Reports are surfacing that Tottenham Hotspur and Borussia Dortmund will play each other in Pittsburgh, PA. With both teams having supporter groups in Baltimore, this will be a wish come true for many fans. Baltimore Spurs and Charm City BVB will have an opportunity to see their teams in person without flying across the Atlantic Ocean.
Most reports need to be taken with a grain of salt. Soccer is notorious for “reports” to turn out to be fabricated with no intent of being true. In the modern soccer media landscape “clickbait” is everywhere. I have never heard of the website football.london, but I have heard of, and respect, kicker.de. Kicker is a German language website so translating may be needed, but the website confirms the original article stating that Borussia Dortmund will play in Pittsburgh.
Tottenham’s trip has been confirmed by worldsoccertalk.com, and that website is also trusted. So there is no reason not to believe the article by football.london. Tottenham has played in America many more times than Dortmund.
These two teams have played each other the past two seasons in European competition. Borussia Dortmund won both times in the 2016-17 season, and Tottenham won both times in the 2017-18 season. It is rare that teams in different leagues play each other in different competitions in back to back seasons, but they are both exciting teams to watch. Now that they are meeting in Pittsburgh, this will allow more people to see their matches in person.
These teams are coming to America to play in the International Champions Cup (ICC). The ICC is nothing more than a glorified friendly. Teams that play in the ICC rarely fly their star players over, and let alone play them. This year will force the teams to play their star players even less, for this year is the 2018 world cup.
Since England and Germany are both in the World Cup, many of the starting players will be exhausted after a month long tournament. So what will happen is younger players will play in pittsburgh instead of the big name players. Making this game in Pittsburgh a great opportunity to see younger players who will hopefully start for the first team one day. The World Cup ends July 15th, but as a Borussia Dortmund fan, I have never seen the team play in person.
Borussia Dortmund is a club out of Germany’s top division, Bundesliga, and Tottenham Hotspur is from England’s top division, Premier League. England is easier than Germany to get to, but just like everything there is a catch. The cheapest matchday Premier League game ticket is £28.30, while the cheapest bundesliga ticket is £10.33.
Tickets to see the game in Pittsburgh will not be cheap, but supporters will flock to the city to see their team. With both clubs having supporter groups in Baltimore and Pittsburgh only being a four hour drive away, I expect there to be an organized trip from both groups.
This will be a great time to meet fellow supporters of the same team. People from all over the country will be coming to see their team in person, and it will be great to have an opportunity to enter the culture of American soccer. Baltimore hosted games from the ICC a couple years ago, and fans of soccer showed up even if their teams were not playing. Pittsburgh will most likely be the same. Living in America can make watching european soccer teams in person nearly impossible, but summer trips to America for tournaments like the ICC gives Americans the opportunity to see European soccer in person.
Baltimore Supporter Groups 