Tottenham Hotspur today officially announced their plans for the club’s summer 2012 tour of the United States.
As we reported in January, Tottenham Hotspur will play New York Red Bulls on July 31, 2012 at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. The match will be part of a New York Invitational Cup.
One week earlier, on Tuesday, July 24, 2012, Tottenham will play its opening match of their US summer tour of the United States with a friendly against LA Galaxy at the Home Depot Center in southern California.
Hopefully Tottenham Hotspur will announce additional dates. After all, flying to the United States and back is an awful long way to go just to play two friendlies.
On announcing the tour, Tottenham Hotspur Chairman Daniel Levy said: “We are delighted to be heading back to the USA ahead of the 2012-13 season. We enjoyed a successful tour in 2010 and are looking forward to the opportunity to play against the LA Galaxy and New York Red Bulls, two of the leading franchises in MLS.
“The Club is proud of its reputation for playing entertaining football and we believe this attacking style is responsible for the significant rise in the number of fans across the USA in recent years. This tour presents us with a great opportunity to give something back to those fans and also introduce new supporters to the Spurs way of playing football.”
Commenting on the announcement, Tottenham Hotspur Manager Harry Redknapp said: “The facilities will be first class and the opposition will provide a great test for the squad. We know how good the MLS sides are from two summers ago when we faced San Jose Earthquakes and New York Red Bulls. We can expect another tough encounter when we face the Red Bulls again this time.
“Playing the winners of the MLS Cup in LA Galaxy will provide a real challenge too – any team that includes proven international performers like Robbie Keane, Landon Donovan and David Beckham are sure to be top drawer.
“I have fantastic memories of America from my days playing at Seattle Sounders and, more recently, our last visit there two years ago.”
Tottenham Hotspur is not the only Premier League side touring the States this summer. Chelsea and Liverpool have made plans to tour the USA. However, Liverpool’s tour is in doubt especially if they have to play Europa League qualifiers in late July which would conflict with a US tour.
If Tottenham Hotspur does play additional friendlies on this tour, which cities should they plan in? And how many of you are planning to go see Spurs play when they play in New Jersey and California? Share your opinions in the comments section below.
