FC Barcelona branching out
FC Barcelona has many good reasons to visit North America. The club could attract as many as 300,000 spectators for four exhibitions -- in Monterrey, Mexico; Los Angeles, Houston, and New Jersey. But Barcelona also is looking to the future, and the club plans to return to the Western Hemisphere.
That means possible investment in MLS, which is promoting this tour through its Soccer United Marketing arm, and closer ties with Mexico -- three of the four opponents on the tour are Mexican clubs.
Organizers are expecting near sellouts for every game: against Tigres in Monterrey Aug. 3; CD Guadalajara at the LA Coliseum Aug. 6 (a doubleheader following the Chivas USA-Revolution match); Club America at Reliant Stadium in Houston Aug. 9; and the New York Red Bulls in Bruce Arena's debut as Red Bull coach at Giants Stadium Aug. 12.
Barcelona was not as well received when it played in the US in 2003, partly because it was not the reigning Champions League winner, as it is now, and partly because of high ticket prices.
Attendance was 30,912 when Barcelona and Juventus tied, 2-2, at Gillette Stadium July 27, 2003. The game was not well-marketed -- few were aware it would be the Barca debut of Ronaldinho -- and the cheapest ticket was $55. (The average ticket price for this tour is $40). Coach Frank Rijkaard was in his first preseason guiding the team, and there were questions about Barca's ability to overtake Real Madrid.
But Barcelona has eclipsed Real Madrid since then, placing the emphasis of its attack on Ronaldinho and defeating Arsenal in the Champions League final in May. Ronaldinho and Brazil flopped at the World Cup, but Barcelona is expected to remain near the top of the heap in both Spain's La Liga and the Champions League.
Barcelona recently raided Juventus to add World Cup final rivals Lilian Thuram and Gianluca Zambrotta and had previously signed Eidur Gudjohnsson from Chelsea.
Real Madrid also raided Juventus, relegated to Italy's Serie B in a match-fixing scandal, for coach Fabio Capello, plus defender Fabio Cannavaro and midfielder Emerson. The Merengues will meet D.C. United in Seattle Aug. 9 and visit Real Salt Lake Aug. 12.
But Barca and Real, plus Chelsea (which meets the MLS All-Stars in Chicago Aug. 5) are approaching these tours differently than in the past. Barcelona is purposely keeping ticket prices down in an attempt to be accessible.
``Barcelona's tag line is `more than a club' and that means not that they are just more than a soccer team," MLS deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis said last night, ``but also they are promoting the city of Barcelona and the Catalan people. They are representatives to the world of the Catalan people and they are interested in doing things outside of soccer. Maybe their basketball team will come to the US to play NBA teams. They have a wide-ranging set of thoughts."
When Barcelona president Joan Laporta attended the MLS Cup in Frisco, Texas, last November, he said the club was interested in investing in MLS. But Barcelona might not be able to simply buy the rights to an MLS team, as CD Guadalajara did with Chivas USA. Laporta cannot act unilaterally, since Barcelona is comprised of voting members.
``I think they are evaluating that," Gazidis said of possible Barcelona investment in MLS. ``It would be presumptuous to say they have a fixed plan. The tour is the first part of exploring a relationship that could be many things, depending on which direction they decide to go. It could be Barcelona players playing in the MLS, a relationship in which there are regular tours with the first team."
Yet, there could be a limit to these tours. This is among the few times a reigning Euro champion has made an extensive visit to North America. But Barcelona is still in preseason form and there is nothing at stake in these matches.
Signs are pointing toward these visits evolving into something more. Three of the teams (Club America, Barcelona, Chivas) involved in these games could meet in the newly coined FIFA Club World Cup, scheduled Dec. 10-17 in Japan. America won the CONCACAF Champions Cup and Chivas is meeting Sao Paulo in the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores.
In the '80s, the TransAtlantic Challenge Cup attracted the best teams in Europe and South America to play against the North American Soccer League's top teams. Major corporate backing made the tournament a potential success. But the tournament was done in by a lack of viable soccer venues, which is hardly a problem these days.
So, Barcelona (and Real and Chelsea) will likely be returning to North America. But next time, the stakes could be higher.
Dunga, who was the captain of Brazil's 1994 World Cup-winning team, replaces Carlos Alberto Parreira, who quit after Brazil was eliminated by France in the quarterfinals of this year's World Cup in Germany.
``The choice of Dunga will fully satisfy the desires of Brazilian fans who want an enthusiastic coach on the national team," CBF president Ricardo Teixeira said on the confederation's Web site.
Dunga will make his debut when Brazil faces Norway in an exhibition Aug. 16 in Oslo.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. 
