minutes left to give them a 6-5 aggregate lead.

However, there was still time for one last twist in a entertaining tie as Arangoa Eneko Romo scored in injury time to pull the score back to 4-3 and send Real Union through to the last 16 on away goals. Bernd Schuster's players had spoken about the importance of the competition in the lead up to the game and the coach included some of his key men with Fabio Cannavaro, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael Van der Vaart and Raul all handed starting roles.

Despite that it was the home side who went behind after 14 minutes when Paul Abasolo was on target. Raul made sure Madrid went into the break on level terms with his first goal after 35 minutes but the hosts were again behind four minutes after the break thanks to an Asier Salcedo strike.

Raul was again the man to find an equaliser, a minute later, and when Alberto Bueno netted after 69 minutes the Primera Liga champions finally looked to be getting a grip on their rivals. Madrid's comeback looked to have been completed when Raul added his third of the night with just five minutes left but Eneko Romo would ensure a famous night for Real Union when he netted in injury time.

In Latin America all of the sports channels haven been keeping this result from the public, as if all Latin Americans were fans of Real Madrid. My bet is because they would have to report that Real Union is a Basque team, and the media is being paid by the Spanish political class to creat a smoke curtain around anything and everything Basque. This is why I leave you with this picture of Real Union's captain celebrating their victory at the Bernabeu Stadium (home to some of the must racist and violent fans in Europe) with his armband showing the Ikurriña (Basque flag):

.... ... .

Interview with Joseba Etxeberria

This heartwarming interview with Joseba Etxeberria comes to us courtesy of Sky Sports:

No place like home

Veteran midfielder keen to repay debt of gratitude to Bilbao

Last updated: 29th October 2008

Anyone who doubts the beautiful game has still got soul need only take a look at Athletic Bilbao veteran Joseba Etxeberria.

The former Spain international has signed a one-year contract extension with Bilbao that will see him play his final season for free.

Etxeberria's current deal expires at the end of the 2008/09 La Liga campaign but the 31-year-old admitted he was determined to finish his career with the club that has nurtured him from a teenager.

"I'd always indeed to end my career here and make a gesture like this," Etxeberria, who joined Bilbao from Real Sociedad, told Revista de la Liga.

"I wanted to say thanks to those involved with the club for the support they've given me over the years.

"I was only 17 when I arrived and everything was very new but the people here helped me feel at home and settle in.

"It was a great experience from the very beginning. I've been at the club for 14 years and there have been ups and down but I've played in the Uefa cup and the Champions League for Bilbao and it's been very special."

Pride

Etxeberria, who netted in his side's 3-2 defeat at reigning champions Real Madrid, has plied his trade on the international stage, featuring in the 1998 World Cup and two European Championships for Spain.

But he insists pulling on the shirt in front of Bilbao's feverishly patriotic fans still holds the greatest lure.

"There is a great deal of pride involved because all the players come from the Basque region," Etxeberria revealed, referring to the club's proudly-upheld Basque-only transfer-policy.

"Athletic Bilbao is a feeling and a state of mind. As a player here, you are part of something that's more than just a club; this is where we are all from so we're part of a big family.

"And the fact that we're all Basque also brings us closer to the fans who have come to support us.

The man the fans affectionately call 'El Gallo' is philosophical about the significance of a gesture that has raised a few eyebrows in the cash-rich game.

"Money is obviously an important part if life, it gives you security," Etxeberria added.

"But I believe that the richest man is not the man who has the most, but the man who needs the least.

"Football is a professional business and everyone of course has to look after their own interests but this club has changed my life and my family's life.

"It has made sure that I have been happy in the team and that we have been happy in the city. I wouldn't have made this gesture for any other."

.... ... .

Osasuna : A Basque Football Team

The only reason why I am posting this note published by The International Herald Tribune is because they are calling Osasuna a Basque football team, which I am sure will enrage more than one Spaniard claiming that Navarre is not part of the Basque Country.

Here you have it:

Osasuna hires Camacho as coach

The Associated Press
Published: October 13, 2008

PAMPLONA, Spain: Osasuna hired former Spain and Real Madrid coach Jose Camacho on Monday, hours after firing Jose Angel Ziganda.

The 53-year-old Camacho agreed to lead the Basque club through the end of the current Spanish league, with financial details not offered.

Osasuna released Ziganda six games into his third season, with the club lying 16th in the 20-team standings with four points.

Camacho had largely been working in television since March when he quit Benfica seven months into his second spell at the Portuguese club.

I love it, Osasuna's name is in Euskara, the Basque language, and it means "health". In fact, from the three Basque teams playing in Spain's Premier League, is the only one with a Basque name.

