THAT OLD saying that begins “When In Rome” seems to have been taken to heart by the FA Cup. The venerable English football trophy arrived in Los Angeles Sunday night and was spotted poolside in Santa Monica on Monday catching a few rays.
The Cup came with its current holders, Manchester City, who face-off against a trio of teams on the West Coast as part of their summer tour, starting this weekend. The Herbalife World Football Challenge kicks off for City on Saturday, July 16th against Club America at At&T Park in San Francisco. Two days later City meet the Vancouver Whitecaps in British Columbia before heading back to Southern California to play the LA Galaxy at the Home Depot Center on Sunday, July 24th.
Other clubs competing in the event include Real Madrid, Manchester United, Barcelona and Juventus. For a complete fixture list, click here http://sports.herbalife.com/en-US/Events/World_Football_Challenge.htm
The Manchester City squad seemed to enjoy what was for many of them their first trip to the West Coast. Manager Roberto Mancini had scheduled morning training sessions at LMU and afternoon sessions at the Home Depot center, but the squad still found some time for leisure, with midfielder Nigel de Jong heading off for Rodeo Drive for some retail therapy, while other team members took off Sunday afternoon to catch a Dodger game. The team were introduced to Dodger fans before the game, with ‘keeper Joe Hart (a former amateur cricketer) throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.
Mancini clearly runs a tight ship, keeping the team to a tight 11pm curfew and which (thankfully) means as yet there have been none of the usual escapades of players stumblingout of nightclubs at 3am. In fact the schedule is so tight that defender Micah Richards lamented on his blog that he wasn’t able to visit his good friend Amir Khan at his downtown LA training camp, where he is preparing for his world title showdown in Las Vegas with Zab Judah on July 23rd.
The closest any of players seem to have been to controversy was on the first morning, when, according to the team website, Sean Wright-Phillips wandered in for breakfast wearing denim shorts and black tights. Hardly the stuff to get the red-tops excited back home…
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