Ambassador Wayne Attends a Friendly Match Between Boca Juniors and New York Red Bulls

March 6, 2009

Ambassador Wayne with Jorge Amor Ameal

Ambassador Wayne attended on March 6 a friendly match between the New York Red Bulls and Boca Juniors reserves. The game was at “La Bombonera” and the Ambassador enjoyed watching form the field. The Ambassador enjoyed talking with the Red Bulls players before the game, including one who had graduated from the University of California in Berkeley as did the Ambassador.

In his conversation with Boca Juniors’ President, the Ambassador talked about increasing contacts and exchanges in men's soccer, women's soccer and basketball between professional and amateur teams. The Ambassador and the President also talked about the schedule of friendly matches between local and U.S. soccer teams, the current enthusiasm with soccer development in the U.S. and the importance of organizing training sessions for young teams like the Red Bulls – participating in the 2008 U.S. Soccer Major Leagues Championship, for them to learn from Argentine experience in this traditional sport.  

Famous players that play for the Red Bulls include Juan Martin Pietravallo from Argentina, starting his career in Velez Sarsfield and playing for several national soccer clubs as Argentinos Jrs, Belgrano de Cordoba, Olimpo de Bahia Blanca and  Nueva Chicago, and the Colombian and former River Plate player Juan Pablo Angel – team captain. 

Some other outstanding players that played for the team were Alexi Lalas (EE.UU.); Claudio Reyna (EE.UU. – Argentine father); Tony Meola (EE.UU.), Lothar Matthaus (Germany) and Roberto Donadoni (Italy).

The Red Bulls are conducting pre-season training sessions in Argentina and have played other friendly matches against River Plate, Velez Sarsfield and Argentinos Juniors. Last week-end, Ambassador Wayne attended the Boca vs. Huracan match accompanied by members of the Seattle Sounders – another U.S. soccer visiting Argentina as part of their pre-season training. 

“Sports are a great point of contact between our peoples. The teams of my country’s young league are increasingly coming to Argentina to conduct pre-season training sessions and learn form Argentine clubs and players. This type of exchange is vital for U.S. sports development and is also a further example of shared  values and passions in common between our two countries,” – said the Ambassador.