* Great Tickets Remain Available for Manchester United Match
* Manchester United Roster Features Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nani, Edwin Van der Sar
* Wizard Top Crew 1-0 Wednesday, Play Colorado Saturday
* Bunbury Scores First MLS Goal
* First Trusses Erected at KC Soccer Stadium
* USA Fans Encouraged to Support Effort to Land World Cup in 2018 or 2022
* Mateus Manoel Joins Technical Staff as Fitness and Conditioning Coach
GREAT TICKETS REMAIN AVAILABLE FOR MANCHESTER UNITED MATCH:
Great tickets remain available for the upcoming friendly between the Kansas City Wizards and English Premier League powerhouse Manchester United. The match will take place next Sunday, July 25 at 5 p.m. CT and will be the first event at the New Arrowhead Stadium. A handful of lower-level seats remain, and club-level and upper-level tickets are available starting at $60 and $40, respectively.
Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.com, by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 or at any Ticketmaster outlet. Special packages are also available through the Kansas City Wizards and can be purchased by calling 1-888-4KC-GOAL.
The Manchester United match provides another opportunity for Kansas Citians to show their passion for the sport as part of the highly successful Summer of Soccer. Over 30,000 soccer fans have gathered for World Cup watch parties in the Kansas City Power & Light District. The crowd for the USA-Ghana Round of 16 match was shown live on ABC’s game broadcast and seen by over 15 million people in the U.S.
Fans can show their support for the bid to bring the World Cup to Kansas City by texting “KansasCity” to 22442 or signing the petition online at www.goUSAbid.com/KC. Kansas City is one of 18 cities still in the running to host matches should the USA bid to host the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup be successful. FIFA will select the host nation for both 2018 and 2022 on December 2, 2010.
MANCHESTER UNITED ROSTER FEATURES RYAN GIGGS, PAUL SCHOLES, NANI, EDWIN VAN DER SAR:
The list of international superstars coming to Kansas City includes legendary midfielders Ryan Giggs (Wales) and Paul Scholes (England), as well as Edwin Van der Sar (Holland), Nani (Portugal) and Dimitar Berbatov (Bulgaria). Giggs is the only player in English football history to win 11 Premier League championship medals. This record is the equivalent of an American football player winning 11 Super Bowl rings or a baseball player capturing 11 World Series titles. For the transcript of an interview with Giggs about playing in the United States and Kansas City, click here.
United trained in Chicago on Wednesday and will play Scottish giants Celtic Friday at Rogers Centre in Toronto. United will then travel to Philadelphia for a game against the Philadlephia Union (MLS) Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. CT before coming to Kansas City Saturday before Sunday’s match against the Kansas City Wizards (MLS). Manchester United will conclude the U.S. portion of their tour Wednesday, July 28 against the MLS All-Stars at Reliant Stadium.
MANCHESTER UNITED 2010 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR SCHEDULE
July 16 Manchester United vs. Celtic F.C 6:00 pm CT Rogers Centre, Toronto
July 21 Manchester United vs. Philadelphia Union 6:30 pm CT Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
July 25 Manchester United vs. Kansas City Wizards 5:00 pm CT Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City
July 28 2010 AT&T MLS All-Star Game vs. Manchester United 7:30 pm CT Reliant Stadium, Houston
MANCHESTER UNITED 2010 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR ROSTER
GOALKEEPERS: Ben Amos (ENG), Tomasz Kuszczak (POL), Edwin van de Sar (NED)
DEFENDERS: Wes Brown (ENG), Fabio Da Silva (BRA), Rafael Da Silva (BRA), Ritchie De Laet (BEL), Corry Evans (NIR), Jonny Evans (NIR), John O'Shea (IRL), Chris Smalling (ENG)
MIDFIELDERS: Tom Cleverley (ENG), Darren Fletcher (SCO), Darron Gibson (IRL), Ryan Giggs (WAL), Nani (POR), Gabriel Obertan (FRA), Paul Scholes (ENG)
FORWARDS: Dimitar Berbatov (BUL), Mame Biram Diouf (SEN), Javier Hernandez (MEX) [will join in Houston on 27 July], Federico Macheda (ITA), Danny Welbeck (ENG)
MANAGER: Sir Alex Ferguson
WIZARDS TOP CREW 1-0 WEDNESDAY, PLAY COLORADO SATURDAY:
The Kansas City Wizards earned a hard-fought road victory Wednesday night, posting a 1-0 result over the 1st place Columbus Crew. Rookie striker Teal Bunbury scored his first MLS goal on the night, while goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen posted his 6th shutout of the year with a season-high seven saves. Three of Nielsen’s saves were highlight-reel efforts.
The Wizards now travel to Colorado to take on the Rapids Saturday night at 8 p.m. CT on KCWE 29. The Wizards defeated the Rapids 1-0 in the first MLS meeting of the season on April 10. Colorado won a U.S. Open Cup play-in match three days later 2-1.
TEAL BUNBURY SCORES FIRST MLS GOAL:
Rookie striker Teal Bunbury scored his first MLS goal Wednesday, giving the Wizards a 1-0 win over Columbus. Left back Roger Espinoza, an Ohio State University product, started the play by intercepting a pass from Frankie Hejduk and turning immediately up field. Espinoza found winger Ryan Smith at the half line, and Smith unlocked the Crew’s defense with an inch-perfect pass in between defenders into the path of Bunbury. The University of Akron product made no mistake, blasting home a shot between the legs of goalkeeper William Hesmer for his first MLS goal.
Bunbury has played in 13 MLS matches for the Wizards this season, starting four. He has taken eight shots, putting seven of them on goal. His first MLS assist came May 5 at D.C. United when he set up a late goal from Kei Kamara. Bunbury’s first professional goal came in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play-in loss against Colorado April 13.
FIRST TRUSSES ERECTED AT KC SOCCER STADIUM:
Wednesday, crews installed the first trusses for the iconic roof at KC Soccer Stadium. The roof will cover every seat in the building, keeping noise in and providing cover from Kansas City’s weather. Photos from the first day of truss installation can be found on the front page of KCWizards.com or through the KC Soccer Stadium page on Facebook.
Fans can see more from the first day of truss installation during the pre-game show for Saturday’s match versus the Colorado Rapids. The pre-game show starts at 7:30 p.m. CT on KCWE 29.
USA FANS ENCOURAGED TO SUPPORT EFFORT TO LAND WORLD CUP IN 2018 OR 2022:
U.S. National Team fans are strongly encouraged to support the bid to bring the FIFA World Cup™ to the United States in 2018 or 2022. To date, over 875,000 people have showed their support, including over 22,900 from Kansas City.
In addition to signing the petition at www.goUSAbid.com/kc, supporters can register their interest by texting “Kansas City” to “22442”. Kansas City is one of 18 cities still in the running to host games should the USA bid be successful.
MATEUS MANOEL JOINS TECHNICAL STAFF AS FITNESS AND CONDITIONING COACH:
Mateus Manoel has joined the Wizards technical staff as the team’s Fitness and Conditioning coach. Manoel comes to the Wizards after working as an assistant fitness coach for the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team for the past year and a half.
Manoel has an extensive background in soccer. From January 2007 to August 2008, he worked as a fitness coach for D.C. United of Major League Soccer, and then as a fitness coach for the Mexican National Soccer Team from July 2008 to May 2009. He also currently holds a position as a performance specialist at Athletes’ Performance.
In 2003, Manoel received his Bachelor of Science in kinesiology an exercise science from the University of Maryland at College Park. He received his Master of Science in exercise science from The George Washington University in 2006.
Kansas City Wizards Weekly Update July 15
