Chelsea FC closed out the International Champions Cup/their USA preseason tour tonight with a 3-1 victory over AC Milan tonight. It was more than just a closure; it was also an opening. U.S. Bank Stadium, a multiple purpose facility in Minneapolis, Minnesota whose primary tenant will be the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, just completed its first event of all time.
64,101, the largest soccer crowd ever in the state of Minnesota, turned out to see the Blues beat Milan.
The old record for soccer game attendance in Minnesota was set in 1978, when 46,370 fans came to Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington for a match between the Minnesota Kicks and the star-studded New York Cosmos, led by Giorgio Chinaglia and Franz Beckenbauer.
That stadium site doesn’t exist any more as now it’s home to the Mall of America.
Chelsea’s previous stop on this tour, a Saturday visit to Michigan Stadium to take on Real Madrid, drew close to 106,000, a Chelsea record.
That's the end of our very first event! @ChelseaFC wins over @acmilan 3-1. #ICC2016 #openthegates
— U.S. Bank Stadium (@usbankstadium) August 4, 2016
Oscar, subject to many transfer rumors, was no doubt man of the match, as he scored twice in this one.
https://twitter.com/CheIseaReport/status/761039206080614400
Bertrand Traore scored the other goal in the first half for Chelsea, and the party anthem “Let’s Go Crazy,” by Prince was played over the public address system after every single brace that was scored by both sides. The 1984 high energy dance tune was performed by Prince, a Minnesota lifer, who passed away just a few months ago.
He meant a lot to Minnesota culture, and Chelsea very much had a chance to experience all the local sporting culture offered in the state known as the “land of 10,000 lakes.”
Some of the Blues attended a home game of the Minnesota Twins, of Major League Baseball, at Target Field. Then they had the chance to interact with the MLB players, before meeting up with the Minnesota Vikings at their training facility.
Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois even dunked a basketball while training with the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves.
At the previous stop on the USA tour, Chelsea played at The Big House, the second largest stadium in the world on the campus of the University of Michigan. And the Michigan Wolverines picked up a new fan among a prominent Chelsea player (more on that here at this link)
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
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