USA Tour 2015: Club Atlas

By James Keep

 

Newcastle United v Club Atlas

Tuesday, 14th July - 8pm kick-off local time

Miller Park, Milwaukee

 

First up on Newcastle United's pre-season tour of the United States is Mexican side Club Atlas, who complete in Liga MX, Mexico's top flight, and have done so consistently for the past 55 seasons.

Liga MX operates differently to most European leagues, with the season split into two tournaments: the Torneo Apertura and the Torneo Clausura.

Both feature a single robin format league table with the top eight teams from each tournament progressing into a knockout tournament to determine the overall winner.

While Atlas finished third in the Apertura and fourth in the Clausura last season, they failed to move beyond the quarter-finals in either of the knockout stages.

 

History

Club Atlas will celebrate their 99th anniversary on 15th August and, as legend has it, the club was founded in a Guadalajara bar by eight friends who had spent the previous years studying overseas and playing for English college squads.

While regularly competing at the top end of the table, Club Atlas have only won the league title once, in 1950/51, but have won the Copa MX, the Mexican version of the FA Cup, four times and the Campeón de Campeones, Mexican Community Shield, four times as well.

During their history they have also produced a number of notable players such as goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez, PSV Eindhoven midfielder Andrés Guardado and former Barcelona defender Rafael Marquez, who also played for the New York Red Bulls and is still earning caps for the Mexican national team at the age of 36.

Playing in Guadalajara, the team has an intense rivalry with Chivas de Guadalajara, who formerly owned and operated MLS side Chivas USA, now disbanded and soon to be replaced by LAFC, with games between the two sides known as El Clásico Tapatío.

 

Manager

Much like Newcastle United, Club Atlas have also just hired a new manager, with Gustavo Cristian Matosas Paidon recently appointed as the Mexican team's new boss.

Born in Argentina, Matosas spent his entire career playing and coaching in South and Central America, making seven appearances for Uruguay along the way.

Atlas will be his third team in three seasons but he has enjoyed success in both his previous positions, leading Club Leon to both the Apertura and the Clausura during his time there as well as leading Club America to the CONCACAF Champions League title in 2014/15.

 

Players

Key players to keep an eye on in the game will include new signing Gonzalo Rubén Bergessio, an Argentine striker who has enjoyed a relative level of success with almost every club he's played for.

While his one-year spell at Sampdoria was unproductive, if he can recapture his former from Catania, the Liga MX side will look to him to provide the goals this season.

There's also the midfield combination of Aldo Leão Ramírez, Juan Carlos Medina and up-and-coming talent Arturo González, still only 20-years-old.

The club recently acquired US international left-back Greg Garza on loan from Club Tijuana but the defender will be unavailable for this game as he is part of the US Gold Cup squad.

A number of the side's most prominent players are currently on loan with other sides, including club captain Rodrigo Millar and Enrique Perez.

 

The venue

While Club Atlas are based in Guadalajara, their game against Newcastle United will be played more than 2,000 miles away in Milwaukee, at Miller Park, the home of Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Brewers.

The exhibition game will be only the second time the baseball ground has played host to a football game after hosting a similar match between Swansea City and Chivas de Guadalajara last summer, with the Brewers seemingly set to join the prestigious company of the St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees in regularly hosting football games.

While the choice of Milwaukee as the venue might seem strange, given that the city doesn't play home to a professional football team across any of the top three divisions, there are hopes that this could one day change.

Supporters' group the Milwaukee Barons are hoping that a good turnout among local fans for this summer's friendly can help showcase the city has enough support to maintain a professional team.

 

Things to do

Often referred to as Brew City, one thing you won't be short of in Milwaukee is places to drink, and a number of breweries offer tours of their facilities.

Milwaukee is also the birthplace of Harley Davidson and, with that in mind, the Harley Davidson museum is a must for motorbike enthusiasts.

For family-themed fun, the Milwaukee Zoo is a definite winner, as is the Public Museum, home to the world's largest dinosaur skull and a number of interactive displays to explore.

For those looking to take in some of the city's most beautiful scenery, take to the three-mile-long riverwalk through the heart of downtown.