BARCA TO SAN JOSE

While wishing for an international friendly to be played here in Vancouver hasn't worked yet, simply doing some deductions has. Barcelona will play in San Jose for an exhibition game against an "unnamed Mexican squad" on August 8th at Candlestick Park. The game will be after the Columbus v San Jose match. The announcement is expected to be made shortly.

When the announcement is officially made, Full-Time: Vancouver's Soccer Show will get Frank Yallop's comments on the friendly being played in San Jose.

This is Barca's third exhibition date in the United States with the other two games in Seattle and Los Angeles. It was expected that they would make three appearances on the west coast with Vancouver and BC Place stadium being rumoured as a possible destination, but this will quash any further rumours of the likes of Lionel Messi and co. coming to Vancouver.

GREG SUTTON HAS BEEN RELEASED / GERBA RIGHTS TO TORONTO

Toronto FC have announced today that they have released goalkeeper Greg Sutton after making trading a 3rd round draft pick in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft with San Jose for defender Nick Garcia. The release of Sutton was done to make room on the roster for Garcia.

“First and foremost we want to thank Greg for everything he has done for this club,” said manager, director of soccer Mo Johnston. “Greg has always been the consummate professional, he was the first goalkeeper signed by this club, and this was a difficult decision to make. We wish him all the best.”

Along with the move to trade for Garcia, TFC also picks up the Discovery Rights to Canadian forward Ali Gerba. Gerba played for MK Dons this past season, but was released in May.

The rest of the Release from TFC:

Toronto FC announced Tuesday that they have acquired defender Nick Garcia from the San Jose Earthquakes, along with the Discovery Rights to Canadian forward Ali Gerba. In exchange, San Jose receives Toronto’s 3rd round selection in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft. As per team policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. To make room on the roster for Garcia, Toronto FC goalkeeper Greg Sutton has been released.

Garcia, 30, is currently playing in his 10th season in Major League Soccer. As one of the league’s most experienced defenders, he joined San Jose in their expansion season making his debut with the team on April 3, 2008 and helped the team post the fourth-best goals against average in the league. Starting in all 24 games he appeared in last season, he logged 2,151 minutes and added two assists.

“We are very happy to bring in a defender with Nick’s experience,” said Johnston. “We tried to bring him in before and finally we were able to get a deal done. He plays 90 minutes every game, he’s quick, and he knows this league inside and out. On Ali Gerba, he’s another one that’s been on our radar, and we look forward to sitting down with him and getting a contract signed as soon as we can.”

Prior to joining the Earthquakes, Garcia began his MLS career in 2000 with the Kansas City Wizards. It was a stand-out season for the rookie after he played every minute of the Wizards seven postseason matches to help them on to victory in the MLS Cup final over the Chicago Fire. That year the team was captained by current Toronto FC manager, director of soccer Mo Johnston.

In 2003, Garcia made his 100th career MLS start, becoming the 100th player in MLS history to reach that mark and also the youngest to start in 100 games.

Internationally, the defender has six caps with the U.S. National Team making his last appearance for the Americans on January 18, 2004 against Denmark. He was a member of both the 1997 U.S. U-17 World Championship team, and the U-20 World Cup team where he finished with 20 career caps and 46 appearances.

Garcia will arrive in Toronto this week and be available for comment after Toronto FC training on Thursday. Media should arrive no later than 11:15 a.m. Manager, director of soccer Mo Johnston will also be available for comment on these moves during training on Thursday.



Nick Garcia #6

Position: Defender

Height: 5-10

Weight: 175 lbs.

Born: April 9, 1979 in Plano, Texas

Hometown: Plano, Texas

Last Club: Kansas City Wizards (MLS)

College: Indiana

Citizenship: USA

Barca to Vancouver?

Following the announcement that Barcelona would be playing two friendlies on the west coast (August 1st in LA and August 5th in Seattle), rumours started that a 3rd west coast game would be added. Immediately in the Vancouver market, people in Vancouver, including Full-Time host Mike Martignago, were claiming that the Whitecaps would be a perfect fit with the schedule. It also fits because of a large stadium to play in (BC Place holds around 60,000) and a future MLS franchise.

The other option is Barcelona playing the San Jose Earthquakes. The 'Quakes could broker a deal to play at Stanford Stadium for a one off match and could likely fill the stadium and perhaps get people interested in a team already in the MLS. The other thing that puts San Jose as the front runner would be the higher Spanish speaking population.

In Vancouver, BC Place is open for a possible match on August 9th, 10th, 11th... following a BC Lions game and prior to an Aerosmith/ZZ Top concert.

Schedule wise, it would work out perfectly for Barcelona to play in Vancouver however, it's unlikely to happen. Well, let me rephrase that. It would work out perfectly for Barcelona to play in Vancouver, but they likely won't be playing the Vancouver Whitecaps. "We currently do not have any plans for an international game", that's what Whitecaps President Bob Lenarduzzi told me. He also said that it would be nice, but not this year.

It's not really a secret that the Whitecaps, once in the MLS, will probably bring some top international clubs to the city and BC Place, it's a natural fit. It just doesn't sound like anything will happen this year.

Here's trekking down to Seattle for two games this summer as the Sounders play Chelsea and Barcelona. And here's to looking forward to 2011 and debating which clubs Vancouver should try and bring to BC Place.