.... ... .

Etxeberria's Gesture

This note comes to us thanks to RTÉ Sports:

Bilbao striker to play for free

Friday, 3 October 2008 13:41

Long-serving Athletic Bilbao forward Joseba Etxeberria has announced he is set to retire at the end of the 2009/10 season, and that he will play his final year in football for free.

The 31-year-old has signed a one-year contract extension which will see him receive no wages from the Basque club for the whole of next season.

At a press conference on Thursday the forward, who joined Athletic at the age of 17 in 1995, revealed he asked directors for the ground-breaking deal as a gesture to repay the club for their support throughout his career.However, he does not expect other players to follow his lead.

'I wanted to make this gesture, but at no time did I want to set a precedent,' he told reporters.

'We're in a professional world where it's legitimate for each person to defend their rights and their contracts, and I think that's how it should be.

'But this is a gesture I'm making to show my gratitude for the love I've received during so many years. It's something I've been mulling over for a long time.'

Despite being only 32 by the end of the deal, Etxeberria added he had chosen to retire because 'I've been going a long time and it's time to step aside for new people'.

Bilbao president Fernando Garcia Macua added:' Etxeberria's gesture of playing at absolutely no cost to the club is surely a unique case in world football.'

What a guy!

.... ... .

Lesson From Athletic Bilbao

This article comes to us via Bleacher Report:

Athletic Bilbao's Recruitment Policy an Example to Every Club in Europe

by Anthony Sanchez

Athletic Bilbao’s “cantera” policy is the bravest statement any club could make in today’s climate of greed and hunger for success and money no matter what the cost.

Bilbao is located in the Basque country of which there are seven provinces. Four in Spain and three in France. Bilbao’s cantera policy, (cantera translates as "quarry") dictates that Bilbao will only field players from the Basque region or of Basque descent.

This policy has served Bilbao and Spain well. Bilbao are the fourth most successful club in Spain behind Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid with eight La Liga titles and twenty-three Copa Del Reys and they have provided more players for the Spanish national team than anyone else (somewhat ironic when Basque politics are taken into account).

Athletic Bilbao are similar to Barcelona in that the club is about something more than football. They both represent the identity of a region.

Like Catalonia, the Basque region’s culture suffered under Spanish Dictator Francisco Franco. In a bid to promote nationalism Franco banned the Basque language, the cantera policy, the Basque flag, and they even had to temporarily change their name from Athletic to Atletico to adhere to Spanish language laws.

Real Madrid and Barcelona, along with other Spanish clubs, have had similar recruitment policies to Bilbao but have never stuck to them with the same conviction.

Even way back when Argentinian Alfredo Di Stefano, Real’s greatest player was playing, Real bent their own rules by getting him dual nationality. Barcelona’s lack of faith in their own youth policy is evident when you see their home-grown players like Cesc Fabregas at Arsenal and Gerard Pique signing for Manchester United (though he has now returned for a fee).

While Real Madrid and Barcelona, in fact come to mention it every other top flight club in Europe, spent the summer searching the world for suitable talent, Bilbao have calmly gone into the new season without a single foreign player in their squad.

Although the cantera policy has been changed in recent years so any player can be considered Basque as long as he acquired his skills in the Basque country, this rule has been rarely used and there is still only a small number of non-Basques who have ever played for the club.

Unfortunately, the club’s form has begun to suffer as a result. Mid-table finishes over the last decade have gradually descended to the 2006-2007 seasons relegation battle when survival was only guaranteed on the last day.

Though last season they performed better with an eleventh place finish in La Liga, and many people are optimistic of their chances this season, it remains to be seen if the club can move forward using their current policies.

The club’s finances have also taken a hammering in recent years, though they are attempting to correct this issue. Amazingly, for the first time ever, Bilbao will carry the name of a sponsor on the front of their shirt this season. A two million euro deal was reached with Petronor refining company recently.

The rise of Osasuna and Real Sociedad have also seen them competing for the attention of the best Basque players which have become a somewhat dwindling resource. According to Spanish daily AS in 1928, 56 percent of Spanish footballers were Basques compared with 8 percent today.

This downturn in form shows no signs of changing Bilbao’s recruitment techniques though. “El Mundo-” Spain’s second largest newspaper reported in the mid nineties that 76 percent of the club’s fans would rather see the club relegated than give up the cantera policy. The fans see the clubs identity as being more important than trophies.

This policy of retaining a link with the region which gave birth to the club may be seen as borderline racism by some, but to me it is an amazingly admirable thing.

