By FRANCO PANIZO
AS Roma is coming to Red Bull Arena for a summer friendly, but it will not be against a club team.
Roma is set to take on El Salvador's national team in a friendly at Red Bull Arena on July 27, the New York Red Bulls announced on Monday. The match will be Roma's final exhibition in their first preseason trip to the United States, while it will also serve as another tune-up for El Salvador before World Cup qualifying resumes.
Roma also has games in Chicago and Boston scheduled as part of their U.S. tour. The Italian club will take on Polish outfit Zaglebie Lubin at Wrigley Field and Liverpool FC at Fenway Park.
Here are more stories from around the soccer world:
NASRI, THREE OTHERS TO BE QUESTIONED BY FFF
Internal problems at international tournaments seem to be becoming the norm for France. Samir Nasri, Hatem ben Arfa, Yann M'Vila and Jeremy Menez are all to be questioned by the French Football Federation over their actions at Euro 2012. The quartet were involved in a heated locker room exchange following Les Bleus' 2-0 defeat to Sweden in the final group match, while Nasri also directed profane comments towards a journalist following France's 2-0 loss to Spain in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
The FFF looking into these matters comes two years after French players had a notorious World Cup revolt in South Africa with then-head coach Raymond Domenech.
ZOLA TO BE NAMED WATFORD MANAGER
Gianfranco Zola is on the brink of returning to coaching, and Watford all but seems to be the team ready to hire him. Watford fired head coach Sean Dyche on Tuesday, paving the way for the hiring of Zola. The Italian has not coached since losing his debut job at West Ham United in 2010, but Watford owner said Monday he planned on hiring Zola to help Watford jump back to Premiership.
PHOENIX TO GET EXPANSION USL PRO CLUB IN 2013
In an effort to get more west coast teams, USL Pro announced on Monday that an expansion team from Phoenix, Arizona will join the league in 2013. The club, which is owned and operated by BDR Sports, LLC (a group of local investors), will be the second west coast team in the league after the Los Angeles Blues. A team name and colors will be revealed later this summer.
—–
Planning on going to the Roma-El Salvador friendly? Why does France's national team keep getting into these public problems? Expect Watford to do well under Zola? How do you see Phoenix doing on and off the field in USL Pro in 2013?
Share your thoughts below.