Soccer United Marketing (SUM) and the New York Red Bulls today announced that the soccer national teams of Colombia and Ecuador will play an international exhibition on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ at 8:00 p.m., ET. The match will serve both teams to prepare for the next round of the South American qualifiers ahead of the FIFA World Cup to be held in South Africa in 2010.
This past July 18, Ecuador and Colombia faced off in World Cup qualifying in Quito, Ecuador, ending in a scoreless draw. Ecuador returns to the New York metropolitan area nearly a year after tying Ireland in an international exhibition in May 2007. The Colombian national team last played in the United States this past March against Honduras in Fort Lauderdale. The last time Ecuador and Colombia met on American soil was in May of 2006 as part of Ecuador's preparation ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. The teams tied 1-1 in front of almost 55,000 fans at Giants Stadium.
Colombia, whose team is composed of stars Aquivaldo Mosquera (Sevilla / Spain), Agustín Julio (Santa Fe/Colombia), Hugo Rodallega (Necaxa/ Mexico), Radamel Falcao (River Plate/ Argentina), Watson Rentería (Porto/Portugal) among others, is currently third in the South American World Cup qualifying with 10 points, behind Paraguay and Argentina.
Ecuador, whose team includes stars like Christian Benitez (Santos Laguna/ Mexico), Patricio Urrutia (Liga Universitaria de Quito/Ecuador), Ivan Hurtado (Millonarios/Colombia), Carlos Tenorio (Al-Sadd/Qatar) and Antonio Valencia (Wigan Athletic/England), is currently eighth in South American qualifying with five points.
Historically, Ecuador and Colombia have played 34 games with 13 Colombian victories, 11 Ecuadorian victories and 10 draws.
Tickets, starting as low as $35 and can be purchased by calling the Red Bulls at 1.877.RBSOCCER or log on to NewYorkRedBulls.com. Red Bulls season ticket holders will be able to purchase tickets exclusively from 9 AM - 12 PM. Tickets are also available by visiting www.ticketmaster.com or any Ticketmaster outlet and the Giants Stadium box office beginning at 12 PM. Special group rates are also available.