It would be so easy for Bilbao to try and recruit some big name players, push for a Champions League place and try to sell a million replica shirts in Asia but they don’t. The board of the club show amazing integrity by always making sure the supporters are the first priority, not money.

Now I’m not stupid enough to think this kind of policy could work everywhere neither would I want it to but I would be happy to see it employed in every club to a certain extent.

My club, Manchester United for instance, have always done well getting local talent in the team and I think most of the teams they have produced have had Mancunian players. Players such as Jack Crompton, Roger Byrne, Nobby Stiles, Brian Kidd, Remi Moses all the way up to Wes Brown, Paul Scholes, and Ryan Giggs are examples of local players who have achieved success with the club.

But without players from other countries like George Best, Dennis Law, Eric Cantona, Carlos Tevez, and Cristiano Ronaldo and players from other regions, Bobby Charlton, Bryan Robson, and David Beckham, the success the club has had would probably not have been possible.

The ambitious clubs are going to continue hunting the best players, that is inevitable, and I wouldn’t want it any other way but I believe rules should be brought in to force clubs to include a small collection local players in their squad.

Otherwise what is the point of the clubs adopting the names of the areas they come from? Surely it is about more than where the team plays their home games?

I have heard it said that bringing in laws to limit the number of foreign players is against European law but I have also heard it said that bringing in laws to make a minimum number of home-grown native players compulsary would not be. Maybe this is the way forward.

I understand my thoughts maybe uncomprehensible to all the supporters from around the world who will never visit the city of the club they support or for the players who dream of playing for a club in another country or continent.

But in a game where clubs are fast losing any connection with the people that built them, where super clubs like Manchester United and Real Madrid fight over a Portuguese player who couldn’t care less about either of them and a Russian billionaire in West London collects footballers like he’s trying to complete his Panini sticker album, maybe European clubs could learn a lesson from Athletic Bilbao and bring a little bit of much needed integrity to their clubs.

.... ... .

Russian Football's Basque Tactics

Too bad the Russian national team was unable to kick the annoying Spaniards out of the Euro Cup 2008 the way they did with the Dutch, here you have an article that comes to us via The Guardian about the link between the Basque and the Russian football tactics:

The Soviet tactical revolution has its roots in a 1930s Basque team

The fluid teamwork which came to define football in the USSR owes much to a 1930s touring team and the inspirational Dinamo coach who built on it

Jonathan Wilson
June 26, 2008 10:34 AM

Valeriy Lobanovskyi has a tendency to overshadow any discussion of the Soviet style and, given his success, understandably so. He was not, though, its progenitor. He shaped it to his vision and, thanks to his use of cybernetics, took it to new levels, but he was working in a tradition, a stream of thought that swept from Russia to Ukraine and back again to define the Soviet conception of the game.

It may have been the Dutch style to which football in the USSR ended up being most closely related, but the movement towards that philosophy was kick-started by encounters with a Basque select side that toured the USSR in 1937 to raise awareness of their cause during the Spanish Civil War.

A national championship had begun in the USSR in 1936, but football in the region remained fairly backward, tied to the old-fashioned 2-3-5 that was the default when British sailors first introduced the game to St Petersburg at the end of the 19th century. Isolation meant few games against foreign opposition, and little opportunity to recognise the advances that had been made elsewhere.

The Basques, featuring six of the Spain squad from the 1934 World Cup, soon exposed how underdeveloped the Soviet game was. Deploying the W-M formation that had been developed by Herbert Chapman at Arsenal in the late 1920s, they won seven and drew one of their nine games, losing only to Spartak, who were the one side to match them shape-for-shape.

"The performances of Basque Country in the USSR showed that our best teams are far from high quality," a piece in Pravda pointed out. "It is clear that improving the quality of the Soviet teams depends directly on matches against serious opponents. The matches against the Basques have been highly beneficial to our players (long passes, playing on the flanks, heading the ball)."

The lessons were there to be learned, and no one learned them faster than the Dinamo coach, Boris Arkadiev. Born in St Petersburg in 1899, he had moved to Moscow after the revolution, where he taught fencing at the Mikhail Frunze military academy. It was fencing, he later explained, with its emphasis on parry-riposte, that convinced him of the value of counter-attacking.

"After the Basque tour, all the leading Soviet teams started to reorganise in the spirit of the new system," Arkadiev wrote. "Torpedo moved ahead of their opponents in that respect and, having the advantage in tactics, had a great first half of the season in 1938 and by 1939 all of our teams were playing with the new system." Dinamo struggled to adapt, slipping to fifth in 1938, and a lowly ninth the year after.

