The East Dallas area becomes an international soccer venue this week as soccer promoter AmeriSoccer brings a four-team international tournament to the Cotton Bowl. The four teams include Mexico’s UNAM Pumas, Argentina’s River Plate, and Hungarian clubs Ferencvarosi FC and Vasas FC.
“We want to establish Dallas as one of our premier locations to host soccer matches,” says event promoter Pius Oleh, president of AmeriSoccer USA. “Dallas is a really established market for soccer. We think everyone will have a good time at the finals on Saturday.”
The teams will compete in a similar competition in Detroit before returning to their home countries. The group has been working for more than a year to bring the competitions to the U.S. Oleh is a registered FIFA (soccer’ s international governing body) match agent, only one of 17 in the U.S.
“We are very excited to bring world class soccer tournament play to Dallas,” said Oleh. “As a passionate fan of this world game of football, I am confident the many amateur soccer fans in Texas will want to see this match in-person and we have already received great interest from many soccer clubs and local schools.”
The tournament schedule begins with the teams arriving on Tuesday and playing warm-up and practice games at the Cotton Bowl on Wednesday. In Game 1 on Thursday, River Plate FC, takes on Vasas FC at 6 p.m. and in Game 2, UNAM Pumas plays Ferencvarosi FC at 8 p.m. On Saturday evening, a championship match will follow a consolation match, which begins at 6 p.m.
Tickets for each day of the match are $30 general admission. A two-day ticket is also available for $50. Tickets are available online at www.ticketmaster.com or at other Ticketmaster outlets.