Manchester United will continue their Tour 2010 against Major League Soccer’s newest franchise, Philadelphia Union, at Lincoln Financial Field.
The match between United and the Union will mark the first time that United have played a match on American soil since their last pre-season tour in 2004, and kick off their three-match tour in the United States.
Even though the Union has a great new soccer-specific stadium, PPL Park, the match will be at the much larger stadium United already hold the record for the largest ever crowd (68,396) when they opened up “The Linc” against FC Barcelona in 2004.
However, the United players will get a glimpse of the amenities of the 18,500-seat PPL Park when they host an open training session the day before the match (Tuesday, July 20th).
United defeated Celtic F.C. 3-1 at the Rogers Center in Toronto last Friday, so they will look to continue their bright start with a good performance against the Union. Dimitar Berbatov, who was named Man of the Match, contributed with a goal and two assists. The United No. 9 assisted both Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley to seal the victory against Celtic.
About
The Union decided to appoint former DC United and United States U-23 manager, Piotr Nowak, as the club’s inaugural manager.
The former Polish Player of the Year is the only person to win the MLS Cup as a player (1998, Chicago Fire) and manager (2004, DC United).
Long-time MLS player and former U.S. International, Danny Califf, is the captain of the new Philadelphia-based franchise and has anchors their defense.
The Union’s attack is led by Brazilian-born Fred, who is a former MLS Golden Boot winner with DC United, but he has only registered two goals in 13 appearances in the league this season.
Another player that the United players need to be weary of is their playmaker Sébastien Le Toux. The Frenchman, who scored the lone goal in a 1-0 victory over Celtic F.C. last week, leads the Union with five goals in just eight appearances.
Manchester United will look to take another positive in their 2009/10 season preparations with a positive result over the Philadelphia Union, but the main concern is to get more minutes under the player's belts and come out the match unscathed.
The match is part of the ESPN Summer Soccer Series and can be seen live on ESPN2 at 7.30pm EST.
Visit One United USA's official Tour 2010 site - unitedinthestates.blogspot.com - for the latest updates and information about the training sessions for the United States part of the tour.
Squad
Goalkeepers: E. van der Sar, T. Kuszczak, B. Amos; Defenders: W. Brown, R. De Laet, J. Evans, Fabio, J.O'Shea, Rafael, C. Smalling; Midfielders: T. Cleverley, D. Fletcher, C. Evans, D. Gibson, R. Giggs, Nani, G. Obertan, P. Scholes; Forwards: D. Berbatov, M. B. Diouf, J. Hernandez (Houston - 7/27), F. Macheda, D. Welbeck
Prediction
Philadelphia Union 0, Manchester United 2
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