Others might have gone back to basics, but not Arkadiev. With the mould broken, he experimented further. In February 1940, at a pre-season training camp in the Black Sea resort of Gagry, he took the unprecedented step of spending a two-hour session teaching nothing but tactics. His aim, he said, was a refined variant of the W-M. "With the third-back, lots of our and foreign clubs employed so-called roaming players in attack," Arkadiev explained. "This creative searching didn't go a long way, but it turned out to be a beginning of a radical perestroika in our football tactics.

"To be absolutely honest, some players started to roam for reasons that had nothing to do with tactics. Sometimes it was simply because he had great strength, speed or stamina that drew him out of his territorial area, and once he had left his home, he began to roam around the field. So you had four players [of the five forwards] who would hold an orthodox position and move to and fro in their channels, and then suddenly you would have one player who would start to disrupt their standard movements by running diagonally or left to right. That made it difficult for the defending team to follow him, and the other forwards benefited because they had a free team-mate to whom they could pass."

The season began badly, with draws against Krylya Sovetov Moscow and Traktor Stalingrad and defeat at Dinamo Tbilisi, but Arkadiev didn't waver. The day after the defeat in Tbilisi, he gathered his players together, sat them down and made them write a report on their own performance and that of their team-mates. The air cleared, the players seemed suddenly to grasp Arkadiev's intentions. On June 4, playing a rapid, close-passing style, Dinamo beat Dynamo Kyiv 8-5. They went on to win the return in Ukraine 7-0, and then, in August, they hammered the defending champions Spartak 5-1. Their final seven games of the season brought seven wins, with 26 goals scored and only three conceded, and Dinamo swept to the title.

"Our players worked to move from a schematic W-M, to breathe the Russian soul into the English invention," Arkadiev said. "We confused the opposition, leaving them without weaponry with our sudden movements. Our left-winger, Sergei Ilyin, scored most of his goals from the centre-forward position, our right-winger, Mikhail Semichastny, from inside-left and our centre-forward, Sergei Soloviov, from the flanks."

Movement and the interchange of positions became key. War caused the abandonment of football for four years, and by the time the league began again, Arkadiev had moved to CDKA, where he instituted the same principles that continued to underpin Dinamo's method. Between them, the two sides won the first seven post-war Soviet titles, and as his 1946 book, Tactics of Football, became acknowledged as a bible for coaches across eastern Europe, the Arkadiev style became the Soviet style.

Most significantly, its effectiveness was recognised abroad as Dinamo charmed British fans and experts on their 1945 tour. They played, Geoffrey Simpson wrote in the Daily Mail, "a brand of football which, in class, style and effectiveness is way ahead of our own. As for its entertainment value - well, some of those who have been cheering their heads off at our league matches must wonder what they are shouting about". Nine years after being taught a lesson by the Basques, Soviet football was handing out lessons of its own.

.... ... .

Inmune To "Red Fever"

Basques and Catalans are not Spaniards, which explains why we can care less about what the Spanish national team achieves in the Euro Cup.

Now, when the national teams for Euskal Herria and Catalunya are finally allowed to compete in international tournaments things will be different.

In the mean time the reaction will be the one described on this article found at Earth. com:

'Red Fever' sweeping across almost all of Spain

Posted : Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:04:02 GMT
Author : DPA
Category : Sports

Madrid - There has been a severe outbreak of "Red Fever" across Spain. "La Seleccion"'s 4-1 thrashing of Russia on Tuesday, in their Euro 2008 debut, has provoked delight, expectation and even euphoria across the country.

The only regions of Spain which appear to be relatively immune to "Red Fever", as per usual, are the Basque Country and Catalonia, two regions where "La Seleccion" has never enjoyed much support - and where the national team has not played for almost 20 years.

Bilbao and Barcelona remained relatively calm on Tuesday evening, whilst David Villa was destroying Russia with the tournament's first hat-trick.

In practically every other Spanish city, though, there was near-bedlam, with people following the game on open-air giant screens or crowding into bars and cafes.

The triumph allowed many Spaniards to put aside, albeit for a few hours, the property market crisis and the truck drivers strike provoked by sky-high petrol prices.

Most offices, warehouses, factories, schools and universities closed earlier than usual on Tuesday, in order to allow people to see the debut of Luis Aragones' talented team.

Continues...

.... ... .

About the German Athletic's Review

Here you have an analysis of the review made by a German newspaper a few days ago appeared at EITb:

Sports

Athletic Bilbao

German newspaper Der Spiegel analyzes Bilbao Athletic

04/13/2008

Walter Mayr has written a long article in which he analyzes the resistance of Bilbao Athletic’s philosophy in the globalized modern football.

