Would you want to see Guiseppe Rossi this summer?

Earlier this offseason, I posted a poll and question about what EPL teams you would like to see do a tour of the United States.  Since then we have seen Barcelona confirm a three-stop tour of the U.S., where they will be playing both Manchester United (DC) and AC Milan (Miami).  But with as large a country as ours, there is plenty of space and a diverse enough fan base in the United States for other European clubs to pay a visit this year .

Today’s question will expand the original to the other three major European leagues: La Liga, Bundesliga, and Serie A.  A later post or two will include further European leagues and clubs, so if your favorite European team has not yet been posted, you will have your chance to pick it later.  All three of the other major leagues have diverse styles of play and passionate fans in the U.S. who sometimes have to compete for attention with the more popular (and culturally accessible) English Premier League.  But a major driver of the popularity of these leagues is immigration – fans root for teams in the country of their descendants or from where they originate.  Hence the huge Barcelona and AC Milan followings across the United States.

So here are six clubs that I think would do well to take a tour of the United States this summer who have not already announced any matches.  Of course vote for which ones you’d like to see through the poll below and in the comments section:

Inter Milan:  The nerazzurri hit hard times under Rafa Benitez but slowly seem to be righting themselves.  Even if they are not treble contenders this year, the team is stocked with world class talent from front to back.  Wesley Snejder, Samuel Eto’o, Cambiasso, Julio Cesar, etc. are all big names in the soccer world, and are good draws.  Inter has visited the United States as recently as last year and draws very well.  Dream match – Inter Milan versus AC Milan in Baltimore.  Bring one of the best derbies in the world to the U.S. city with a rich Italian history.

Juventus: Juve is another large Italian club that has fallen on hard times.  But Juventus has traditionally been the face of Italian soccer, supplying the national team with many of its players.  Fans would come out to see Gigi Buffon, maybe when healthy the world’s best keeper, as well as Alessandro Del Piero, Alberto Aquilani, and breakout star Milos Krasic.  Dream match – Juventus versus Ajax in the New Meadowlands.  Replay the 1996 now-Champions League final outside a city with supporters of both clubs.

Real Madrid: Any chance you can see The Special One, you have to take that opportunity.  But besides Mr Mourinho, Real Madrid may have the best collection of soccer talent in the world.  Even a second or half squad would bring out world-class players but fans could hope to see Ronaldo, Higuain, Xabi Alonso, and Mesut Ozil.  Dream match – Real Madrid versus FC Dallas in the Jerry Dome.  Miami gets Barcelona this summer, so Dallas gets Real.

Villareal: The big reason to bring Villareal to the United States is Jozy Altidore.  If he is the future of the U.S. national team, bring him to the U.S. on a tour or for a friendly so Americans can see him with his club.  And Villareal is having a great season, third in the league behind the big two, and they have a ton of talent.  One of their top scorers is Giuseppe Rossi, someone American soccer fans may have heard of.  Dream match – New York Red Bulls and Villareal in New Meadowlands.  Playing the match here allows Rossi and Altidore a chance to play near their hometowns.

Bayern Munich: The Bundesliga pecking order has been upset this year, with traditional clubs like Stuttgart in danger of relegation.  However, even though they are sitting just fifth, Bayern is the premier name in Bundesliga outside Germany.  Big names from the most recent World Cup like Muller and Schweinsteiger populate the roster, and French fans can come out to see Franck Ribery.  Dream match – Bayern visiting Seattle at Qwest Field.  Seattle has been skipped in many of these tours and deserve a big-name competition.

TSG Hoffenheim: Many people may not have heard about this club or think it would be a good draw in the United States, but Hoffenheim, a mid-table club, has a great story in Vedad Ibisevic.  You can read the entire story in this New York Times article, but in brief Ibisevic’s family fled to the United States to avoid the ethnic warfare in Bosnia.  Vedad played for a year with the University of St. Louis before beginning his professional career in Europe.  Dream match – Obviously Hoffenheim should play in St. Louis and the probably opponent should be Sporting Kansas City, the closest professional club.

Update: Get your DC tickets here.

Congratulations D.C, Miami, and Dallas – according to the FC Barcelona website this morning you will have the opportunity to witness the world’s best team in person.

The team has announced its summer 2011 tour and it is a monster one.  The club will begin in Europe against unknown opponents.  They will play two matches at Munich’s Audi Cup on July 21 and 22, followed by a trip to Split, Croatia for a friendly July 25.

Then the team travels across the Atlantic for three matches in the United States.  Dates, locations and opponents are below:

July 30 – Manchester United v. Barcelona (Washington, DC)

August 3 – AC Milan v. Barcelona (Miami, FL)

August 6 – America of Mexico v. Barcelona (Dallas, TX)

This will be the club’s first trip back to the U.S. since 2009 and the club expects to make over $8 million on the tour.

