Soccer

Ireland to take on Spain at Yankee Stadium

Legendary baseball venue to host friendly on June 11th

The Yankee Stadium in New York, where the Republic of Ireland will take on Spain on June 11th. Photograph: Richard Perry/The New York Times
The Yankee Stadium in New York, where the Republic of Ireland will take on Spain on June 11th. Photograph: Richard Perry/The New York Times
Mon Apr 08 2013 - 14:30

The FAI has lined up a glamour friendly clash with world and European champions Spain at Yankee Stadium in New York on Tuesday June 11th.

The game will cap off a busy end of season run of games for Giovanni Trapattoni’s side, starting with a friendlies against England at Wembley (May 29th) and Georgia at the Aviva Stadium (June 2nd) ahead of the World Cup qualifier against the Faroe Islands in Dublin on June 7th.

The squad will then fly to New York for the game against Spain at the 50,000 capacity Yankee Stadium, which hosted its first soccer match last summer when Chelsea took on Paris Saint-Germain in front of a crowd of 38,000. A pre-season friendly between Real Madrid and AC Milan attracted a crowd just shy of 50,000.

The match will be the second of two fixtures at the baseball stadium this summer following the meeting of Chelsea and Manchester City on May 25th.

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Speaking today, Republic of Ireland manager, said: "I am looking forward to playing this match in New York, said Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni. "Our team is in evolving and showing a lot of promise. The recent games demonstrated that our players have serious potential.

“Matches against opposition like England, Georgia and Spain are very helpful to that development and great preparation for our important competitive fixtures in June, September and October.”

Supporters travelling from Ireland will be able to apply for tickets for the match against Spain from April 15th at 9am through www.fai.ie/away. The match will kick-off at 8pm local time (1.0am Irish time).

The FAI also confirmed today that it has received confirmation from the Austrian FA that the World Cup qualification match on September 10th will take place in Vienna.