Vatican City national football team explained

Vatican City
Badge:File:Vatican City national football team.svg
Badge Size:190px
Association:Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica
Coach:Massimiliano Strappetti[1]
Most Caps:Antonino Gart
Pablo Enrique Amaro
Marcello Rosati (5)
Top Scorer:Alessandro Quarto
Antonino Gart
Marco Pouti
Nicolò Busincu (1)
Home Stadium:Campo Pio XI
Elo Rank: 211
Elo Max:212
Elo Max Date:2002
Elo Min:222
Elo Min Date:2018
Pattern B1:_VAT_50_anniversary
Pattern Sh1:_shorts
Leftarm1:FFF200
Rightarm1:FFF200
Shorts1:FFF200
Socks1:FFF200
First Game:Unofficial
3–0 Austrian journalists
(1985)
Official
0–0
(Rome, Italy; 22 November 1994)
Largest Win:Unofficial
9–1 Station Carabinieri of Rome
(Rome, Italy, 3 February 2011)
Official
4–3
(Rome, Italy; 25 October 2008)

The Vatican City national football team (Italian: Selezione di calcio della Città del Vaticano) is the football team that represents Vatican City under the control of the Vatican Amateur Sports Association, headquartered in the Vatican's Cortile di San Damaso.[2] The Vatican City football association was founded in 1972. Its current president is Domenico Ruggiero.[3] [4] Massimiliano Strapetti, an Italian, is the current head coach.[3]

The team played its first match in 1985, a 3–0 victory against a representative of Austrian journalists.[5] In 2018, the Vatican also created a women's representative team.[6]

Overview

In the year 2000, Pope John Paul II established a Vatican sports department with the aim of "reinvigorating the tradition (of sport) within the Christian community".[7] In 2006, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone suggested that the Vatican could field a team of men from Catholic seminaries. About the prospect, the cardinal stated, "If we just take the Brazilian students from our Pontifical universities we could have a magnificent squad." The cardinal also noted that in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, there were 42 players in the final round who attended Salesian training centres worldwide. For example, Marcelino, Spanish hero of the 1964 European Nations' Cup, was a former seminarian. It was Bertone's proposal that the Vatican's players, even if accepted by UEFA, would be drawn from the population within the Catholic Church worldwide, not just citizens of Vatican City. He was unclear at the time whether the Vatican would grant these players Vatican citizenship to make this possible.[8]

With the smallest population of any nation, approximately 900, it is difficult to form a squad. The Vatican City squad consists entirely of employees of the Vatican: police officers, postal workers, government officials and members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, the Vatican's de facto army, charged with protecting the pope. Since most Vatican citizens are members of the Swiss Guard, they cannot be amassed in large numbers for a long time. Therefore, the national team has played only a few rare international matches, often drawing a fair amount of interested press.[3] When Vatican City played its first match in 2002, only one player, Marcello Rosati, had a Vatican passport. In 2010, Vatican City was invited to participate in the Viva World Cup by the N.F.-Board and were expected to participate[9] but were unable to do so because they could not assemble a 15-man roster.[10] In total, Vatican City have played only four full international matches against other nations, one draw and three defeats to Monaco in 2002, 2011, 2013, and 2014 respectively.

In addition to its full international matches, the team has played a friendly match, its first, against the San Marino reserve team in 1994.[11] The final score of that match is believed to be a 0–0 draw but Steve Menary's book 'Outcasts: The Lands that FIFA Forgot' states that Vatican insiders told him that the match ended 1–1.[12] In 2010, the Vatican organized a team to play a friendly game against Palestine. However, the team was made up of Catholic priests and was not considered the Vatican City national team.[13] In 2006, the Vatican City played SV Vollmond, a team from Switzerland, at Stadio Petriana with Vatican City prevailing 5–1.[14] [15] The team has also competed against a representative team from the Diocese of Limburg.[16] In September 2016 the team participated in a triangular tournament at the Manlio Scopigno Stadium in Rieti to raise funds for earthquake victims. Former Italian international Simone Perrotta also participated in the tournament.[17]

In April 2019 it was announced that the team had signed its first-ever sponsor, Poderi di San Pietro, a family-owned winery in Milan. The agreement was reached after ensuring that the organization met the strict ethical criteria established by the team. Previously, the Association was approached by a sports betting organization offering a very large sponsorship but was rejected for not aligning with those ethical standards.[18]

The Vatican's stance on football

Vatican footballing history began on 7 January 1921 when the first match of Calcio Fiorentino was played in the Vatican in the Cortile del Belvedere, in the presence of Pope Benedict XV . The first Vatican league was created in 1973 and was first won by employees of L'Osservatore Romano, the newspaper of the Holy See.[19]