Under the title "How a Proud Basque Team Is Resisting Globalization", Walter Mayr journalist analyzes from Germany the philosophy of Bilbao Athletic. History, fans, players, myths… nothing escapes from the particular vision of this newspaper.

The most significant summaries of the text originally written in German are shown below in English:

"Athletic Bilbao is Europe's most exotic football club. For 80 years, the legendary club has managed to keep itself in Spain's top division, fielding players recruited exclusively from the Basque region. But how long can the fiercely independent club continue to resist the trends of globalization?

For the last 80 years -that is, the entire lifespan of the league- the legendary club has played in Spain's Primera División. The only other clubs that have managed the same feat are Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. But the difference between Athletic Bilbao and these two powerhouses of Spanish soccer is that the Basque team only recruits players from the Basque region. More precisely, its players are either Basques or outsiders who came of age playing in Basque clubs.

Ever since the 1995 Bosman ruling by the European Court of Justice, which gave professional football players more freedom to move between clubs within the European Union, Athletic has become somewhat of a dinosaur in terms of its unique hiring policy. The last foreigner left the club in 1912.

Nevertheless, the annals of the club list eight championship titles and 24 cup victories. Athletic can also boast the most unerring goal scorer, the highest score ever in a league victory -its 12-1 win over FC Barcelona in 1931- and the highest number of players invited to join the Spanish national team.

"We cannot and will not change our principles", says Iribar. Even if globalization continues its forward march and survival in the business of professional soccer gets more difficult every year, Athletic insists on abiding by its traditions. "We must keep our feet on the ground and have confidence in the players we have", says Iribar.

Iribar's words carry a lot of weight among the Basques. He has earned that respect because it was he who -in December 1976, a year after the death of the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco- marched onto the field ahead of a match against San Sebastián bearing the Basque flag, which had been outlawed for 40 years.

The crowd in the stands behind Athletic's goalposts is now rhythmically chanting the words "Herri Norte," or "People of the North". Some fans are even waving banners calling for the release of captured members of the Basque terrorist organization, ETA. Others, interspersed among the crowd, are singing "Let's kill a Spaniard" to the tune of "When the Saints Go Marching In".

Nevertheless, radical Basques represent a tiny minority among Athletic fans, who are mostly known for having good manners. But they exist. And despite the fact that it once lost one of its members, Juan Pedro Guzmán, for 11 days when he was abducted by ETA, the club's managing board still favors a hands-off policy in the name of "freedom of opinion".

Whether deliberately or not, Athletic Bilbao is more than just a football club. Athletic is the largest common denominator of the Basques and practically a religion for many of the 2 million people living in the Spanish part of the Basque region. Basque fans refer to the San Mamés Stadium, built in 1913, as their "cathedral", and any self-respecting citizen of this city on the Bay of Biscay has season tickets. The club has 34,000 members, and anyone seeking to join can expect to spend time on a long waiting list.

Athletic's management recognizes that times are changing. But because the overwhelming majority of players, and all of Bilbao's citizens, are opposed to the team's recruiting players other than homegrown ones from Basque "canteras" ("quarries") -as youth soccer academies are known in Spain- it is rather unlikely that transfers will be fielded any time soon.

Athletic's standards are not just a matter of national pride for the Basque people. They also stem from the almost obstinate determination of most Bilbao residents to help preserve what they consider to be the magic of football. Part of that magic means having a stadium in downtown Bilbao, players from the surrounding region and as little commercialism as possible.

Athletic was the last club in Spain's Primera División to allow perimeter advertising boards in its stadium. Athletic's players still wear jerseys with no advertising, and the team continues to adamantly refuse to become a publicly traded company, a standard shared by only three other teams in the Primera División."

.... ... .

Athletic : Fighting Globalization

This article comes to us via Der Spiegel:

Athletic Bilbao

How a Proud Basque Team Is Resisting Globalization

By Walter Mayr

Athletic Bilbao is Europe's most exotic football club. For 80 years, the legendary club has managed to keep itself in Spain's top division, fielding players recruited exclusively from the Basque region. But how long can the fiercely independent club continue to resist the trends of globalization?

Their chants are ear-piercing. They draw out their battle cries, snapping the last syllable of each word like a whip: "Athle-tic. Athle-tic. E-up." The drum roll follows, and then 40,000 fans in the San Mamés Stadium respond in unison: "Athletic, red and white. The people love you because you are a part of the people."

