DC United v Juventus Friendly, Washington DC, Jul 28 2012 – Tickets Available Now!

D.C. United and Juventus, the Italian Serie A champion have confirmed their match at RFK Stadium on July 28 at 6 p.m. The match, to football fans delight is finally official.

The Turin-based team clinched its 28th Serie A title two weeks ago and recorded the first undefeated season (23-0-15) in the country’s top division since AC Milan in 1992. The club scored 68 goals and conceded just 20. This weekend it will seek the Italian Cup title against Napoli.

The squad included three of the greatest players of this Italian generation: goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, midfielder Andrea Pirlo and forward Alessandro Del Piero, 37, who isn’t expected to return after 19 years in Turin. Juventus forward Mirko Vucinic and United midfielder Branko Boskovic are teammates on Monte¬negro’s national team.

Juventus, heading into the regular season finale Saturday against Atalanta, is planning to play two or three matches on the North American tour. Other cities under consideration include Montreal and Las Vegas.

Juventus is also planning to play Real Madrid in Las Vegas and Paris Saint-Germain in Montreal on July 31 and Real Madrid in Las Vegas on Aug. 5.

Tickets, scheduled to go on sale next Monday, will cost $35 to $65 before service charges.

D.C. United is an American professional soccer (association football) club based in Washington, D.C. which competes in Major League Soccer (MLS). It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having competed in the league since its inception, in 1996.

Over the club’s history, D.C. United has been considered to be the flagship franchise of MLS, having won 12 international and domestic titles. Domestically, United has been one of the most successful MLS clubs. United has won the U.S. Open Cup twice, and holds an MLS record for most MLS Cup and Supporters’ Shields apiece, winning each honor four times. United was the also the first club to win both the MLS Cup and MLS Supporters’ Shield consecutively.

Juventus Football Club commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve are a professional Italian football club based in Turin, Piedmont. The club is the third oldest of its kind in the country.

Juventus are historically the most successful club in Italian football and one of the most laureated and important globally. Overall, they have won fifty-two official titles on the national and international stage, more than any other Italian club: a record twenty-eight league titles, a record nine Italian cups and four national super cups and, with eleven titles in confederation and inter-confederation competitions (two Intercontinental Cups, two European Champion Clubs’ Cup/UEFA Champions Leagues, one European Cup Winners’ Cup, a record three UEFA Cups, one UEFA Intertoto Cup and two UEFA Super Cups) the club currently ranks fourth in Europe and seventh in the world with the most trophies won.

What: D.C. United vs Juventus
Where: RFK Stadium, Washington,DC
When: July 28, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. EST
Tickets: Available at TicketCenter.com

Source : http://www.soccernews.com/dc-united-v-juventus-friendly-washington-dc-jul-28-2012-tickets-available-now/95868/

Trani delighted as Reds march on

Adelaide United assistant coach Luciano Trani could not hide his delight on Tuesday night.

A Jon McKain first half goal and a series of match-winning saves from captain and goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic secured Adelaide’s progress to the final eight of the AFC Champions League for the second time in four years with a 1-0 victory over Nagoya Grampus.

Galekovic thwarted the visitors’ attack with an array of near-impossible stops, including a speculative diving one-handed effort to deny Nagoya and Socceroo target man Josh Kennedy.

McKain’s effort to force a loose ball in from point-blank range in the 40th minute after Reds defender Iain Fyfe’s set-piece header had ensured a goalmouth scramble was enough to set up a two-legged quarter-final on September 19 and October 2-3 with a yet-to-be announced opponent.

Trani said the feeling following the win was ‘indescribable’ and would be a moment to savour for a long time as the Reds get set for a five week break before returning to prepare for the business end of the ACL and the 2012-13 A-League season.

‘What this win means for the club is indescribable really. It’s something we are very proud of,” Trani said.

“This particular tournament required high standards of performances, we have achieved that, got into the quarter-finals and can now enjoy this moment.

“We have some time from (now to) when we do play the quarter-finals to prepare, but it will give us the extra motivation through pre-season to able to continue on the success of the team and move forward for the forthcoming (A-League) season.

“Our players have become smarter and wiser for the experience in Asia, and we going to be a lot better for it.”

Trani gave honourable mentions to goalscorer McKain and his defensive partner Nigel Boogaard but reserved special praise for Galekovic.

“Eugene’s performance was outstanding alongside our two centre-back defenders in Nigel Boogaard and Jon McKain through their ability to read the situation,” Trani said.

“But Eugene obviously gave a match-winning performance.”

Nagoya coach Dragan Stojkovic also paid testament to Galekovic’s ‘match-winning performance’ but bemoaned his side’s inability to find the back of the net.

“Galekovic was absolutely fantastic today, the most valuable player and hero of the game – his saves were incredible,” Stojkovic said.

“We tried really hard to play good football and to get a result, but obviously we were not good enough up front.

“We didn’t use our chances and paid the price for not scoring goals, and the now the ACL is finished for us.

“We must find a solution as we turn our focus to the J.League.”

Source : http://www.soccernews.com/trani-delighted-as-reds-march-on/95474/

Mourinho delighted with contract extension

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has spoken of his delight at signing a contract which will keep him at the club until 2016.

It was reported in January the Portuguese coach was set for a return to England, but on Tuesday it was announced he had agreed a two-year extension to his existing deal that was set to run out in 2014.

“I feel happy. If I was not, I would not have signed this agreement,” Mourinho told Real Madrid TV.

“I would like to think that it is not just me that is happy but also Real Madrid – the president (Florentino Perez),(executive) Jose Angel Sanchez and directors, who have trusted me and think I’m the ideal coach for this project we have until 2016.

“I have been talking with the players in recent months, analysing the situation, and my strong sense is that the squad in general is also happy with this decision.

“My wife and my children, who are central to my professional decisions, are comfortable with this choice.

“I think this is the perfect challenge for me for my next four years because it is difficult and that gets more out of you.

“At this stage in my career I need big challenges to force me to continue to get better.”

Mourinho, who has never spent more than three seasons at one club, explained there were a number of factors in his decision to commit himself to Madrid for a maximum of another four years.

“Firstly, the president’s desire to have what is not common in football today, to be able to think long term,” the two-time Champions League winner said.

“There was also the confidence I have always shown in my work. But I’ve always said it was very important to me to have the feeling that the fans, the team and club are happy and confident in my work.

“And I started to learn more about this club with all its very great qualities and I am delighted to continue and plan ahead.

“We obviously know we have to think about tomorrow and not speak too much of the long term. And that’s what we tried to do in the past two years.

“You think about the future. But in a club of this size you have to get results, you have to win and that’s what we tried to do in these two years together and what we will try to continue doing over the next four.”

Source : http://www.soccernews.com/mourinho-delighted-with-contract-extension/95101/