mega torneo precampionato quest'estate in USA : Celtic, Roma, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man Utd.
dal daily record di oggi:
CELTIC will this summer take part in the most glamorous and lucrative pre-season tour in Scottish football history which is set to net them millions.
The Parkhead club last night revealed they will play Chelsea, Liverpool and Roma, as well Manchester United, in a money-spinning trip to North America.
But this 13-day trip will top even that as Martin O'Neill and his players will now also take on the billionaires of Chelsea, old foes Liverpool and Italian giants Roma, three of the biggest names in football.
Tournament organisers Champions World believe Celtic are on the verge of making millions from this latest trip across the Atlantic.
O'Neill's side will face superstars such as Ruud van Nistelrooy, Adrian Mutu, Francesco Totti and Michael Owen.
But it is the off the field prize which is just as important. Champions World spokesman Reg Schneider told Record Sport last night: 'This isn't just about money but Celtic are opening themselves to a huge market. I can't begin to describe how many fans they have over here.
'Commercially they will do very well but it also about spreading the word of Celtic and winning more fans over as the American kids are now more wise about soccer.
'We could easily have sold out five or six games with Celtic involved never mind the four they will actually play in.
'The tickets don't go on sale for a few weeks and the phones have already been non-stop and we only confirmed the games a few hours ago.
'I know of fans who live hundreds of miles from the stadiums the games are being played in who are going to buy tickets in batches in hundreds.
'Last summer they managed to make sure there were plenty more diehard Celtic fans in North America and that situation will improve again.
'Celtic are a massive club, only Manchester United are bigger than them here. Fans can see a lot more games now on cable and that has helped but this tour is priceless.
'They will play Roma in the Toronto Blue Jays Stadium and I can guarantee it will be a 53,000 sell-out. In fact, all their games will be.'
Celtic's first game is against Chelsea on July 24 in Seattle then they face Liverpool two days later in East Hartford,New England on July 25.
The next stop is Philadelphia where they play United on July 28, finishing the coast-to-coast tour on July 31 in the Canadian city of Toronto for the Roma game.
David McNally, Celtic's head of sales and marketing, said: 'Our research indicates we have more than one million fans in North America and we will be undertaking a number of initiatives to build on these very strong foundations.
'As well as running soccer camps in each city, attended by 4500American children,we will be offering members of Celtic's 'World Huddle' membership scheme the first opportunity to buy tickets for what are likely to be sell-out matches.'
Last year's games against Manchester United and Boca Juniors drew huge crowds with 67,000 fans filling the Seattle Seahawks Stadium for the clash with the Premiership champions.
The games were broadcast to50countries with an audience of more than 70 million.
[Modificato da fergus 19/03/2004 11.57]