The Occitania national football team is the football team of Occitania, which is the name given to areas of Italy, France and Spain where the Occitan language is spoken. It is controlled by the Associacion Occitania de Fotbol. As Occitania is not a recognised state it is neither a member of FIFA nor UEFA, and the team therefore is not eligible to enter either the World Cup or European Championship. They are members of the New Federations Board, and hosted the inaugural VIVA World Cup in November 2006 where they finished 3rd.
Since the Occitania team was established in 2004 they have played numerous friendly matches against sides such as Chechnya, Monaco and Northern Cyprus, as well as competing in 4 VIVA World Cup tournaments. In 2009 they finished 6th after their 5th-place match victory over Gozo was annulled, and a year later they completed their best-ever VIVA World Cup performance when they defeated Two Sicilies 2-0 to take 3rd-place. The Occitans were narrowly knocked out by hosts Kurdistan in the group stages of the 2012 VIVA World Cup, before eventually finished 5th.
Occitania also play in the Europeada, which is organised by the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN). In the Europeada 2008 Occitania reached the quarter finals, being eliminated by eventual tournament winner South Tyrol. The Occitans again reached the quarter finals in the 2012 tournament.
Read more about Occitania National Football Team: Selected International Matches, Current Squad
Famous quotes containing the words national, football and/or team:
“But the creative person is subject to a different, higher law than mere national law. Whoever has to create a work, whoever has to bring about a discovery or deed which will further the cause of all of humanity, no longer has his home in his native land but rather in his work.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)
“Idon’t enjoy getting knocked about on a football field for other people’s amusement. I enjoy it if I’m being paid a lot for it.”
—David Storey (b. 1933)
“Relying on any one disciplinary approach—time-out, negotiation, tough love, the star system—puts the parenting team at risk. Why? Because children adapt to any method very quickly; today’s effective technique becomes tomorrow’s worn dance.”
—Ron Taffel (20th century)