FCC will host Barcelona-based RCD Espanyol in its third ever international friendly at 7:30 p.m. July 28 at Nippert Stadium — a night that also will be used to celebrate Cincinnati's ascension into Major League Soccer. Espanyol finished 11th in La Liga but had an impressive 1-0 victory over eventual UEFA Champions League winner Real Madrid on Feb. 28.
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“Getting to play against international competition is a privilege, and it’s something our group, as a staff and our players, are excited to go do,” Koch said. “It was exciting last year when we brought Valencia here. We took a little pride in seeing how Valencia progressed in their amazing season last year in La Liga and if we were able to contribute a little to that. We felt a part of their journey, and they were definitely a part of our journey too. This summer we get to be a part of the journey with Espanyol.”
Last summer, Cincinnati drew 23,114 fans on a Monday night to watch as Valencia concluded its North American summer tour with a 2-0 victory against FCC.
During FCC’s first season in 2016, the club brought in English Premier League’s Crystal Palace and packed the Nippert with 35,061 fans – the largest crowd to witness a soccer match in Ohio history – as the hosts dropped a 2-0 loss in their inaugural international friendly.
“When we started the club an international friendly was a big part of our vision,” FCC president and general manager Jeff Berding said. “The reason it’s important is because we play the world’s sport. Our sport is the one sport that has global currency, it’s the one sport that really unites the world around their passion for their communities and for their clubs and for the sport of soccer.”
Second-division clubs don’t easily bring in top division international teams; however, FCC gained global recognition with its fan support for the Crystal Palace game, and that has helped its efforts to establish relationships with other league’s around the world.
It also has helped that La Liga is trying to make more of a splash in North America.
“It’s helped quite a bit,” Berding said. “When you do international friendlies of this nature, you are obviously working with the club, but you’re also working with the league, and La Liga has a great presence here in North America with league representatives, and the fact we had a great experience last year — Valencia went on and had a great year in La Liga. We’d like to think we are a part of a good preseason warmup to what is an enormously challenging league.”
Berding said Espanyol’s exciting style and talent level should make the friendly entertaining for fans.
However, combining the game with an MLS celebration makes it an even bigger deal, he said. Everyone who attends will receive a commemorative poster and a special halftime presentation will feature owner Carl Lindner III as a guest speaker.
“Teams from La Liga play a very entertaining, attractive style of soccer,” Berding said. “They call it the beautiful game, and you see that when teams from Spain show up. So, for our fans to be able to see some of the best players in the world, playing some of the most attractive soccer in the world, right here against our club, we think that’s something our city should and has embraced. And, this match will be even more exciting because we’re combining it with our MLS celebration and the ascension of FC Cincinnati into the first division.”
Season ticket holders can begin purchasing tickets for the friendly beginning Monday and will have an exclusive one-week window before sales open for the general public June 25. Prices start at $15.
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