Football superstars coming to Foxboro
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Soon enough, we hope, our own football stars will be back in Foxboro.
Wednesday night at Gillette Stadium, however, several of the world's most famous football players (or, soccer players) will tackle the New England Revolution in what is being billed as the first installment of the Herbalife World Football Challenge. Manchester United - perhaps the most famous sports franchise on the planet, and by most accounts the most valuable - begins a five match tour of the United States as they prepare for the English Premier League season by facing the Revolution.
The World Football Challenge is actually a 14-match tour of the US involving several well-known, high-powered football clubs preparing for their upcoming seasons against Major League Soccer teams through August 6. Manchester City, Real Madrid, Juventus FC, Sporting Clube de Portugal, CD Guadalajara and FC Barcelona will all take part in matches over the next three weeks against North American teams. But the kickoff to the world tour focuses on Foxboro Wednesday...and the arrival of perhaps the world's top club team, with the world's top player - Wayne Rooney.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTExpected to play against the Revolution for coach Sir Alex Ferguson's Red Devils are several of their front line players, including Rooney and Rio Ferdinand, Portuguese winger Nani, Michael Owen, team captain Nemanja Vidic of Serbia and Korean midfielder Ji-Sung Park.
“As we experienced last season, we’ve seen the rise in United States soccer,” Sir Alex Ferguson said earlier this week. “We expect a really difficult game, as we did last season. All the games were very, very tough, so we look forward to it." On their pre-season tour of the US last year, Man U narrowly defeated the Philadelphia Union 1-0, and lost 2-1 to the Kansas City Wizards, before rebounding with a 5-2 win over the MLS All-Stars. The Red Devils moved on during their season to claim their 19th overall English Premiership title this past May, establishing themselves as the most successful club in league history.
“I think the Revolution will be ahead of us in fitness,” Ferguson added, as his team just began training sessions in the past week. “Last year, we had a really difficult game in Kansas and it was a reminder that no matter what game you go into, you can lose a game of football if you don’t prepare properly and go in with the right attitude and right approach to things. It can happen.”
As for the Revolution, they've struggled for the better part of the 2011 season within MLS. Taking on one of the top club teams in the world will prove to be a significant challenge, but one they're looking forward to taking on. “It’ll be a great experience to play against one of the best teams on the planet and some of the best players on the planet," Revolution coach Steve Nicol said. "I’m sure it’ll be a great experience for our guys. Hopefully we can do well and that’ll give us some confidence to take into the rest of the season."
It has been more than 50 years since Manchester United played in New England, just prior to the shocking 1-0 upset for the US National Team over England in the 1950 World Cup. A crowd of more than 50,000 is expected for the match at Foxboro Stadium, which will kick off at 8:00 pm. Tickets are still available.
Photo Courtesy: Manchester United, Boston Globe
Information from revolutionsoccer.net and the Boston Globe was used in this report.