The Vatican has typically expressed strong support for football. Pope John Paul II was reportedly a goalkeeper in his youth in Poland, and an ardent supporter of Cracovia Kraków.[20] Late German pope Pope Benedict XVI was an ardent supporter of Bayern Munich since his youth growing up in Bavaria, Germany.[21] Benedict is quoted as saying, "The sport of football can be a vehicle of education for the values of honesty, solidarity and fraternity, especially for the younger generation."[20] In October 2007, the Pope was presented with a #16 shirt (in reference to the sixteenth use of his papal name) by Serie B side Ancona after Benedict supported their initiative to become a "beacon of morality" by adopting an "innovative, ethical model of practising football".[20]

In 2010, Benedict and the Vatican reaffirmed their belief that football should be a beacon of morality by lashing out at Serie A after matches for the upcoming season were scheduled at 12:30pm on Sundays to appease pay-per-view companies wishing to spread out Serie A matches over the weekend. The Vatican previously questioned the league's decision to play matches on Sundays at all, but "I consider this a truly harmful development," Monsignor Carlo Mazza told Tuttosport. "Putting people in front of the television screen at 12.30 CET, when they are having lunch with their families, to me seems like a 'pitch invasion' on life."[22] Additionally, on 18 December 2006, Tarcisio Bertone, Cardinal Secretary of State of the Holy See, stated, but only in jest, that he did not preclude the possibility that the Vatican, in the future, could put together a football team of great value, that could play on the same level as, Roma, Internazionale and Milan or Genoa.[23] [24] The current Argentinian pope, Pope Francis is an ardent fan of his hometown club San Lorenzo,[25] and exhibited disappointment when Argentina lost the 2014 World Cup final against Germany.[26]

FIFA membership

Vatican City is one of only nine fully recognized sovereign states the national teams of which are not FIFA members. The others are the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Monaco, Nauru, Palau, Tuvalu, and the United Kingdom (though the UK's four "home nations"England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland—have individual FIFA teams each of which is also a member of the IFAB).[3]

In 2006, UEFA spokesperson William Gaillard told a media outlet that he saw no reason why Vatican City should not have a national team in international competitions. He said, "We already have states of 30,000 citizens like San Marino, Liechtenstein, and Andorra. If the Vatican wants to become a member of UEFA all it has to do is apply. If it meets the requirements, it will be accepted". At that time Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone insisted that the Vatican's football future lies only in amateur games and competitions.[27]

In May 2014, Domenico Ruggerio, president of the national football association, reinforced Bertone's words from eight years prior, stating that "I prefer to be amateur...To join FIFA, at that level, will be like a business" after stating "The important message of friendship and love is demonstrated by the sport — the real sport, not the business that is in football these days...It is not just important to win a match; it is how you carry yourself." Therefore, that, he added, meant that "the ethos of the Vatican’s soccer team was, at odds with FIFA membership."[3]

In an April 2019 interview Danilo Zennaro, football director of Vatican City, told the St. Galler Tagblatt that the association would also not seek membership in an alternate confederation like ConIFA because of "political reasons" such as the diplomatic strife that would ensue from being in the same organization as breakaway regions and disputed territories.[28]

In May 2022, the association celebrated the conclusion of its fiftieth anniversary. Despite a history of contrary comments, among the topics discussed was the possibility of the association joining UEFA. It was revealed that Pope Francis spoke with UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin about the possibility when the latter visited the Pope ahead of the UEFA Euro 2020 final.[29]

Kit

In the past, the kit has been provided by Diadora. The shorts were all white while the top is solid yellow with a narrow blue and white line around the right upper quadrant of the body.[30] The team's kit was then provided by Sportika SA until July 2021. The kit had an image of Saint Peter's Basilica ghosted on the front.[31]

In July 2021 the association introduced a new kit by Joma. For the first time, the kits became readily available to the public as they were sold in the gift shop of the Vatican Museums with the profits benefitting Pope Francis's works of charity.[32] The kit included a badge on the arm commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Vatican football association.[29]

Complete international results

No.DateVenueOpponentsScoreCompetitionclass=unsortableVatican City scorersRef.
1Campo Pio XI, Rome0–0Friendly
2Stadio Pio XII, Albano Laziale0–0Friendly[33]
3Campo Pio XI, Rome4–3FriendlyUnknown[34] [35]
4Stadio Pio XII, Albano Laziale1–2FriendlyQuarto
5Al-Khader Stadium, al-Khader1–9FriendlyUnknown
60–2Friendly
7Campo Pio XI, Rome0–2Friendly
8Campo Pio XI, Rome0–0Friendly
9Campo Pio XI, Rome2–2FriendlyUnknown[36]
10 Elba2–4FriendlyUnknown[37]

