Tonight at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Everton will take on Juventus as the International Champions Cup officially lands on US soil.
The prestigious tournament already officially kicked off on Saturday, as AC Milan beat Valencia 2-1 in Spain. But now the competition has switched over to the USA, where it will remain for the next week until a champion is crowned.
With the world’s biggest names jetting into cities across the US, there are plenty of huge games going on in the next week or so.
So make sure you don’t miss out, here’s the schedule, we’re good like that at PST.
Roberto Martinez’ new look Everton side will take center stage in California tonight, against reigning Italian champions Juventus. Tim Howard is back in his homeland and plenty of Everton fans are expected to pack the home of the San Francisco Giants.
(MORE: Chelsea name 25-man squad for International Champions Cup)
But how will these games rank as spectacles? Well, seeing as quite a prestigious trophy is up for grabs, they should be full of life. The two English clubs may be the favorites to take the title, as they’re much further along in their preseason preparations than the Spanish or Italian sides.
Chelsea and Everton will be very popular but the Toffees are going to have to perform well to play in the ICC Final in Miami on August 7. They will face the winner of Real Madrid or the LA Galaxy who square off on Thursday in Phoenix. In recent years we have seen plenty of these friendly tournaments across the country, but this ICC event is well-organized and more evenly spread out across the USA than in previous seasons.
(MORE: Huge European clubs heading to the US this summer, find out who)
Back to the games, and José Mourinho takes his Chelsea side to Indianapolis and the Lucas Oil Stadium on Thursday. A huge crowd supporting Chelsea — just like we saw in their recent friendlies with Manchester City in St. Louis and New York City — is expected as the Midwest welcomes the Blues and Inter Milan.
Then on Sunday, AC Milan and Valencia will be playing at MetLife Stadium in New York against either Chelsea or Inter Milan, depending on the outcome of that game.
Exciting times are ahead for soccer fans in North America. If you hadn’t thought about it until the now, the International Champions Cup is coming to a city near you.
Get ready to see the best players in the world turn on the style. We hope.
