Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola set the scene.
“It is more than a symbolic match,” he said on Catalan radio ahead of Tuesday’s unofficial friendly between the Catalan national team and Palestine in Barcelona.
“Nowadays everything is known and with this confrontation, the Palestinians will see that there is a part of the world that thinks of them. The world has abandoned Palestine. We have done absolutely nothing. They are not to blame for having been born there. We have all allowed an entire people to be destroyed.
“I can’t imagine anyone in this world who could defend the massacres in Gaza. Our children could be there and be killed simply for being born. I have very little faith in leaders. They’ll do anything to stay in power.”
In a separate video message, Guardiola added: “This match is a moving tribute to the souls of more than 400 Palestinian athletes who were martyred in Gaza.”
Palestine played two friendly games for the first time in Europe this week, on Saturday against the Basque Country where 51,396 filled Athletic Club’s ground in Bilbao to see a defeat for the visitors. And on Tuesday when a crowd of 30,000 saw a 2-1 win in Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium.
There were concerns that a 6.30pm kick-off time was too early on a working day and fans were still filing in 20 minutes into the game. But ticket prices were as low as €5 for adults.
All proceeds went to Act X Palestine to be used for humanitarian aid and reconstruction in Gaza, providing tangible relief to those affected by ongoing conflict.
Billed as ‘Football for Peace’, flag waving fans climbed up the hill of Montjuic as the sun set behind it. The Catalan national team plays a couple of friendlies per year. They are unrecognised by Fifa, but the calibre of players has dropped since Catalans, including Lamine Yamal, are representing Spain during the international break.
Seven Catalans - Victor Valdes, Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Joan Capdevila, Xavi, Sergio Busquets and Cesc Fabregas – won the 2010 World Cup with Spain. They all featured for Catalonia at one time or another, during games where many fans who don’t normally watch Barcelona’s big two get a chance to see their heroes.
The crowd profile was noticeably younger than regularly seen at league matches. Almost all waved Catalan flags – mostly the ones representing independence in support of the region’s historical drive for self-determination.
That peaked in 2017 and while there were songs for Catalunya, there were just as many of “Freedom, Freedom Palestine” and “Liberty for Palestine” in the cold air.
Gaza’s Sol Band performed the Palestinian anthem on the opposite side of the Mediterranean Sea, while the man on the public address system shouted “Visca Catalunya, Visca Palestina” in Catalan, which translates to “forever Catalonia and forever Palestine".
The hosts took a two-goal lead, their players lacking the big names of yore. Many started out at Barcelona and progressed as far as the reserve team before making their living in professional football elsewhere.
Coached by former Barcelona midfielder Gerard Lopez, the team included the likes of Barcelona’s highly-rated 18-year-old midfielder Marc Bernal, who started the first three games of last season before suffering a serious knee ACL injury.
This meant his manager Hansi Flick was in attendance and it gave a reason for FC Barcelona to publicise the game. Barca also supported the logistics behind the event, but club president Joan Laporta was absent.
Three Espanyol and three Girona players were involved, as was Sergio Gomez, formerly of Manchester City and now Real Sociedad. They played their part as Ilie Sanchez, the Catalan currently at Austin FC in MLS, put his team ahead after four minutes. That became 2-0 after 27 minutes following an own goal past goalkeeper Rami Hamadeh, who plays his club football in Qatar.
Palestine are preparing for an Fifa Arab Cup playoff match against Libya on November 25 in Doha. Palestine’s football team was not recognised by Fifa until 1998 and their team haven’t played at home since 2019, spending periods of exile in Chile where there is a large Palestinian diaspora.
That they’re ranked 99th in the world well ahead of football-mad countries with huge populations including Indonesia, India and Malaysia shows the talent of the players.
Flags flew in support of Palestine, cheers greeted their every attack. Their own coach had described them as “a team of refugees playing for Palestinians all over the world. We don’t play just to win; we play to exist”.
Their players soaked up applause from fans at the end as the voice on the loudspeaker announced: “This is more than a football match.”
