Imagine a match between the “national teams” of Merseyside and the North East. Jamie Carragher marshals the defence for Merseyside, with Steven Gerrard, Joey Barton and Kevin Nolan running the midfield and Wayne Rooney leading the line. For the opposition, Jonathan Woodgate and Steven Taylor keep it tight at the back, with Michael Carrick providing inspiration in midfield and Stewart Downing pinging in crosses for Michael Chopra.

Sounds good? Now imagine these teams coming out to their own anthems, their supporters waving their own flags and gleefully ripping up the Cross of St George while demanding political independence from Westminster and the right to enter their “nation” in the World Cup.

Tough to get your head around? Well, that is what happens most years during the holiday period in Spain, when the “national” teams of Catalonia, the Basque country (or, as they prefer to be called, Euskal Herria), Galicia and other Spanish “autonomous communities” play friendly matches that end up as political fodder.

Which is what happened on December 29, when Catalonia and Euskal Herria played out a 1-1 draw at the San Mamés stadium in Bilbao. Spanish flags were ripped to shreds, Catalan and Basque footballers who opted out were insulted and there were all sorts of seditious and sesessional chants.

The political pressure group, Alternativa Española, asked that the authorities bring charges of “disrespecting the flag” (a crime in Spain) against the organisers and investigate them for possible treason.

And the opposition Popular Party slated the ruling Socialists for not condemning the match.

The stated aim of such events is to celebrate the national sporting identity of the regions; the goal is to receive recognition from Fifa so they can be separate footballing nations. It is a pipe dream, but the organisers believe that Catalonia and Euskal Herria have as much of a right to Fifa recognition as Wales and Scotland. “They say that, but what they forget is that the home nations are an exception and we get away with it because we wrote the rules,” one Barcelona-based Scottish journalist told me.

Which is true. And, leaving aside issues of rules and regulations (Fifa states that only countries recognised by the United Nations can apply for membership), there are plenty of economic reasons why it is unlikely to happen, not least because the footballers would be the first to suffer.

Despite its chronic underachievement on the big stage, Spain is a footballing world power. Catalonia, Euskal Herria, Galicia and whatever is left of Spain without those regions would be left somewhere between Scotland and Portugal in the world pecking order.

It is equally true that Fifa, which frowns on any mingling of football and politics, wishes these matches do not take place as they open giant cans of worms, not least because most of the people who show up to watch are not there for the football; they are there to make a political statement.

Nor are the clubs big supporters, with the possible exception of Athletic Bilbao (who do not employ nonBasque players anyway) and Barcelona whose president, Joan Laporta, is a Catalan cheerleader. And perhaps even he is having second thoughts, given that Albert Jorquera, the Barcelona reserve goalkeeper, injured a knee in the match and will be out for the rest of the season.

Such is the interest in these teams, however, that they manage to schedule top-notch opponents. Catalonia have played Brazil and Argentina, the Basques have faced Cameroon and Venezuela. And such is the pull among footballers that Carles Puyol and Xavi, two of Barcelona’s biggest stars, gladly gave up a chunk of their winter break to participate. It is a safe bet that, had they not been involved with their Barclays Premier League clubs, Xabi Alonso, Cesc Fàbregas and Mikel Arteta would also have wanted to be involved.

And so these matches look likely to continue, for all the controversial issues they raise. But perhaps, despite the ugly politicisation, that is not a bad thing. In an era in which football is supposedly dominated by clubs, greed and sponsors, it is nice to see players who just turn up and play for pride.

Mourinho for Bayern

News that José Mourinho was available for the Bayern Munich job when Ottmar Hitzfeld leaves at the end of the season and that Franz Beckenbauer, the Bavarian club’s president, was doing little to discourage the speculation was greeted with surprise in European quarters. Surely the Special One would go somewhere glamorous, such as Barcelona or Milan? In fact, Bayern would be a good fit. They are in excellent financial shape, the squad is young, deep and talented and we know that Mourinho would prefer restoring a club to greatness rather than taking over a successful side.

The language issue is also a nonstarter. If Fabio Capello can learn English in six weeks (as he has promised to do), one would imagine that Mourinho could learn German in six months.

No naked ambition

Anybody who has met Kaká will tell you that he is one of the nicest people in the game. But even nice guys can be pushed too far. G, the Brazilian magazine – a glossy monthly aimed at a gay audience – after failing to persuade the AC Milan midfield player to pose nude for a photo shoot, announced that it was going ahead anyway, using a lookalike, one Lucas Pugliessa.

Kaká was not amused. His lawyers sent a stern letter warning the magazine that if his name appeared anywhere alongside the nude lookalike, Kaká would take it to court. No more Mr Nice Guy.

And rightly so. The folks at G have received more than enough publicity from Kaká. It is one thing for players to accept their status as gay icons (David Beckham being the prime example), but quite another for their name to be exploited.

gabriele.marcotti@thetimes.co.uk