Arsenal has announced they will face the MLS All-Stars during next pre-season in a July tour of the United States.
The Gunners will potentially face the likes of Didier Drogba, Kaka and Sebastian Giovinco in the annual game at the Avaya Stadium in San Jose on July 28.
English teams with a history of playing MLS All-Stars
The All-star game pits MLS’ best players against a European counterpart similar to the NFL Pro Bowl and NBA All-Star game – although the two teams in those games are restricted to the NFL and NBA.
Arsenal become the ninth English team to face the MLS All-Stars with rivals Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Chelsea all playing them in previous years.
Manchester United were the last English winners, they won 4-0 in 2011 with goals from Anderson, Ji-Sung Park, Dimitar Berbatov and now Arsenal forward Danny Welbeck.
The Gunners cap their two game tour of the West Coast with another pre-season friendly against Chivas de Guadalajara at the StubHub Centre in Los Angeles on July 31.
It’s perhaps no coincidence the Gunners have a match in LA with majority shareholder Stan Kroenke moving his NFL franchise the Rams to the Southern Californian city from St. Louis this offseason.
Gunners look for revenge
Arsenal last played in the US in July 2014 when they lost 1-0 to the New York Red Bulls at the Red Bull Arena; they also only managed a 1-1 draw with the Red Bulls in Summer 2011 in the Emirates Cup.
The club announced that the games in America shall be the clubs only pre-season matches outside of Europe with the club’s annual Emirates Cup pre-season tournament still expected to go ahead.