The History of Clubs facing National Teams
By Kevin Flores
On Friday Night January 20th, Lionel Messi’s Club Inter Miami would begin their Preseason tour with a visit to El Salvador.But not to play against a Salvdorian club, but against their National team. An odd occurrence as in the world of soccer these types of games are very rare and don’t happen often. Inter Miami would draw 0-0 to the El Salvadorian National Team, with both teams having about the same amount of chances. Despite no one winning the match, you can deem El Salvador as the true winner for being able to Host Inter Miami and allowing thousands of Salvadorians to watch Messi, one of the greatest players ever to play live in their stadium. “It was very exciting to see Messi play in my country’s national stadium” Said Senior Alex Lanaverde.
Throughout the history of the sport, there have been many games between clubs and national teams. One of the very first instances of this happening was back in 1961, When in the FA Charity Shield final, an English Cup competition played as a final between the league winners and the FA Cup winners of last season. That year Tottenham Hotspur had won both trophies. So the English FA decided to make the English National Team play against Tottenham in the final, which Tottenham was able to win 3-2.
One of the most famous matches was in 1999. Barcelona was celebrating their centenary and arranged a friendly match with the Brazil national team. A match that was stacked with world-class players such as, The Ronaldo Nazario, Roberto Carlos, Pep Guardiola, Luis Figo and RIvaldo.The match would end in a thrilling 2-2 with both sides being able to show off their quality and skills.
In 1949 the Nigerian national team embarked from Lagos to Liverpool on a UK tour.Nigeria would face Marine FC. The important thing to note is that the Nigerian players played mostly barefoot the entirety of the match and only had a few bandages wrapped around their feet. But despite not having proper shoes to play, the Nigerian national team would shock all 6,000 spectators in the stadium by coming out as 5-2 winners from the match.
The last story takes place In 1989 The French National team was looking for a British Opponent before facing Scotland in a crucial World Cup qualifier match. France would find English Club Arsenal to play a friendly match in preparation for their duel against Scotland. The Frenchmen would be stunted by Arsenal and would lose 2-0 at home in Paris. France would eventually beat Scotland 3-0, but it wasn’t enough for them to qualify for the 1990 Italy World Cup.
