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/

Bolton keeper plays waiting game

Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen is stalling over signing a new deal at the Reebok Stadium.

The former Finland international has spent 15 seasons at the Lancashire club and was awarded a testimonial match in 2009.

However, after picking up an injury at the turn of the year the 37-year-old lost his place to Adam Bogdan, but despite not being first choice, his manager is keen to keep him.

“I want to make it clear that I want him (Jaaskelainen) to stay,” Coyle told reporters.

“We know we have Adam, and that would give us two top keepers, but we want that strength in depth.

“I had a very good chat with him last week and he knows my feelings on the matter.

“We know how good a goalkeeper Jussi is, the fantastic service he’s put in for Bolton Wanderers over a number of years, and we have put an offer to him that we think is a good one.”

Should Jaaskelainen choose to stay at the Reebok Stadium, he could face an uphill challenge to regain his place in the starting XI.

Not only did Bogdan end the previous campaign as first-choice, the Hungarian goalkeeper is also 14 years his junior and Coyle was full of praise for Bogdan’s contribution in what was, ultimately, a disappointing season.

“Adam finished last season as one of the top few keepers in the Premier League for me,” Coyle said.

“Jussi was disappointed when he lost his spot, and he was unlucky that it happened because of an injury but he knows how far Adam has come along.

“It’s up to him now whether he wants to stay and challenge him, or move on.”

Source : http://www.soccernews.com/bolton-keeper-plays-waiting-game/95506/

International friendly preview: Spain v South Korea

Spain continue their Euro 2012 preparations with a friendly against South Korea at the Tivoli Neu Stadium in Austria on Wednesday.

Since accounting for Serbia 2-0 at the weekend, Vicente del Bosque has named his 23-man squad for next month’s championships.

There are four members missing from the Spanish squad that triumphed over Germany to win the 2008 European championships – Carlos Marchena, Joan Capdevilla and injured pair Carles Puyol and David Silva.

Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo, who netted 14 goals during the 2011/12 La Liga season, was included, along with Barcelona’s Pedro.

Atletico Madrid striker Adrian Lopez was a surprise omission, despite turning in an impressive substitute display in Saturday’s 2-0 friendly victory against Serbia, with Valencia marksman Roberto Soldado also missing out.

Cesc Fabregas has been told to rest for up to ten days after straining his right thigh muscle in Barcelona’s Copa del Rey success and won’t be risked against South Korea.

Following Wednesday’s match, Spain face China in Seville before opening their Euro 2012 campaign against Italy on June 11.

For South Korea’s first match since defeating Kuwait in 2-0 in a February World Cup qualifier, Arsenal Striker Park Chu-Young has been left out of the 26-man squad that is also due to play two World Cup qualifiers against Qatar on June 8 and Lebanon on June 13.

South Korea boss Choi Kang-Hee has included Koo Ja-Cheol (Wolfsburg), Son Heung-Min (Hamburg) and Ji Dong-Won (Sunderland), who missed February’s 2-0 World Cup qualifier victory over Kuwait.

Fellow European-based players Ki Sung-Yeung (Celtic) and Park Joo-Ho (FC Basel) were also named.

But there was no room for Bolton midfielder Lee Chung-Yong despite making two substitute appearances late in the season after recovering from a broken leg.

The remainder of the squad consists of 14 players based in the K-League, four in the J-League and three in the Qatar Stars League.

In four previous meetings, Spain have prevailed twice but the 31st-ranked Koreans claimed a dramatic victory on penalties to advance to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup held in South Korea and Japan.

However, Spain won the nations’ most recent encounter – last June – courtesy of Jesus Navas’ goal four minutes from time.

Source : http://www.soccernews.com/international-friendly-preview-spain-v-south-korea/95438/

Hargreaves released by City

Midfielder Owen Hargreaves has been released by Manchester City after just one season with the club.

The former England international moved to Etihad Stadium in August last year after his contract at rivals Manchester United expired.

Hargreaves, 31, made just one English Premier League appearance for the newly-crowned champions in the whole of the campaign.

Having struggled for fitness throughout the season, the club confirmed on Tuesday the former Bayern Munich midfielder was leaving.

Hargreaves has struggled for fitness over the last few seasons, having been an integral part of Manchester United’s Premier League and Champions League winning campaign of 2007/08.

The Canadian-born Hargreaves was forced to visit a knee specialist in the United States in early 2010 in a bid to cure him of persistent tendonitis problems.

Following surgery, Hargreaves made his first Premier League appearance in nearly two years as a late substitute against Sunderland, but further injury problems curtailed his comeback.

He played once more for United in a Carling Cup clash against Wolves at Old Trafford in November 2010, but was forced off early with a hamstring complaint.

The midfielder, who has won 42 caps for England, made the switch to City after being released by Sir Alex Ferguson.

Source : http://www.soccernews.com/hargreaves-released-by-city/95096/