Southampton: Oriol Romeu makes international debut for Catalonia

Southampton midfielder Oriol Romeu made his debut for Catalonia yesterday in a 2-1 friendly win over Venezuela.

The 27-year-old came on at half-time to contribute to a historic victory for the side in their first game for nearly two years.

Goals from Stoke City forward Bojan Krkic and Espanyol’s Javier Puado proved enough to see off Venezuela despite Catalonia not being a recognised international side.

Political tensions in the region have seen disputes about whether it should become a country in its own right and separate from Spain.

However, the controversy didn’t seem to put off Romeu and his teammates, and he was joined by some stellar names in the squad for this game.

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique won his 10th cap since retiring from Spanish national duty in yesterday’s match, and he was joined in the backline by Real Betis man Marc Bartra.

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Other recognisable names featured too and they all qualify to play for Catalonia if they are born in the region.

Romeu was born in the town of Ulldecona, which is situated in the south of the region.

For the Saints man, it may be very much a case of trying to get as much international football under his belt as possible in the remainder of his career.

He had represented Spain up to Under-23s level, but has not been capped at senior level; perhaps understandable considering the players they have been able to call on in the last 10 years.

Romeu graduated from the Barcelona academy and made appearances for their first-team and Barcelona B before moving to Chelsea.

Loan spells with Valencia and Stuttgart came during his time at Stamford Bridge and he joined Saints for around £6m in 2015.

Since then, he has become the main defensive midfielder for the team and provides a solid base that allows other players to roam forward.

The South Coast has provided the most settled period of his career so far and highly respectable 146 appearances so far.