SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Tommy Thompson has a target in mind for his club’s International Champions Cup match on Tuesday night.
Unfortunately, when it comes to trading jerseys with their Manchester United counterparts, Thompson likely won’t be alone in his quest.
“Wayne Rooney,” Thompson told reporters last week when asked who was at the top of his list. “But I’m going to have to be pretty quick to grab his.”
Pretty quick, and still on the field: The Quakes’ previous ICC friendly, last week against Club America, ended with both teams down to 10 men, after San Jose winger Sanna Nyassi and visiting captain Paolo Goltz were handed matching red cards following a confrontation during first-half stoppage time.
Clarence Goodson, whose hard tackle on Club America forward Dario Benedetto helped stir emotions on both sides in that match, said he expects things to be calmer at Avaya Stadium when it comes to the 20-time English champions.
“I think it’s going to be more of a friendly,” Goodson said. “They are a top-class team. They have great players and we are pretty much looking forward to it. It is going to be a very difficult challenge for us.”
The match will clear the decks for the Quakes to concentrate on their MLS regular-season schedule for the rest of the season. At 7-8-4, San Jose are sitting seven points adrift of the Western Conference’s top six frontrunners.
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Even with two matches in hand on many of the teams above them in the standings, the Quakes will need to rebound quickly from a 5-2 drubbing in LA on Friday – a match in which the Galaxy scored five unanswered goals after Quincy Amarikwa staked San Jose to a 2-0 lead.
From that perspective, the Manchester United friendly could serve as a palate cleanser before the Quakes travel to BC Place to face the Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday (7 pm ET; TSN2 in Canada, MLS LIVE in US). And San Jose fans could see the official debuts of new signees Matheus Silva and Marc Pelosi.
“You can’t complain when you’re competing against some of the best teams in the world,” Thompson said. “And even though it makes July’s schedule a bit hectic, games are much more fun than practices. So, no complaints from me.”
