Rural area provides national team (11)
I believe the answer is:
countryside
'rural area' is the definition.
(countryside is a kind of rural area)
'national team' is the wordplay.
'national' becomes 'country' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'team' becomes 'side' (both can mean a sports team).
'country'+'side'='COUNTRYSIDE'
'provides' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for countryside that I've seen before include "Rural areas" , "Turned so icy (anag.)" , "The green and pleasant part of our land" , "Rural area" .)