Seattle Sounders FC will host Manchester United, winners of a record 11 English Premier League titles and three European championships, on Wednesday, July 20, on the Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field, it was announced today. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. (PT). The presenting partners for the Sounders FC international friendly match are AT&T and Samsung Mobile.
“Our fans deserve the best and we have provided a blockbuster match,” said Sounders FC majority owner Joe Roth. “Manchester United is perhaps the most popular team on the planet and certainly one of most successful. Yet on this summer night the loudest roars of the crowd will be saved for the home side, Sounders FC. I imagine people from throughout the West will descend upon Seattle to see this match.”
Managed by Sir Alex Ferguson since 1986, Man United features a star-studded lineup led by forward Wayne Rooney, defender Rio Ferdinand–both members of the English National Team–and other accomplished internationals such as Dimitar Berbatov, Nani, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Javier Hernandez (Chicharito) and legendary midfielder Ryan Giggs, the most decorated player in English history.
The match is part of the Sounders FC full 18-match season ticket package. In anticipation of the demand for tickets, seating at Qwest Field will be expanded to include the upper bowl.
The Red Devils will be making their third trip to Seattle. They met Scotland’s Celtic FC before a record Qwest Field crowd of 66,722 in 2003. In 1982 Man United faced the original North American Soccer League’s Sounders in the EuroPac Cup tournament, losing to Seattle, 3-0.