The people have risen from their seats. In seat number 73 in the VIP stands -- where ties are obligatory and cigars optional -- José Ángel Iribar is standing up, too. A member of the 1964 European championship team, Iribar spent almost two decades down on the field as Athletic Bilbao's goalie. He owes his nickname -- "El Chopo" ("the Poplar") -- to his former habit of leaping straight up in the air to pluck balls out of the sky.

These days, Iribar -- the club's honorary president -- has other concerns on his mind. In the last season, Athletic barely escaped relegation, and this year it still lacks the points it needs to remain in the top division.

The Burden of Tradition

For the last 80 years -- that is, the entire lifespan of the league -- the legendary club has played in Spain's Primera División. The only other clubs that have managed the same feat are Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. But the difference between Athletic Bilbao and these two powerhouses of Spanish soccer is that the Basque team only recruits players from the Basque region. More precisely, its players are either Basques or outsiders who came of age playing in Basque clubs.

Ever since the 1995 Bosman ruling by the European Court of Justice, which gave professional football players more freedom to move between clubs within the European Union, Athletic has become somewhat of a dinosaur in terms of its unique hiring policy. The last foreigner left the club in 1912.

Nevertheless, the annals of the club list eight championship titles and 24 cup victories. Athletic can also boast the most unerring goal scorer, the highest score ever in a league victory -- its 12-1 win over FC Barcelona in 1931 -- and the highest number of players invited to join the Spanish national team.

"We cannot and will not change our principles," says Iribar. Even if globalization continues its forward march and survival in the business of professional soccer gets more difficult every year, Athletic insists on abiding by its traditions. "We must keep our feet on the ground and have confidence in the players we have," says Iribar.

Iribar's words carry a lot of weight among the Basques. He has earned that respect because it was he who -- in December 1976, a year after the death of the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco -- marched onto the field ahead of a match against San Sebastián bearing the Basque flag, which had been outlawed for 40 years. He also has it because he manages the unofficial Basque national team, which is fighting for recognition by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the sport's controlling body in Europe.

A Sense of Where They Are

The crowd in the stands behind Athletic's goalposts is now rhythmically chanting the words "Herri Norte," or "People of the North." Some fans are even waving banners calling for the release of captured members of the Basque terrorist organization, ETA. Others, interspersed among the crowd, are singing "Let's kill a Spaniard" to the tune of "When the Saints Go Marching In."

Nevertheless, radical Basques represent a tiny minority among Athletic fans, who are mostly known for having good manners. But they exist. And despite the fact that it once lost one of its members, Juan Pedro Guzmán, for 11 days when he was abducted by ETA, the club's managing board still favors a hands-off policy in the name of "freedom of opinion."

Whether deliberately or not, Athletic Bilbao is more than just a football club. Athletic is the largest common denominator of the Basques and practically a religion for many of the 2 million people living in the Spanish part of the Basque region. Basque fans refer to the San Mamés Stadium, built in 1913, as their "cathedral," and any self-respecting citizen of this city on the Bay of Biscay has season tickets. The club has 34,000 members, and anyone seeking to join can expect to spend time on a long waiting list.

Hardly anyone in the stadium so much as mentions the unthinkable. But you can sense the anxiety all the way from the lowest seats right behind the chalk sideline to those at the very top, where 80 VIP guests discuss the game over glasses of Rioja and pintxos, the Basque version of tapas. It is a fear of having to do what other clubs have done and having their survival depend on fielding mercenaries from all over the world.

Only recently, something happened that would have previously been unimaginable in San Mamés: Catcalls came from the stands against players on the home team, nicknamed the "Leones," or "Lions." Bawdy insults can also be heard now and then, such as: "No son leones, son maricones," which roughly translates as "They're no lions; they're gay."

Part 2: Forced to Compromise

Athletic's management recognizes that times are changing. But because the overwhelming majority of players, and all of Bilbao's citizens, are opposed to the team's recruiting players other than homegrown ones from Basque "canteras" ("quarries") -- as youth soccer academies are known in Spain -- it is rather unlikely that transfers will be fielded any time soon. "We know that we are waging a crusade of sorts," says Fernando García Macua, Athletic's president. But the club's philosophy is sacrosanct, says Macua, "because people here have internalized it."

Athletic's standards are not just a matter of national pride for the Basque people. They also stem from the almost obstinate determination of most Bilbao residents to help preserve what they consider to be the magic of football. Part of that magic means having a stadium in downtown Bilbao, players from the surrounding region and as little commercialism as possible.

Athletic was the last club in Spain's Primera División to allow perimeter advertising boards in its stadium. Athletic's players still wear jerseys with no advertising, and the team continues to adamantly refuse to become a publicly traded company, a standard shared by only three other teams in the Primera División.