Head-to-head record

As of 24 April 2022

Unofficial results

No.DateVenueOpponentsScoreCompetitionclass=unsortableVatican City scorersRef.
1 Austrian journalists3–0FriendlyUnknown
2 Selection of UN officials3–3FriendlyUnknown
3Campo Pio XI, Rome SV Vollmond5–1FriendlyUnknown[38]
4 Nazionale Italiana Religiosi3–0FriendlyUnknown
5 Guardia di Finanza0–1Friendly
6Rome Station Carabinieri of Rome9–1FriendlyUnknown
7Mönchengladbach Borussia Mönchengladbach1–8FriendlyUnknown[39]
8 Nazionale Sindaci Italiana5–3FriendlyUnknown
9Campo Pio XI, Rome Lutherstadt Wittenberg1–0FriendlyUnknown
10Campo Pio XI, Rome FC Azzurri Schaan2–2FriendlyUnknown[40]
11Campo Pio XI, Rome1–1FriendlyUnknown
12Mönchengladbach Borussia Mönchengladbach4–21FriendlyUnknown
13Stadio Pietro Fortunati, Pavia Fondazione Ospedale San Matteo1–2FriendlyUnknown[41]
14 Lutherstadt Wittenberg0–2Friendly[42]
15Sportanlage Rheinwiese, Schaan FC Azzurri Schaan1–8FriendlyPouti[43]
16 Atlético Pop United2–2FriendlyUnknown
17 WEINELF1–1FriendlyUnknown
18Centro Sportivo Ciriaci, Rome Rappresentativa OPBG2–3FriendlyUnknown
19Formello Sports Centre, Rome World Roma Federation7–7FriendlyUnknown

Final results

Up to matches played on 21 November 2021.

Coaches

The team has been managed by Giovanni Trapattoni in the past.[44] [45] [46] His first match as manager was played on 23 October 2010 when Vatican City faced a team composed of Italian financial police.[47]

thumb|right|150px|Giovanni Trapattoni coached the team in 2010.

