FC Cincinnati announces friendly with Spain's Valencia CF

Charlie Hatch | Enquirer contributor

Spanish futbol is coming to Futbol Club Cincinnati.

FC Cincinnati will host Valencia Club de Fútbol, better known as Valencia CF, in its summer international friendly this July, Cincinnati officials announced Monday.

The match is scheduled for Monday, July 24, at the University of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium.

Valencia, also known as Los Che, Els Taronges (The Oranges) or Los Murciélagos (The Bats), play in La Liga, Spain’s top division, where the team finished 12th in 2016-17.

The summer friendly will mark FC Cincinnati’s second against an opponent from one of the world’s best leagues.

Cincinnati hosted Crystal Palace FC, an English Premier League team, last July in a sold-out matchup. Tickets for Valencia are not on sale yet.

Despite its lower finish last season, Valencia is historically one of the top teams in Spain and Europe. A six-time league champion, the club has also won major trophies in European competition, including a UEFA Cup.

While Crystal Palace played in the most popular league in the world, Valencia is packed with one of the better rosters on the planet. Cincinnati fans should be familiar with at least a handful of names.

Nani, a Portuguese international and former Manchester United player, is the most notable. Both Enzo Perez and Ezequiel Garay are Argentinian internationals, while Diego Alves has played for Brazil, Zakaria Bakkali has played for Belgium and Simone Zaza plays for Italy.

The friendly will occur after the European transfer window opens, meaning personnel changes could alter the current roster. Alvaro Negredo, who played on loan at Middlesbrough in the Premier League last season, will likely return to his parent club.

This won’t be the Spanish club’s first visit to Ohio, though. Los Che played Columbus Crew SC in May 2015, where the visitors won 1-0.

Valencia was supposed to visit the U.S. in 2010, but pulled out late. One of the expected opponents, Philadelphia Union, also played Crystal Palace last season.

FC Cincinnati President and General Manager Jeff Berding declined to comment Monday when asked which other teams would play Valencia during the club's time in North America.

A Spanish team wasn’t the original target for FC Cincinnati, however.

After last year’s success, Cincinnati wanted to play another English team, which would likely sell out Nippert Stadium again simply because of the Premier League’s popularity.

Therefore, Cincinnati initially targeted the biggest names in the Premier League. During the offseason, Berding said at a high school soccer fundraiser that the club wanted one of the top teams in England.

According to multiple sources, FC Cincinnati initially negotiated with Manchester City, a former Premier League champion and one of the most popular on the planet.

The deal went unsigned, however, presumably when City accepted an invitation in the 2017 International Champions Cup to play Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur.

Other English teams weren’t as freely available this summer, or at least, for a reasonable price. In 2016, eight of the Premier League’s 20 clubs made a preseason trek to the U.S. – an amount expected to be drastically higher than 2017.

While league notoriety might affect ticket sales, Valencia is no small name. Playing against Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid on a regular basis, Valencia is regularly one of La Liga’s top teams. The league itself is considered one of the best in the world.

The Enquirer will update this story.