Catalonia International Trophy

Football tournament
Catalonia International Trophy
Catalonia receiving the trophy conquered in 2010 against Honduras
Organising bodyCatalan Football Federation
FoundedDecember 2009; 14 years ago (2009-12)
RegionInternational (played in Catalonia)
Number of teams2
Current champions Tunisia (2nd title)
Most successful club(s) Catalonia (3 titles)

The Catalonia International Trophy (Catalan: Trofeu Catalunya Internacional, Spanish: Trofeo Catalunya Internacional) is an association football friendly tournament organised in Spain by the Catalan Football Federation and which the Catalonia national team plays against another national team. It was created in 2009 and is held annually at the end of December.

History

Since 1997, the Catalan national team has played an international friendly match nearly every year, coinciding with the Christmas holidays. In 2009, in the context of Catalan aspirations to participate in official FIFA or UEFA competitions, the president of the Catalan Football Federation, Jordi Casals, announced the conversion of friendlies into an annual tournament, named the Catalonia International Trophy. The artist Joan Mora donated a sculpture symbolising the four bars of the Catalan flag as a prize for the winner.[1]

On 22 December 2009, the first edition, Johan Cruyff's Catalonia won 4–2 against Diego Maradona's Argentina.[2] After that, four more games were held against Honduras, Tunisia, Nigeria and Cape Verde.

Fixtures and results

Fixtures

Catalonia  v  Argentina
22 December 2009 (2009-12-22) First edition Catalonia  4–2  Argentina Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
20:30 S. García 44'
Bojan 56'
Sergio 70' (pen.)
Hurtado 76'		 Report Pastore 63'
Di María 72'		 Stadium: Camp Nou
Attendance: 53,000
Referee: Alfonso Álvarez (Spain)
Catalonia  v  Honduras
28 December 2010 (2010-12-28) Second edition Catalonia  4–0  Honduras Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
19:00 Corominas 26'
S. García 50'
Bojan 60', 71'		 Report Stadium: Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys
Attendance: 28,150
Referee: Xavier Estrada Fernández (Spain)
Catalonia  v  Tunisia
30 December 2011 (2011-12-30) Third edition Catalonia  0–0  Tunisia Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
19:00 Report Stadium: Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys
Attendance: 36,545
Referee: Alfonso Álvarez (Spain)
Catalonia  v  Nigeria
2 January 2013 (2013-01-02)[a] Fourth edition Catalonia  1–1  Nigeria Cornellà de Llobregat, Catalonia, Spain
19:00 Sergio 3' (pen.) Report Dike 55' Stadium: Estadi Cornellà-El Prat
Attendance: 27,234
Referee: Xavier Estrada Fernández (Spain)
Catalonia  v  Cape Verde
30 December 2013 (2013-12-30) Fifth edition Catalonia  4–1  Cape Verde Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
19:00 S. García 17', 18'
Bojan 19'
Riera 64'		 Report Djaniny 10' Stadium: Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys
Attendance: 20,700
Referee: Alfonso Álvarez (Spain)
Catalonia  v  Tunisia
28 December 2016 (2016-12-28) Sixth edition Catalonia  3–3
(2–4 p)		  Tunisia Girona, Catalonia, Spain
20:00 Gerard 35'
S. García 69'
Verdú 79'		 Report Msakni 9', 30', 67' Stadium: Estadi Montilivi
Attendance: 8,311
Referee: Alfonso Álvarez (Spain)
Penalties
Verdú soccer ball with red X
Víctor Álvarez soccer ball with red X
Vázquez soccer ball with check mark
Riera soccer ball with check mark		 soccer ball with check mark Sassi
soccer ball with check mark Dhaouadi
soccer ball with check mark Bguir
soccer ball with red X Azouni
soccer ball with check mark Khalifa

Results

Year Host Winners Runners-up
2009 Barcelona
Catalonia
Argentina
2010
Catalonia
Honduras
2011
Tunisia[b]
Catalonia
2012[a] Cornellà de Llobregat
Nigeria[b]
Catalonia
2013 Barcelona
Catalonia
Cape Verde
2016 Girona
Tunisia
Catalonia

Records and statistics

Results summary

Pos Team P Pld W D L GF GA GD Win % Trophies
1  Catalonia 6 6 3 3 0 16 11 +5 050.00 3
2  Tunisia 2 2 1 1 0 3 3 +0 050.00 2
3  Nigeria 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 +0 000.00 1
1  Argentina 1 1 0 0 1 2 4 −2 000.00 0
 Cape Verde 1 1 0 0 1 1 4 −3 000.00
 Honduras 1 1 0 0 1 0 4 −4 000.00

Table of winners

Team Winner Runner-up
 Catalonia 3 (2009, 2010 and 2013) 3 (2011, 2012,[a] 2015 and 2016)
 Tunisia 2 (2011[b] and 2016)
 Nigeria 1 (2012)[a][b]
 Argentina 1 (2009)
 Honduras 1 (2010)
 Cape Verde 1 (2013)

Top goalscorers

Sergio García is the top scorer in the history of the tournament with 6 goals.
Rank Player Goals
1 Catalonia Sergio García 6
2 Catalonia Bojan 4
3 Tunisia Youssef Msakni 3
4 Catalonia Sergio 2
5 1

See also

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ^
    2012 Catalonia International Trophy was played on 2 January 2013.
  2. ^
    Match drawn and trophy awarded to visiting team on fair play basis.

References

  1. ^ "Casals: "Catalunya debe jugar contra las mejores 15 selecciones del mundo"" [Casals: "Catalonia must play against the best 15 teams in the world"] (in Spanish). El Economista. 10 December 2012.
  2. ^ "La Selección falló demasiado y cayó ante Catalunya sin atenuantes" [The Selection failed too much and fell before Catalonia without attenuating] (in Spanish). Clarín. 22 December 2009.

External links

  • Official website (in Catalan)