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He said tournament organizers love University of Phoenix Stadium.
“It’s a great city,” Stillitano said. “It’s a great football city. There are so many fans. Obviously, there is a huge Hispanic base and there is also a huge youth soccer base. We always talked about when’s the right time to bring a team there. This time, with the schedule (which includes semifinal matches held at Los Angeles) and Phoenix’s location, we thought this would be a great opportunity certainly for the LA Galaxy to expand their brand and also to bring Real Madrid there. It made perfect sense.”
Real Madrid may still be in its preseason, but coach Carlo Ancelotti said the crowd should expect the team’s best.
“This club and the fans like good football and that is how we will try to play for them,” Ancelotti told reporters at a news conference in Los Angeles earlier this week. “It is usual for there to be competition between the players because knowing that there are a lot of matches and that everyone has a chance to play helps motivate them all. We need to play in unity and be a team which plays attractive, offensive, attacking football.”
Dunivant said no matter who Real Madrid puts on the field, world-class talent will be showcased.
“The toughest thing with these games is that they have so much depth,” he said.
“They’ll play 11 guys for the first half and play a completely new set of 11 guys in the second half. And both 11s are virtual world All-Star teams. That’s probably where the biggest difficulty lies in these games. You are able to stay with them early on but it gets tougher as the game goes on with a fresh11who are world-class players. It’s a great challenge, and we’re looking forward to it.”