Hard Rock Stadium announced this week that the stadium will be hosting two friendlies this year, including Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela.
On June 1, Venezuela and Ecuador will face off. On Sept. 6, Colombia will play Brazil.
Brazil faced off against Colombia at the stadium in 2014, fresh off its 7-1 thrashing at the hands of Germany in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The Brazilians defeated Los Cafeteros 1-0.
In this episode of the Magic City Soccer podcast, Matt and Omar finish their FIFA World Cup group stage preview just in the nick of time, taking a look at groups E-H of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Join us, won’t you?
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While many of the great soccer players who have written the history of the game hail from the Americas, most of the sport’s history is preserved from a European perspective. Whether it’s club greatness or international competition, the Continent dominates the long-term view. A Miami Beach auction house, FUTBOLASTA Auctions, is seeking to change that and make available to fans important pieces of history related to the global game and its significance in North and South America.
Neymar Jr’s Five, a worldwide five-a-side tournament organized by the Brazilian superstar and Red Bull, will be coming to Miami for a qualifier this Saturday, with an encore performance and much more on the line just three weeks later.
The tournament is hosting qualifiers in 61 countries on six continents. In the United States, there are 17 qualifiers looking for teams to participate in the national final. On Saturday, there will be mixed and women’s qualifying at Urban Soccer 5 in Miami.
In a coup for the fledgling league, the Pro Footvolley Tour announced last week that star of club and country soccer Ronaldinho will be joining the tour. It will be renamed “Ronaldinho’s Pro Footvolley Tour.”
According to a story by Luis F. Sanchez of el Nuevo Herald, the agreement was signed in Brazil on Thursday between Amaury Nunes, who runs a team with Menezes, and Ronaldo De Assis Moreira, brother and agent of Ronaldinho.
Footvolley, a combination of soccer and beach volleyball, was developed formally in the mid-1960s in Brazil. The sport was included as an exhibition sport in the 2016 Olympic Games of Rio de Janeiro. Menezes, who founded the Pro Footvolley Tour in 2008, was the captain of Team USA.
“The audience that Ronaldinho has on social networks will make it possible to take footvolley to another level,” Menezes told el Nuevo Herald.
Not often does Japanese football and Miami-Dade County intersect, but it did on Monday. The Japan Football Association appointed Akira Nishino as its manager. What makes this notable locally is that Akira Nishino has managed in Miami before.
The new man in charge of the national team was in charge of Japan’s U-23 side from 1994 through 1996. That included the 1996 Olympics, when group-stage matches were held at Miami’s Orange Bowl. Nishino led one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, when his squad defeated Brazil 1-0. While the Olympics are an U-23 tournament, since 1996 three players over 23 have been allowed to participate. The squad featured names like Roberto Carlos, Rivaldo, Ronaldo and Dida in goal. Despite that fact, the Samurai Blue somehow managed to squeak out a 1-0 victory in Little Havana.
According to Michelle Kaufman of the Miami Herald, negotiations are underway to bring a post-World Cup friendly match to Hard Rock Stadium featuring Brazil and Argentina.
Although they are normally an 11-a-side squad in the APSL, a Miami Dade FC beach soccer team is participating in the Campeonato Carioca de Beach Soccer 2018 in Rio de Janeiro.
