Comemorações do Dia dos Açores em Toronto ... - Post Milenio

Stadium Suplemento Desportivo
5 a 11 de Junho de 2009 23
Real Madrid set to play in Toronto
All signs are pointing to a Spanish summer in
the GTA, at least as far as Toronto FC are
concerned. Plans are nearing
completion for one of the world’s biggest
soccer clubs to visit BMO Field, as Real
Madrid are set to be unveiled in the next few
days as TFC’s opponents for a friendly match
to be played on Friday, Aug. 7.
The nine-time European champions will be travelling to
North America for a two-game series against Major League
Soccer opposition, with a game in Washington against D.C.
United – announced yesterday – to take place on Sunday,
Aug. 9, two days after the visit to Toronto.
As a result, the originally scheduled fixture against the
New York Red Bulls has been moved from Aug. 9 to
Saturday, June 13, which Paul Beirne, TFC’s senior director
of business operations, confirmed yesterday.
Toronto FC will also be installing a temporary grass
surface on top of the artificial turf at BMO Field to accommodate
the 31-time Spanish league champions, although
whether that surface will remain in place for the remainder
of TFC’s MLS schedule is not known.
Ticket prices have also yet to be confirmed, although
Toronto FC are said to be pursuing another opponent for a
second exhibition game to fulfill their one-game commitment
to season ticket holders, enabling the Real Madrid
tickets to be sold at a premium, and not inclusive of season
ticket packages. Real Madrid themselves now begin an offseason
of uncertainty, having watched fierce rival
Barcelona sweep all before them in winning an unprecedented
treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey and, most
recently, the Champions League, the first Spanish club to
complete the trophy hat trick.
That will not sit well in the Spanish capital, and with a
new club president set to be installed next month, the
world’s second most valuable team – estimated to be worth
$1.35-billion (U.S.) by Forbes magazine – could boast
many new stars by the time it arrives on these shores.
The favourite to take over is former Real Madrid president
Florentino Perez, the architect of the galacticos era,
during which time the club acquired soccer luminaries such
as Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and David Beckham.
While those three have all moved on to pastures new,
Perez has hinted he would try to sign Brazilian star Kaka in
his “presidential promise,” although French winger Franck
Ribery and reigning FIFA world player of the year
Cristiano Ronaldo are also high on the wish list. Whether
any of them don the famous all-white strip of Madrid will
be seen in due time, but just the thought of them gracing the
“grass” of BMO is enough to whet the appetite.
French champions set up Montreal clash
The Montreal Impact and the French Football League
announced that this year's Champions Trophy match will be
held at Montreal's Olympic Stadium on Saturday, July 25.
This year's 14th annual event features surprise French
Cup champion, second division Guingamp, who will play
either Bordeaux or Marseille, the two remaining clubs in
this year's French First Division title race.
"For a long time, we wanted to host a high profile international
game in Montreal, which offers a fantastic market
for international level soccer games," said Impact President
Joey Saputo. "In the past months the Impact had made
intensive and sustained efforts to hold this unprecedented
event in Quebec and we are
very happy with the outcome."
Guingamp clinched a
spot in this year's Champions
Trophy by defeating Stade
Rennes 2-1 in the French Cup
final on May 9, the first time
since 1959 that a second division
club had won the
nation's open cup competition.
Bordeaux, who face 17th place Caen in this weekend's
final game, have a three-point edge over Marseille, who
play sixth-place Rennes in their last match on Saturday.
Ticket prices for the match will range between $15 and
$50 with match organizers anticipating a large crowd for
the game after a CONCACAF Champions League match
between the Montreal Impact and Santos Laguna of
Mexico attracted over 55,000 fans.
“Soccer fans will get the opportunity to see high level
soccer in a competitive international setting," said Montreal
Impact executive vice-president Richard Legendre. "We are
expecting a considerable crowd and this is why we have
chosen the Olympic Stadium to hold this event. Keeping in
line with our organization’s tradition, tickets will once
again be affordable.”
July's game at Olympic Stadium may be a first for
Canadian soccer but it won't be the first time a major
European soccer league has held its curtain raiser in North
America. AC Milan defeated Torino in the 1993 Super Cup
played at Washington's RFK Stadium and in 2003 Juventus
defeated AC Milan at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford,
New Jersey.
In 2002 Juventus defeated Parma in Tripoli, Libya.
while this year's Super Cup will be played at Beijing
National Satdium between Lazio and Inter Milan on a yetto-be
determined date in August.
Peter Mallett (in: GM)
Taça Camões e não só
Os veteranos do Sporting derrotaram
o Peniche por 2-0.
No escalão sénior, o Peniche venceu o
Gil Vicente por 1-0, com golo de Adiel dos
Santos.
A final foi disputada entre o Peniche e o
Sporting no Brockton Stadium. Empate 0-0
ao fim do tempo regular e do prolongamento.
Na marca de grandes penalidades o
Peniche venceu convertendo os 5 penaltis,
por intermédio de Adiel dos Santos, Renato
Vieira, Bruno Leal, Marcel de Moraes e
Cheney Valadares. O Sporting converteu 4
penaltis e falhou um.
Durante o Verão não percam as
festas que o Sporting Clube
Português de Toronto leva a
efeito aos fins-de-semana.
Não percam a possibilidade de
saborearem os nossos almoços.
Para mais informações, liguem
para:416-763-1707