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Liverpool in Toronto


Jeremy Loome

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Source: Negotiations under way to bring Porto, Liverpool to SkyDome

By Neil Davidson

TORONTO (CP) — Liverpool and Porto may be coming to SkyDome to play an exhibition soccer game the day before a scheduled friendly between Glasgow Celtic and AS Roma this summer.

A source said negotiations are underway to stage the Liverpool-Porto game on July 30.

The promoter putting on the North American soccer tour had previously confirmed Porto would be added to the 2004 ChampionsWorld Series with dates and venues to be announced later.

ChampionsWorld said Tuesday that announcement was still pending.

The July 31 Celtic-Roma game has done well at the box office here with some 25,000 tickets selling the first day they went on sale.

UEFA Cup champion Porto is a highly regarded, attractive side that currently leads the Portuguese league and has reached the semifinals of the Champions Cup — where it will tackle Spain’s Deportivo La Coruna — and the final of the Portuguese Cup.

Jose Mourinho is widely seen as a coach to watch.

Liverpool, home to England star striker Michael Owen, has had an up-and-down season in England but is currently battling Newcastle for fourth spot in the Premier League, which carries with it a berth in the Champions League.

Organizers plan to cover SkyDome’s artificial turf with a temporary natural grass pitch.

Workers will start installing the grass as soon as the Blue Jays and New York Yankees wrap up a three-game series on July 28.

The Jays are back home Aug. 2 so there is only a small window available at SkyDome.

Liverpool is already scheduled to plays Celtic in East Hartford on July 26 and Roma on Aug. 3 in East Rutherford, N.J.

The 2004 ChampionsWorld Series also includes European powerhouses Bayern Munich, Chelsea, AC Milan and Manchester United.

The current nine-game tour, which runs from July 24 to Aug. 3, also includes stops in Chicago, East Rutherford, N.J., East Hartford, Conn., Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Seattle.

The 2003 ChampionsWorld Series drew 420,000 fans to eight games in seven U.S. cities. Teams that took part were Barcelona, Boca Juniors, Celtic, Club America, Juventus, Manchester United and AC Milan.

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They should switch the teams around and make it Celtic vs. Liverpool and Porto vs. Roma. I know Celtic and Liverpool are already facing each other in the US, but the soccer rivalry between the Italian and Portuguese communities in Toronto would add something to a Porto vs. Roma match at SkyDome.

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