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Red Bulls May Play Host to Barcelona in August
Published: March 19, 2008
F.C. Barcelona is nearly certain to return to the United States this summer for at least two games against Major League Soccer clubs.
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“We are almost sure we will go to the States,” the club spokesman José Miguel Teres said Tuesday in a telephone interview from Barcelona. “It is 99 percent, unless something strange happens. Probably Chicago and New York, but it is not confirmed. We are now finishing the contracts.”
On Tuesday, the Red Bulls announced a schedule change, moving their league game against D.C. United from Aug. 9 to Aug. 10. That would make it possible for Barcelona and the Red Bulls to play on Thursday, Aug. 7, in East Rutherford, N.J. In addition, the Red Bulls’ scheduled match at New England on Aug. 2 has been shifted to June 18 in Foxborough, Mass., which means the Red Bulls will play at San Jose on July 27 and then not have a league game for 14 days.
Barcelona is in second place in the Spanish league, 7 points behind Real Madrid with 10 games to play. Barcelona last visited the United States in 2006 in a tour organized by Soccer United Marketing, the marketing arm of M.L.S. The team went to Los Angeles (drawing 92,650 to the Coliseum against Chivas Guadalajara of Mexico), Houston (70,550 at Reliant Stadium against Club América of Mexico) and New Jersey (79,002 at Giants Stadium in a 4-1 victory against the Red Bulls).
“We might also do an end-of-season trip to Mexico and play a game on the western coast of the U.S., maybe during Euro without our European stars, but with our players from Brazil, Argentina and Eto’o,” Teres said, referring first to the European Championship, then to players like Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o. “Then we would play preseason on the East Coast. The opponents? I don’t know yet.”
Marisabel Muñoz, a spokeswoman for Soccer United Marketing, said discussions with a “number of international clubs” were continuing and that “details of the summer matches will be released in the coming weeks.”
Last summer, Barcelona traveled to Asia to play games in Beijing, Japan and Hong Kong.
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Published: March 19, 2008
F.C. Barcelona is nearly certain to return to the United States this summer for at least two games against Major League Soccer clubs.
Skip to next paragraph
News and features from around the world of soccer and the Web.
Go to the Goal Blog »
“We are almost sure we will go to the States,” the club spokesman José Miguel Teres said Tuesday in a telephone interview from Barcelona. “It is 99 percent, unless something strange happens. Probably Chicago and New York, but it is not confirmed. We are now finishing the contracts.”
On Tuesday, the Red Bulls announced a schedule change, moving their league game against D.C. United from Aug. 9 to Aug. 10. That would make it possible for Barcelona and the Red Bulls to play on Thursday, Aug. 7, in East Rutherford, N.J. In addition, the Red Bulls’ scheduled match at New England on Aug. 2 has been shifted to June 18 in Foxborough, Mass., which means the Red Bulls will play at San Jose on July 27 and then not have a league game for 14 days.
Barcelona is in second place in the Spanish league, 7 points behind Real Madrid with 10 games to play. Barcelona last visited the United States in 2006 in a tour organized by Soccer United Marketing, the marketing arm of M.L.S. The team went to Los Angeles (drawing 92,650 to the Coliseum against Chivas Guadalajara of Mexico), Houston (70,550 at Reliant Stadium against Club América of Mexico) and New Jersey (79,002 at Giants Stadium in a 4-1 victory against the Red Bulls).
“We might also do an end-of-season trip to Mexico and play a game on the western coast of the U.S., maybe during Euro without our European stars, but with our players from Brazil, Argentina and Eto’o,” Teres said, referring first to the European Championship, then to players like Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o. “Then we would play preseason on the East Coast. The opponents? I don’t know yet.”
Marisabel Muñoz, a spokeswoman for Soccer United Marketing, said discussions with a “number of international clubs” were continuing and that “details of the summer matches will be released in the coming weeks.”
Last summer, Barcelona traveled to Asia to play games in Beijing, Japan and Hong Kong.
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