Featured Events

Banner

Featured Partners

Home Pressbox Newsletters
| Print |  E-mail
Metro Detroit will host high-level international soccer for the first time since the World Cup in 1994 when European club soccer powers AC Milan and Panathinaikos FC play a match at the Silverdome on August 6.

This “Match of the Titans” features two teams that will be preparing for the UEFA Champions League, which is Europe’s top competition for professional soccer clubs. The two clubs combined to send 17 players to the FIFA World Cup in South Africa this month, and the top players from both teams will be playing in the match in the Silverdome.

 Match_of_the_Titans_Promotion_Logo_-_small_2
“We’re really excited to be bringing great soccer back to Metro Detroit,” said Steve Apostopoulos, director of sports for Silverdome management group Triple Sports & Entertainment. “This is exactly the kind of event that we’d envisioned bringing to the region when we acquired the Silverdome, and we’re looking forward to hosting soccer fans from around North America and media from around the world at the match.” Both teams are over 100 years old and have die-hard international fan bases. This is the first time the two clubs have met in North America.

AC Milan is arguably the most successful professional club in international soccer, with 18 UEFA and FIFA international titles, tied for the most ever. It also has four world titles, the most of any club. It has won Italy’s Serie A top-level professional soccer league 17 times.

Panathinaikos is the current champion of the Superleague Greece, which is the nation’s top professional league. The club has won the Greek championship 20 times and the Greek Cup 17 times, and has finished as runner-up in the Intercontinental Cup and the European Cup.

“This really is a historic game,” said Roger Faulkner, soccer advisor to Triple Sports & Entertainment and the former chair of the Metro Detroit host committee for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. “These are some of the most exciting players in the world, playing in a preseason match that means something before the start of their international league. This is going to be a special event for soccer fans in our region.”
Match_of_Titans_Press_Conference_PicSome of the best soccer players in the world will be competing in the Silverdome, including standout stars such as two-time FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldinho; young Greek prodigy Sotiris Ninis; Brazilian goal-scorer Alexandre Pato; American national team defender Oguchi Onyewu; Greek national team captain Giorgos Karagounis; French star Djibril Cissé; Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and the Italian trio of Gianluca Zambrotta, Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo, all members of the FIFA World Cup 2006-winning Italian national team.

The match will be played on a natural grass surface installed in the Silverdome for the event. In addition to the game, tickets will also be available to team practices on August 5.

Triple Sports & Entertainment is reaching out to Michigan’s strong youth and amateur soccer community as well as to Major League Soccer fans in Ohio, Illinois and Ontario to bring them to Metro Detroit for the event. Group sales discounts are available for youth soccer leagues and other similar organizations through the Silverdome box office at (248) 338-2500.

“There are plenty of youth soccer players in this region who weren’t even born when the last world-class soccer game was played in Metro Detroit,” said Apostopolous. “There’s a pent-up demand among fans for this kind of event, as well as among AC Milan and Panathinaikos supporters and the wider Italian and Greek communities. It’s going to be a tremendous game.”

Tickets for the game range from $29.95 to $150 for first-row action. They’re available at the Silverdome box office or through SilverdomeTickets.com.





Back to Second Page