PORTLAND — FC Bayern Munich, the reigning king of European soccer, will be in Portland on Aug. 6 to take on the Major League Soccer all-stars.
The 2014 AT&T MLS All-Star Game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN2.
The announcement on Thursday at the Adidas North American headquarters was not a surprise. But it still had Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson smiling.
When Major League Soccer announced in July that Portland would host the 2014 All-Star Game, Paulson promised one of the top clubs in the world would participate.
Bayern Munich certainly qualifies. Last season, the club won the UEFA Champions League, Germany’s Bundesliga and the German Cup.
Bayern Munich’s roster is filled with star power. Many of its players will be participating in the World Cup in Brazil, which concludes on July 13.
Paulson said that a bonus of staging the game so soon after the World Cup is that casual fans will have an opportunity to watch Bayern players represent their countries prior to their arrival in Portland.
“The average American who doesn’t know (Holland’s Arjen) Robben or (France’s Franck) Ribery, they’re going to be watching those guys probably have big World Cups and then they’re going to be out in front of them here in Portland with their club team. That’s going to be kind of cool,” Paulson said.
Ticket details have not been announced. MLS spokesman Dan Courtemanche said that Timbers season ticket holders will have some opportunity to buy tickets before they go on sale to the general public.
He said ticket details will be announced in the near future.
This will be the 11th time the MLS All-Star Game has featured a big-name club playing against a team of MLS all-stars. The MLS team has a record of 6-3-1 in All-Star games against foreign clubs.
The game will be played on the Timbers’ artificial surface at Jeld-Wen Field, which will be new for the 2014 season.
Paulson said The Timbers are planning some “crazy things” around Portland in conjunction with the all-star game.
“It’s not all finalized yet, but if we’re able to pull off what we’re talking about, there will be some pretty spectacular events,” he said.