Historical kits

Sources:[48] [49]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Chi siamo . Sport in Vaticano . 28 January 2023.
  2. Web site: Nuti. Nicola. Vaticano: 7 squadre per il campionato di calcio. News Cattoliche. https://web.archive.org/web/20141025150923/http://www.newscattoliche.it/vaticano-7-squadre-per-il-campionato-di-calcio// . 26 August 2016. 25 October 2014 . it.
  3. News: Montague. James. A Friendly Game for a Beatific State. The New York Times. 12 May 2014 . 13 May 2014.
  4. Web site: Vaticano. fedefutbol.net. 19 March 2012.
  5. Web site: Ferrera. Elena. VATICANO NEL PALLONE CON SQUADRE PAPALI. altrenotizie.org. 26 August 2016. it.
  6. Web site: Wimmer . Anian Christoph . Abortion, LGBT activists disrupt Vatican women footballers' debut . catholicherald.co.uk . 28 June 2019.
  7. Web site: Vatican Cup lifts spirits in Rome. https://web.archive.org/web/20140517121304/http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/news/newsid=113173.html. dead. 17 May 2014. FIFA. 19 March 2012.
  8. Web site: Relano. Alfredo. Lo que el Vaticano quiere es Selección. 20 December 2006 . opinion.as.com. 15 May 2014. es.
  9. News: Colchester. Max. The World Cup For Everyone Else. The Wall Street Journal. June 2010 . 15 May 2014.
  10. Web site: Parada. Gonzalo. La Selección de fútbol del Vaticano vuelve al verde césped. gamacero.blogspot.com. 15 May 2014. es.
  11. Web site: Vatican Football. 8 November 2010 . The Path Less Traveled. 25 June 2014.
  12. Web site: Praying for a win – the Vatican City at World Cup 2014?. 19 September 2010 . Six Balls Between Us . 15 May 2014.
  13. News: Vatican plays down soccer 'joke' . . David . Willey . 19 December 2006.
  14. Web site: Saffer. Paul. Pray as you play. 19 March 2012.
  15. Web site: Fussball im Vatikan. 1. FC Ratzinger. 15 May 2014. de. https://web.archive.org/web/20140517120333/http://www.1fcratzinger.com/10762.html. 17 May 2014. dead.
  16. Web site: Pradelli. Christian. Trap ct della nazionale vaticana Sfiderà la Guardia di Finanza il 23/10. Sport Media Set. 21 August 2016. it.
  17. Web site: Terremoto Centro Italia - Venerdì a Rieti la Nazionale italiana sindaci partecipa a triangolare di solidarietà. anci.it. 23 May 2017. it.
  18. Web site: Gerevini . Maria . Per la "nazionale" del Papa ora c'è uno sponsor (di)vino . 4 May 2018 . corriere.it . 3 July 2019 . it.
  19. Web site: Mattei. Giampaolo. Lo scudetto vaticano? Ai Gendarmi E per gli Svizzeri. vatican.va. 14 February 2014.
  20. News: Pope: Football a moral guide to life . . 10 January 2008.
  21. News: Pope heading to World Youth Day aboard 'Shepherd One' . news.com.au . 9 July 2008.
  22. Web site: Vatican slams Serie A Sunday lunchtime kick-offs. https://web.archive.org/web/20121023083707/http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=811643&cc=5901. dead. 23 October 2012. ESPN. 19 March 2012.
  23. News: Vatican team will have the hand of God . 18 December 2006 . Agence France-Presse . https://web.archive.org/web/20070630175020/http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20944687-38200,00.html . 30 June 2007.
  24. News: Vatican plays down soccer 'joke' . 19 December 2006. 2011-09-03 . . David Willey.
  25. News: Pope Francis to celebrate birthday with visit from his favourite football team . 17 December 2013. 2014-11-17 . Catholic Herald.
  26. News: Former Pope Benedict Please With Germany's World Cup Victory, Hopes Argentina 'Recovers Soon'. 16 July 2014. 2014-11-17 . The Christian Post.
  27. Web site: Vatican squashes soccer team idea . Italy Magazine . 3 July 2019.
  28. Web site: Lemmenmeier . Adrian . Abseits der Fifa: Der Fussball-Verband nicht anerkannter Staaten wächst – auch ein Team aus Graubünden ist dabei . 2 April 2019 . St. Gallen Tagblatt . 5 July 2019 . de.
  29. Web site: Sport: presentata la maglietta per i 50 anni dell'Associazione ASD Sport in Vaticano. Card. Gambetti (vicario), "creare fraternità per vincere la partita della vita" . 17 May 2022 . agensir.it . 28 January 2023 . Italian.
  30. Web site: First half goals secure Monaco win against Vatican City. 23 June 2013 . Non-FIFA Football. 23 June 2013.
  31. Web site: 2017 Kit. https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/instagram/doingthe116/1505247254264310844 . 2021-12-23 . subscription. Doing the 116. 22 May 2017.
  32. Web site: THE OFFICIAL TEAM SHIRT IS FOR SALE AT THE VATICAN MUSEUMS . Sport in Vaticano . 20 August 2021.
  33. Web site: World Football Elo Ratings: Vatican City . Eloratings.net . World Football Elo Ratings . 5 March 2022.
  34. Web site: Vatican : Un pape, une équipe de foot, un observatoire . 13 March 2013 .
  35. Web site: Le saviez-vous ? Le Vatican dispose d'une équipe nationale de football . 18 February 2022 .
  36. Web site: Die FA Raetia duellierte sich mit der Papst-Elf . 24 March 2019 .
  37. Web site: Elba Island – CONIFA profile. 2022-12-10 . . en-US.
  38. http://www.1fcratzinger.com/10762.html
  39. Web site: Calcio Estero, Germania batte Vaticano 8-1: Gol di una guardia svizzera . 2014 .
  40. Web site: Vatikan Fussballmeisterschaft 2018 / 2019 .
  41. http://www.sportinvaticano.com/storia-rappresentativa-dipendenti-vaticano/
  42. Web site: Wenn der Vatikan Fußball spielt… . 18 June 2017 .
  43. Web site: Vatikan ging in Schaan mit 8:1 unter . 19 June 2018 .
  44. Web site: 'Lose well rather than win badly' - How Vatican City are taking on the world and losing. goal.com.
  45. Web site: Football thrives in Vatican City. fifa.com.
  46. Web site: The things they say: Giovanni Trapattoni. https://web.archive.org/web/20110531042958/http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/news/newsid=1442357.html. dead. 31 May 2011. FIFA. 19 March 2012.
  47. Web site: Trapattoni betreut Vatikan-Auswahl. fussball24.de. 16 May 2014. de.
  48. Web site: Vatican City. 25 July 2020 . 26 July 2020.
  49. Web site: 1990s. Facebook.