SD Eibar spend their first day in the USA getting to know New York
On the first overseas tour SD Eibar will play two friendly games, the first against Philadelphia Fury and the second against New York Cosmos.
The entire gunsmiths first-team squad departed from Bilbao airport last Wednesday morning en-route to New York. In their first visit the team was received at the New York Euskal Etxea (Basque Centre) by a group of Eibar supporters, who together with their president, Iban Ubarretxena, gave the expedition a warm welcome.
On Thursday the team has had time to see some of the most emblematic places in the Big Apple and to take family photos in such well-known places as Time Square or Wall Street.
During the afternoon, José Luis Mendilibar, and the players, Adrián González, Dani García and Izet Hajrovic have gone to the home of the New York Cosmos where they have addressed the press. For Mendilibar, “To be able to play against a team like New York Cosmos is a privilege, we have come here to get to know the country but also to play against good teams like this”.
Gema Baqué, the SD Eibar Marketing Director, has explained the main objectives established by the club for this tour “For us this trip is historic; not just for the chance to get to know the USA but also to make the badge and the colours of the club known in this country. Internationalisation is one of the club’s strategic objectives for the coming years and, to achieve this, we have to be able to take advantage of this tour, with which we also extend the season, giving the team two weeks’ extra preparation. On the trip we are going to be able to get close to our shareholders and the Eibar USA supporter’s club, encounters that are going to be very rewarding”.
After the visit to the Big Apple the team has moved to Philadelphia where it will stay until Sunday when it will play its first friendly against Philadephia Fury.