The team only risks making tentative compromises when it comes to how it selects potential players. In the past, a dyed-in-the-wool Athletic star had to be from Bilbao or at least from the surrounding province of Biscay. Nowadays, the club has somewhat relaxed its rules to include in its unofficial recruitment profile players from the three Basque provinces in Spain, the adjacent Navarra province and the French part of the Basque region. To date, the only French player to have made it to Bilbao has been Bixenta Lizarazu, but he left after one year to join FC Bayern, Germany's most successful soccer team.

Future Hopes

But now the club is even having trouble finding new talent in the Basque heartland in northern Spain -- and not just because the area has one of Europe's lowest birth rates. Athletic's scouts complain that they are forced to travel to more and more remote villages to find young men -- among the Playstation-wielding, overprotected youth -- from real Basque stock: ambitious, robust and duty-bound.

Someone who fits this description has recently started coming to Athletic's home games, where he stands in the south stand behind the goal. He is tall, strong and has a determined look in his eyes. Over the three months he has played on Athletic's under 12s team, he has scored 14 goals.

His name is Binke Diabate. The talent scouts noticed him in one of the villages in the south of the province of Navarra. Binke had moved there with his parents in 2005 after the family fled to Spain from Bamako, the capital of Mali. Jonás Ramalho, a 14-year-old player who recently had his debut with Athletic's regular team, was the club's first dark-skinned player. Binke promises to spearhead the next revolution by being the first African Muslim to wear the club's fabled jersey.

"Our boys have to be ready earlier and earlier these days," Iribar complains. He feels the clock ticking and knows that two of his team's rivals in the Primera División -- Real Saragossa and CA Osasuna -- were also courting the adolescent hopeful.

Athletic eventually managed to sign Diabate because its youth division is still considered the best in the Basque region. It also had an unbeatable promise to offer the younger Malian immigrant: Nowhere but in Bilbao would it be easier for a young talent to make the jump to the premiere Spanish league as there are no foreigners at Athletic Bilbao to get in the way of its homegrown players.

Binke is still new to Bilbao and doesn't speak the Basque language yet, but he has already mastered the typical Basque football maneuvers consisting of rapid passing paired with aggressive defense.

Resisting Change

To prevent the young players -- and the hope of Basque football -- from hitting upon the idea that there are other clubs in the world, Athletic Bilbao employs Koldo Asua as its youth manager. Asua, a portly, full-blooded Basque, says that he takes his parents' canon of values to heart: "God, family, the Basque country and Athletic -- only in reverse order."

Asua guards over every player as if they were diamonds in the rough. But he also keeps one eye on the lookout for new talent. He has discovered, for example, a goalie with Basque ancestors in the Italian city of Ostia, and two grandsons of a Basque refugee from the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War will soon arrive from Latin America. Athletic employs 19 scouts who travel throughout the Basque region. In the province of Biscay alone, there are 150 partner clubs that guarantee Athletic a right of first refusal in return for financial support. The club uses a database to search for players with Basque roots, and it is even considering establishing football schools in Latin America for the children of emigrants.

The management at Athletic is fighting against the rapidly turning wheel of time. In the clubhouse, there is still a photo on the wall depicting the heroes of 1984 -- the club's last championship team -- sitting in a boat headed from the ocean toward downtown Bilbao after winning the final game. It is a genre portrait in black and white, showing serious-looking men after a job well done standing against an industrial background lining the riverbank.

'From Sport to Spectacle'

Times have changed and the club has been "banalized," says Andoni Zubizarreta, as he sips a small coffee in the Café Iruna near the Palacio de Justicia. Zubizarreta is one of Spanish football's premiere record-holders: 622 Primera División matches as goalie, 126 international games and four World Cups. He was also the sporting director at Athletic until the end of 2004.

Since leaving Athletic, Zubizarreta has been working for a management consulting firm. He complains that football has degenerated "from sport to spectacle," and from work to entertainment. It is a "distorted image of our society," he says, "and even Bilbao has changed its mentality."

The city, known to tourists worldwide today primarily for its Guggenheim Museum -- a Frank Gehry-designed, titanium-clad colossus covered with silver scales on the southern bank of the Nervión River -- became the center of Basque heavy industry in the late 19th century. There were iron ore mines in the region that played a role in the development of shipyards in Bilbao, which also enjoys easy access to the sea.

It was on the "Campa de los Ingleses" ("English fields") -- near today's site of the Guggenheim Museum -- that skilled immigrants from the southern English port cities of Portsmouth and Southampton showed the Basques how soccer was played. But there are almost no shipyards and no blast furnaces in Bilbao today, and Zubizarreta is convinced that the breeding ground on which the Athletic Bilbao myth thrived has disappeared with them.

