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The past week has been very newsworthy for Minnesota United FC, including this afternoon’s announcement at Allianz Field. However, there has been more news broken in the past week surrounding Minnesota United FC.
Allianz Field to host St. Paul’s Mayor’s Cup
Last week, Minnesota United FC announced that the 6th Annual Mayor’s Cup will take place from Allianz Field this Friday. The double header will feature the boys and girls varsity teams of the Como Park Senior High School Cougars and the Humboldt Senior High School Hawks. The girls match will kick off at 5:30 followed by the boys match at 7:30 PM. This is the first time the match will take place away from the respective high school’s.
“One of our aspirational goals when we opened Allianz Field in 2019 was for our stadium to be a home not only to Minnesota United, but soccer players at all levels in Minnesota,” said MNUFC CEO Chris Wright. “This is one of our first opportunities to have youth soccer players compete at Allianz Field and we’re very excited to host this year’s Mayor’s Cup and share our stadiums experience with these young athletes. We look forward to being able to bring this opportunity to even more athletes in the years to come.”
October 10th match vs Colorado time change
This Sunday’s match between Minnesota United FC and Colorado Rapids will change times from a 4 PM kickoff to a 3PM kickoff. With the time change the match will no longer be broadcast via ESPN, rather Bally Sports North and simulcast on The CW Twin Cities. It can still be heard as well on SKOR North.
Four Players called up for International Duty
The Loons will be missing some key players this weekend when they host the Rapids. Michael Boxall, Robin Lod, Jukka Raitala, and Romain Métanire have all been called up for their respective National Teams and will miss this weekend’s match.
Michael Boxall returns to the New Zealand National Team after having to drop out of their 2020 Tokyo Olympic roster due to injuries sustained. With OFC World Cup Qualifying TBD, the All Whites have friendlies against Curaçao (Oct 9th) and Bahrain (Oct 12th) both kicking off at 11 AM CT.
Lod, Raitala, and Métanire will all help continue Finland and Madagascar’s World Cup Qualifying in UEFA and CAF respectively. The Finnish team will host Ukraine (Oct 9th) before traveling to play Kazakhstan away (Oct 12th) with the matches being played at 11 AM and 9 AM CT respectively. Currently, Finland is in 3rd place in Group D with 5 points after 6 matches. The Group winner automatically qualifies to the World Cup while the second place advances to round two.
Métanire and the Madagascar national team however will have a home and home with DR Congo with the away leg being played on the 6th of October at 3 PM CT and the home leg coming on the 12th at 11 AM CT. Barea currently sit in fourth place in Group J with 0 points in 2 matches. Only the group winner advances to the Third Round.
MNUFC to host 2022 All Star Game
The Major League Soccer All Star Game is finally coming to the Twin Cities in 2022. This afternoon the league and club announced that the 26th edition of the match will be held at Allianz Field on Wednesday, August 10th, 2022. As per tradition Adrian Heath will coach the MLS All Star team against a TBD opponent.
“We are proud to bring the 2022 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target to Minnesota,” said MLS Commissioner Don Garber. “Since the club began play in the league in 2017, Minnesota United and their incredible fan base have played a key role in the continued rise of MLS and growth of our sport throughout the U.S. As the eyes of the soccer world turn to Allianz Field next August 10, the people of Minnesota will be fantastic hosts and the supporters and ‘Wonderwall’ will create a memorable atmosphere for our marquee summer event.”