My first impression is that the Manchester United/Barca match will be epic.  Expect that one to be played at Fedex Field instead of RFK due to its size and the stadium will be closed to full.  AC Milan, which is no stranger to the U.S. having played friendlies here the past two summers, looks to be returning again and will give the Miami area some great soccer.  Finally, Dallas will allow fans of the Mexican soccer league to see how their teams match up against a European giant.

What do you think about the announced schedule?  Upset they are not playing MLS teams or your hometown is not on the tour schedule?  Or just happy to have a chance to see Barcelona, Manchester United, and AC Milan back in the states?

Today’s announcement by Major League Soccer that Miami will not be one of the expansion teams was yet another kick in the teeth for soccer aficionados in South Florida.

Consider the following facts:

1. When Dolphin Stadium (then called Joe Robbie Stadium) was opened in 1987, it was purposefully designed with a wider than usual playing surface to accommodate soccer. It seemed a certainty that Miami would be one of the cities to host the 1994 World Cup. Instead, Orlando was selected and the matches were played at the woefully inadequate Citrus Bowl.
2. Despite having the best record in MLS during the 2001 season, being one game away from the MLS Cup, and having its best year for attendances, the team was contracted by MLS.
3. South Florida used to have a fairly regular schedule of friendlies involving national and club teams, but that has dissipated to a trickle of teams that play in the region. National and club teams such as Brazil, USA, Argentina, Germany, Colombia, Bayern Munich, Rangers and Mexico used to play in South Florida. Now, if we’re lucky, we get to see a handful of friendlies each year featuring B-level national teams such as Haiti, Honduras, Guatemala and Chile.

Critics would argue that soccer has been given plenty of chances to succeed in South Florida, but I disagree. Soccer has been poorly marketed in the region time after time. And the moment when it seemed that an organization had finally put together a sound plan (i.e. Marcelo Claure and Barcelona), the rug was pulled out from under us due to the dire economic mess the world is in.

I hate to be a pessimist, but it’s unlikely that a Major League Soccer team will return to South Florida during my lifetime. The story of the Fusion and the failed attempt by Barcelona will deter businessmen from trying to bring a team to South Florida in the future. For many, it may be too big of a risk to take especially given the current economic meltdown.

Living in South Florida, I find it ridiculous that the nearest MLS team to me is exactly 1,000 miles away — DC United. That’s the same distance from London to Naples, Italy. And just imagine how many professional clubs can be found between those two cities. Let’s hope I’m wrong and that a MLS team will eventually return to this soccer hotbed. We deserve it down here.

Most pundits agree that Miami is odds-on favorites to get a Major League Soccer team in 2010 or 2011. After all, with a name like Barcelona tied to the club, how could MLS refuse?

While the vast majority of articles about the expansion bid have been positive, I wanted to get a few things off my chest so the news is more balanced than what’s been printed in the media thus far.

Let me first say that I was a Miami Fusion season ticket holder, a member of the Afusionados supporters group and covered the Fusion as a member of the media. Plus, I proposed to my wife on the Fusion pitch at Lockhart Stadium during half-time of a MLS match, so you could say I have a deep emotional bond with the now departed Miami Fusion operation.

For the past several months I’ve been following the behind-the-scenes negotations regarding the Fusion, but never thought it would actually come to this whereby Miami is literally one step away from seeing a MLS team return to South Florida once again.

At this point, I’m extremely excited about the prospect of Miami being awarded a MLS team, but here are my reservations:

1. The field at Florida International University Stadium is field turf, not grass.
2. The Florida International University Stadium is home to a college football team, not a MLS team — which means that there will be fixture congestion and the Barca Miami team will always have second choice.
3. The stadium is in western Miami, which is an inconvenient location for many including (1) people who can’t afford to drive on the Florida Turnpike toll road, and (2) those driving from the east and north east such as residents of West Palm Beach, which is 80 minutes away from FIU.

If Barcelona wasn’t involved in this deal, then there would be a lot more naysayers regarding Miami’s chance of seeing a MLS team come to South Florida again.

The ideal location for Barca Miami would be downtown Miami on the site of the former Orange Bowl where the City of Miami was looking for investors to put in $50 million to help build the stadium next door to the future home of the Florida Marlins baseball team. But when Florida International University is offering its stadium rent-free to a MLS team, how could Barcelona and Marcelo Claure not take them up on the offer?

In life, nothing is perfect. Such is the state of the Barca Miami bid, but if it means the opportunity of professional soccer returning to South Florida, then I’m all in favor of it and will support the team. The question is whether the rest of the soccer fans in the area will do the same.