Holding on to Pride

Today, anyone who attracts Athletic's attention as a Basque player can quickly rise to fame and fortune. Asier del Horno, for example -- who was traded to Chelsea in 2005 for €12 million ($19 million today) and is now back with Athletic again -- attracts attention primarily for what he does off the field. CA Osasuna collected a whopping €12 million for the transfer of midfield players Javi Martínez and David López to Bilbao. More and more boys in the streets of Bilbao are wearing Chelsea and Manchester jerseys, that is, the jerseys of Champions League clubs. A portrait of David Beckham hangs over Binke's bed. Anger over the worldwide ascendancy of sport-focused corporations and players who are nothing but pop stars in football shorts tends, especially, to unite older fans behind the Athletic brand.

Nevertheless, club president Fernando García Macua speaks of a tangible sense of sympathy throughout the Basque region. "The worse off we are," he says, "the more people there are who sympathize with our values."

This year, the club spent a long time on the edge of a precipice. But then it celebrated highly symbolic victories, such as its win over FC Sevilla, a leading Spanish football team. The visiting club was weakened because its star players were scattered on other continents, playing for their national teams. But the Basques, cheered on by close to 40,000 hometown fans in San Mamés, were all there. Athletic won the match 2:0. The crusaders from Bilbao had won a rearguard action.

Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan

.... ... .

About the Match in San Mamés

In just a few minutes the national teams representing Euskal Herria and Catalunya will appear on the field of Athletic de Bilbao's San Mamés stadium to play a friendly match as a means to call attention to their plea of official international recognition.

Here you have an article titled "Euskal Herria vs Catalonia" at a blog called "Football Articles":

Tomorrow evening will see Catalonia play the Basque Country, in San Mames, in a match that takes place between the sides over the Spanish Leagues Christmas off-season period. As always controversy has surrounded this game as both federations suggest that their 'national team' be given official status and recognised by FIFA as separate entities from the Spanish national side.

Previously the Basque country had always been known as Euskadi in such events. However, this time they are lining up under the name of Euskal Herria. The difference between these names is that Euskadi is solely the region of Northern Spain whilst Euskal Herria is suggesting that part of France and the region Navarra in Spain are also part of a 'Basque nation'. This change of name has angered the French Federation in particular.

Catalonia existed as a country before Spain came into existence. Within Spain exists regional identities and strong nationalistic movements for these regions to breakaway from Spain and exist as separate entities. Catalonia was a country with a proud sea heritage, even before the country of Spain was created. This only happened when the houses of Aragon and Castille came together after the marriage of Ferdinand II and Isabella I in 1469.

Both the Catalan and Basque football federations have been appealing to UEFA and FIFA for a number of years now - in the hope of gaining official status for their teams - in order for them to play in Euro Championships and World Cups. European football's governing body UEFA has delayed a controversial decision to grant membership to Gibraltar -- despite being ordered to do so by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The FEF (Spanish Federation) are getting really worried now - as if Gibraltar are granted membership - Catalonia and The Basque Country have made it clear they will push to even harder to be recognized by UEFA.

Gibraltar is a tiny place - if they are granted membership they will not compete at any serious level but with the Faroe Islands already there - whilst remaining attached to Denmark - it is hypocritical to deny them their right to take part. If the Spanish regions gained membership, you might find Corsica applying, and Russian Republics like Chechnya, Dagestan and North Ossetia aswell. However, Catalonia and Euskadi are pushing for a change in the Spanish Constitution - to have more of a federal system, whereas they would technically still remain as part of Spain, but they will be seen and recognized as independent states in their own right. - Some in Spain's ruling Socialist Government as well as the usual nationalist parties are in favour of it. Again though, despite the fact that Germany is a federated state you don't see the likes of Bavaria applying for their own team! Although this is different since Bavaria and other German states haven't got the independence movements that they have in Catalonia and Euskadi.

This internal regional conflict is often a reason given for the poor performances at major tournaments by the Spanish national side. However to use this as an excuse for the Spanish National sides' failures shouldn't it mean that Italy with Sicilia, Sardegna, the Mezzo Giorno and the North in permanent conflict that they too shouldn't win anything? Perhaps a Catalan is not as comfortable or less susceptible to giving his all for Spain and the regionalised side could go on and outperform the Spain side of present.

Continues...

Just a comment to DF, Euskal Herria also existed as a country long before Spain came into existence, only that then it was called Navarre.

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