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Galicia

Nickname(s)	A Irmandinha (The Brotherhood)
Association	Galician Football Federation
Head coach	Fernando Vázquez & Arsenio Iglesias
Captain	Míchel Salgado
FIFA code	N/A
Elo ranking	N/A
Home colours
First international
Galicia 4-1 Castille (Coia, Galicia; 19 November 1922)
Biggest win
Galicia 7-1 Ferrol/A Coruña XI (Coia, Galicia; 18 February 1923)
Biggest defeat
Galicia 1-3 Asturias  (1923)

The Galicia national football team is the unofficial football team for the autonomous community of Galicia in Spain. They are not affiliated with FIFA or UEFA, because the nationality is represented internationally by the Spanish national team. The Galicia team only plays friendly matches, usually during the winter-break. Galicia's biggest supporters are known as Siareiros Galegos. They should not be confused with the term Siareiros, used to refer to all Galicia's supporters, no matter if they are or not part of that group.

Since the 1980s, there has been an intense public debate on whether or not Galicia should gain full official status, that is, the right to take part in official international competitions, apart from Spain. This includes the football team and any other sport. Quite often, the cases of Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales and the Faroe Islands are cited as examples of non-sovereign territories taking part in official international competitions.

History

The first game of the Galician national football team was on November 19, 1922 in Coia, Vigo - This was at a time when there was no national championship per se, Galician teams would play each other in the Galician Championship and the winner would then go on to face the other regional champions in the Spanish Championship. However, later political developments in Spain made it impossible for Galicia to take part at official competitions. Hence, all games were merely friendlies. The Galician national football team as such ceased all activity during the time of the Spanish Civil War and the subsequent dictatorship (1936-1975).

The project was retaken in the early 1980s, although Galicia's first recent game only happened on 29 December 2005. It was a 3-2 win over Uruguay, and it was played at the packed stadium of San Lazaro, Santiago de Compostela. In December 2006, another game was contested against Ecuador, played in Riazor, A Coruña. The teams tied 1-1. Against Cameroon, on the next year, the result was the same, 1-1. Once again, in 2008, the Irmandinha played again, this time against Iran. The result was 3-2.

Friendly matches

November 19, 1922	Galicia	4 – 1	Castille	Campo de Coia, Vigo, Spain
	Ramón Polo Pinilla (p) Ramón González		Monjardín

January 07, 1923	Galicia	3 – 1	Lisbon XI	Campo de Coia Referee: Ventura Lago
	Ramón Polo Reigosa

January 14, 1923	Andalusia	1 – 4	Galicia	Sevilla, Spain
			Ramón González Ramón Polo Chiarroni

1923	Galicia	7 – 2	Royal Navy XI

January 28, 1923	Pontevedra XI	4 – 1	Galicia	Campo de Bouzas, Vigo, Spain
	Correa Ramón Polo Chiarroni

February 04, 1923	Pontevedra XI	0 – 3	Galicia	A Xunqueira, Pontevedra, Spain

February 18, 1923	Galicia	7 – 1	Ferrol/A Coruña XI	Campo de Coia, Vigo, Spain

February 25, 1923	Galicia	1 – 3	Asturias
	Ramón Polo

May 27, 1923	Lisbon XI	2 – 1	Galicia
	João Francisco Jaime Gonçalves		Pinilla

1930	Central Spain XI	1 – 4	Galicia	Chamartín, Madrid, Spain

December 25, 2005	Galicia	3 – 2	Uruguay	San Lázaro, Compostela, Spain Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Bernardino González Vázquez (Galicia)
	Nano  9' Deus  48'  79'		Maxi Pereira  83' Juan Albín  91'

December 28, 2006	Galicia	1 – 1	Ecuador	Riazor, A Coruña, Spain Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Bernardino González Vázquez (Galicia)
	Jonathan Pereira  68'	Report	Renán Calle  63'

December 27, 2007	Galicia	1 – 1	Cameroon	Balaídos, Vigo, Spain Attendance: 28,000 Referee: Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva (Galicia)
	Julio Álvarez  73'		Rigobert Song  90' (p)

December 27, 2008 20:45	Galicia	3 – 2	Iran	Riazor, A Coruña, Spain Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva (Galicia)
	Nacho Novo  23' 59' Roberto Losada  66'	Report	Arash Borhani  32' Mohammad Reza Khalatbari  82'

Galician squad

Most recent squad

Players in the squad for the friendly against Iran on 27 December, 2008.

Name	D.O.B	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut
Goalkeepers
Diego López	3 November 1981 (age 27)	Villarreal CF	3 (0)	v Uruguay, 27 December, 2005
Roberto	25 January 1979 (age 29)	CA Osasuna
Defenders
Rubén	29 January 1982 (age 26)	Celta de Vigo		v Uruguay, 27 December, 2005
Francisco Noguerol	9 June 1976 (age 32)	Celta de Vigo
Piscu	25 February 1987 (age 21)	Deportivo
Capi	2 April 1981 (age 27)	Ciudad de Santiago		v Uruguay, 27 December, 2005
Jonathan Aspas	28 February 1982 (age 26)	Piacenza
Roberto Lago	30 August 1985 (age 23)	Celta de Vigo
Sito	21 May 1980 (age 28)	UD Salamanca
Midfielders
Alex Bergantiños	7 June 1985 (age 23)	Xerez CD
Ricardo Cabanas	17 January 1979 (age 29)	Grasshoppers		v Uruguay, 27 December, 2005
Borja Fernandez	14 January 1981 (age 27)	Real Valladolid		v Uruguay, 27 December, 2005
Julio Álvarez	1 May 1981 (age 27)	UD Almería		v Uruguay, 27 December, 2005
Pablo Álvarez	14 May 1980 (age 28)	Deportivo		v Uruguay, 27 December, 2005
Roberto Trashorras	28 February 1981 (age 27)	Celta de Vigo
Jonathan Vila	6 March 1986 (age 22)	Celta de Vigo
Nano	20 April 1982 (age 26)	Racing Ferrol		v Uruguay, 27 December, 2005
Strikers
Roberto Losada	25 October 1976 (age 32)	CD Lugo		v Uruguay, 27 December, 2005
Nacho Novo	26 March 1979 (age 29)	Rangers	2 (2)	v Cameroon, 27 December, 2007

External links

• Federación Galega de Fútbol (Galician Football Federation)
• Siareiros Galegos (Fans of the Galician Team)
• A Irmandinha (nickname of the team)
• List of matches in Roon Ba

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