FC Barcelona announced the 30 man roster that will travel to the United States for Cingular presents "FC Barcelona On Tour USA 2006" that will take the European champions to Los Angeles, Houston and New York for three exciting matches against top competition. The tour begins on August 6th as FC Barcelona takes on CD Guadalajara of Mexico at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Spanish champions then travel to Houston in order to take on Mexico's Club America on August 9th at Reliant Stadium before wrapping up the ten day trip at Giants Stadium against the New York Red Bull of MLS at Giants Stadium on August 12th.
FC Barcelona's roster includes some of the game's greatest stars including FIFA Player of the Year Ronaldinho (Brazil), the 19 year old sensation Lionel Messi (Argentina), African Player of the Year Samuel Eto'o and Mexican captain Rafa Márquez.
The club also will travel with its newest acquisitions including 2006 FIFA World Cup winner Gianluca Zambrotta and World Cup runner up with the French National Team, Lillian Thuram. Also making the trip is Icelandic forward Eidur Gudjohnsen who joined the team this summer after a number of years with Chelsea FC.
The team also included six players from its youth squad in its list of players who will make the trip. These players include Giovanni Dos Santos, the young Mexican midfielder who won the most recent FIFA U-17 World Cup with the Mexico. Dos Santos recently saw his first minutes with the first team as he scored a goal during a recent match during the club's tour through Denmark.
More than 120,000 tickets have been sold for the three matches of the tour. Many sections have already sold out but good seats still are available. For ticket information, visit www.ticketmaster.com, www.FCBTour.com or call 1-877-CHIVAS-1 in Los Ángeles, 713-276-7500 in Houston or 1-877-RBSOCCER in New York.
