Tucson, in particular a pro soccer advocacy group called FC Tucson, is bringing four Major League Soccer teams to the city to play a preseason round-robin tournament at Kino Sports Complex Feb. 22- March 3, 2012.
The Desert Diamond Cup will be contested among the defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy, the New York Red Bulls, the New England Revolution and Real Salt Lake.
FC Tucson announced details of the event Thursday. The four teams will play each other in a series of four doubleheaders over two Wednesdays and Saturdays. Galaxy-Red Bulls on Feb. 29 at 8 p.m. is the marquee matchup before the third- and fourth-place game and championship game on March 3.
Final tournament standings will be determined by a points system. You know the one in soccer -- three for a win, one for a draw, nada for a loss.
Tickets go on sale Dec. 12 at noon and are priced at $20-$75 per night, or a special package gets you all four nights for as little as $72 total. Visit www. ticketreturn.com or www.fctucson.com for more ticket information.
The matches will be played at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium, which used to be a minor-league baseball park and a spring training site. But when baseball left town, the city started looking for other ways to draw sports teams to town. This tournament appears to be a byproduct of that initiative.
Smart move on the part of FC Tucson and the city, could be something that becomes an annual thing and could also put Tucson on the American soccer map.