Santa Barbara will get a little taste of the World Cup as two countries who qualified for soccer’s biggest event this summer will be sending their Under-23 teams for an international friendly match at UCSB’s Harder Stadium on Sunday, Jan. 17.
Mexico and Denmark will square off at 2 p.m. in the first match in Santa Barbara featuring two foreign national teams. In 1993, the U.S. men’s senior national team played Romania in a friendly match at Harder Stadium prior to the ’94 World Cup.
While most of the attention of soccer fans around the globe is on the World Cup in South Africa this June and July, national soccer organizations are constantly planning ahead for the next major tournament. In the case of the teams coming to town, the coaches are evaluating their pool of players before qualifying begins for the 2012 Olympics in London.
The Olympic Games use the under-23 format for its tournament.
The U-23 player pool could also benefit the senior teams in the World Cup.
“Without a doubt,” Rudy Ybarra, game promoter and organizer for Santa Barbara Soccer Entertainment, said of the possibility of U-23 players getting selected to the national team for the tournament to South Africa. “There are some players on the Mexican (U-23) roster who have suited up for the full national team. In Denmark, the coaches usually take one or two young players. Some of their players are playing on first division (club) teams.”
The core of Mexico’s roster will include players who play for clubs in that country’s top professional league.
The Mexican team is coached by Mario Arteaga, a former Chivas of Guadalajara standout and a member of Mexico’s 1992 Olympic soccer team. Arteaga has ties to Santa Barbara. He played on the 1991 Santa Barbara Soccer Club team that won the California State Cup.
Arteaga is assisted by Juan Carlos Chavez, a former star player with the Guadalajara club Atlas. He played for Mexico in the 1994 World Cup.
Chavez and Arteaga have been coaching together for a little over five years. They have coached Dorados of Sinaloa (who they actually ascended to the Mexican First Division), Leon (in the second division) and Veracruz in the First Division.
Tickets for the game are $20. They can be purchased at local merchants Aggressive Soccer, Xtreme Soccer, Guadalajara Market and Taqueria Rincon Alteño. You can also buy tickets online at sbsoccerent.com.
Harder Stadium has gained a reputation for hosting high quality soccer matches. Last year, Club America and Atletico Moreila of Mexico played to a packed house in the spring, and Mexico’s Under-17 team took on the UCSB men’s team before more than 9,500 fans in September.
In December, the stadium will be the home for the 2010 NCAA Men’s College Cup.
