Sporting Kansas City will kick off the inaugural MLS Desert Cup in Tucson, Arizona on Friday with the first of the tournament's four matches at 7 p.m. CT, when KC faces the Arizona Sahuaros of the NPSL at Hi Corbett Field. The widely-publicized pre-season gathering is being organized by FC Tucson Events, as the local semi-professional soccer club FC Tucson will take on the New York Red Bulls at 9 p.m. CT in the doubleheader's finale on Friday.
Sporting Kansas City and the New York Red Bulls will then meet on Saturday in the weekend's marquee match at 9 p.m. CT. General admission tickets are $12 for each day's games and can be purchased online or at the at the Hi Corbett Field box office. The Sporting Way, the official blog of Sporting Kansas City, will host live chats with in-game updates from Hi Corbett Field during both games.
Tucson's thirst for MLS action is expected to be on full display for a tournament marketed as the "most important professional soccer event in Tucson's history." This weekend marks the first time an MLS team has ever held a game in the city, and the first time two top flight teams have played one another since Jorge Campos and Atlante (Mexico) played Hugo Sanchez and FC Linz (Austria) in 1996.
Based on fan interest and media coverage leading up to tonight's matches, the soccer showcase has brought a buzz around the arrival of Sporting Kansas City Designated Player Omar Bravo and his Red Bulls counterparts Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez.
Media Coverage:
- YouTube video from press conference
- Tucson Sentinel: Tucson's soccer outlook greener with Desert Cup
- Arizona Public Media: Interview with president of Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
- Tucson Sentinel: Local fans kick up heels for Desert Cup soccer
- KOLD-13: Tucson tries to sell itself a soccer town
- Tucson Citizen: MLS Soccer Comes to Tucson This Weekend
- Tucson Sentinel: Breaking down the Desert Cup's MLS Teams
- Arizona Daily Star: Lines show Hi Corbett taking new shape
- FOX 11: MLS Desert Cup in Tucson
- Tucson Citizen: Tucson is a Soccer "Phoenix"
- KVOA-4: Major League Soccer Kicks Off Friday
- Arizona Foothils Magazine: A Tucson First - Major League Soccer Comes to Town
- Arizona Daily Star: As soccer host, this ain't our first rodeo
On Facebook:
- Photo album of playing surface at Hi Corbett Field, courtesy of American Outlaws - Tucson
- Photo album from press conference event at Hi Corbett Field
- Major League Soccer Desert Cup event page
News and Notes:
- KC won both meetings against the Sahuaros in the 2010 pre-season, by a 5-0 scorline on February 6th and then securing a 4-0 victory on March 7th.
- Sporting Kansas City defender Roger Espinoza played for the Sahuaros in 2006.
- The Sahuaros are coming off a 6-1 loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps, after tying the New Zealand Olympic Team 1-1 and defeating the Canadian Olympic Team 2-1.
- Midfielder Irving Garcia, waived this week by the New York Red Bulls, is expected to play for the Sahuaros this weekend.
- Sporting Kansas City will look to win their second straight pre-season match after earning a 2-0 victory over the Montreal Impact last Saturday. First round draft pick C. J. Sapong scored his first goal of the pre-season, after earning a pk and confidently converting it.
- Kansas City's defense has posted back-to-back shutouts, with the 2-0 win coming immediately after a scoreless draw with the Portland Timbers.
- Following the MLS Desert Cup, Sporting KC will play their final two pre-season games against Real Salt Lake on March 8th and 9th at the Reach 11 Sports Complex in Phoenix, AZ. The team's full 2011 pre-season schedule is available here.
- Sporting striker Omar Bravo, who celebrates his 31st birthday on Friday, will be interviewed by local Tucson radio host Carlos Zeta on Mia 97.1 FM between 2-3pm CT on Friday.
- After spending three seasons in CommunityAmerica Ballpark, Sporting Kansas City will return to the comfy comfines of a baseball stadium at Hi Corbett Field, a 9,500 seat ballpark called home by the Colorado Rockies in spring training in recent years.
- Tucson City Councilman Paul Cunningham said organizers are "expecting up to 10,000 fans here at Hi Corbett" for the Desert Cup.
