Manchester City

Phil Cragg has lived all over the world, but his heart still belongs to his hometown and the long-suffering football team he has followed since childhood. Being a fan of Manchester City was for many years like being a Chicago Cubs fan in terms of accepting futility or a New York Mets fan when it came to being considered second-class citizens compared with those rooting for the Yankees of English soccer, Manchester United. "We're the best team in Manchester; we're the only team in Manchester," Cragg, who now lives on the Jersey shore, said jokingly while watching Manchester City play Friday night in a "friendly" against Sporting Lisbon at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. That's what Cragg and others have made themselves believe for a long time, but now it finally might be true.

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Manchester City, which plays Inter Milan at M&T Bank Stadium on July 31, might be looking to add Landon Donovan, the United States' star during the World Cup, to its star-studded roster, according to Yahoo! Sports. English Premier League team Manchester City, which sent a scout to watch Donovan during the World Cup, has "significant interest" in Donovan, Yahoo! Sports reported. Club owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, has indicated that he's willing to spend millions to upgrade Manchester City.

As an 18-year old coming to the United States from England to play college soccer, Darren Eales figured the competition was not going to be as stiff as what he had faced in the motherland. "It's fair to say that when I played 20 years ago, there was a feeling of, 'What do Americans know about soccer?' " said Eales, who played first at West Virginia and later at Brown before playing professionally. "Now there's a real respect for American players. " Eales, director of football administration for Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League, has seen that first-hand.

Organizers will announce Friday at 10 a.m. that Manchester City from the English Premier League will face Inter Milan of Italy's Serie A League in a friendly soccer match July 31 at M&T Bank Stadium. The announcement of the event was delayed earlier this week. The game will be played less than three weeks after the end of the World Cup in South Africa. Last July, AC Milan played Chelsea at M&T Bank Stadium before a sold-out crowd of 71,000. Soon after, a $100,000 feasibility study to examine the financial viability of building a soccer stadium in Baltimore was approved.

Teams from two of Europe's top soccer leagues will face off in a 'friendly' match at M&T Bank Stadium on July 31. Manchester City from the Premier League (British) and Inter Milan from the Serie A League (Italian) will meet just weeks after soccer's biggest event, the World Cup, ends in South Africa. Organizers will hold a news conference Monday at the Ravens' stadium to announce the game. Last summer's exhibition match between AC Milan and Chelsea at M&T Bank Stadium was held in front of a sold-out crowd of 71,000.

Manchester City had to make a managerial change for Saturday night's game. Instead of Manchester City head coach Roberto Mancini , the team was managed by assistant coach Brian Kidd , who was a standout player with Manchester United. Mancini, a former star player for Sampdoria, left the team to return to Italy because of his father's health problems. Mancini was manager of Inter Milan from 2004 to 2008, including the record-breaking season in 2006-07 when Inter Milan totaled 97 points, an Italian League record and, until 2009-10, a European record.

A century ago, a crack English soccer team called the Pilgrims landed here, challenged Baltimore's best and offered a two-foot, $15,000 silver chalice to any club that could defeat it. Three local teams tried — and were crushed by a combined score of 38-0. The Brits kept the trophy, but the city struck it rich. Humbled by the outcome, Baltimore's soccer buffs — a melange of college-educated men and blue-collar immigrants — rallied to drum up interest, organize leagues and build playing fields, some of which are still in use. On Saturday, another of England's finest teams will hit town, and the seeds sown from those one-sided games long ago will be on display.

Teams from two of Europe's top soccer leagues will face off in an exhibition match July 31 at M&T Bank Stadium. Manchester City from the Premier League (English) and Inter Milan from the Serie A League (Italian) will meet weeks after soccer's biggest event, the World Cup, ends July 11 in South Africa. Organizers will hold a news conference Monday at the Ravens' stadium to announce the game. Last summer's friendly between AC Milan and Chelsea at M&T Bank Stadium was held in front of a sold-out crowd of 71,000.

How does hosting a World Cup sound to you, Baltimore? Sound like a pretty good idea? Bring a lot of visitors to the city? Generate a lot of ka-ching for hotels, bars and restaurants? Then where were you Saturday night, when a crowd of just 36,569 showed up at M&T Bank Stadium for the big soccer friendly between Manchester City and Inter Milan? Understand this isn't to say a crowd that size is anything to sneeze at. Forty thousand is fine for, like, a big dog show.

In competition for another kind of football fan, the Baltimore Ravens hope to get a jump on the Washington Redskins when tickets go on sale Tuesday for this summer's friendly between two prominent English Premier League teams. Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool will play an exhibition game at M&T Bank Stadium on July 28, the same day Chelsea is scheduled to play A.C. Milan at FedEx Field. The game in Baltimore will start at 1 p.m because the Orioles play at home that night. The game in Landover will be played in the evening.

A soccer rivalry that has endured for decades in England will hit Baltimore this summer. Liverpool F.C. and the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, two of Europe's most storied soccer teams and long-time foes in the English Premier League, will play an exhibition game at M&T Bank Stadium on July 28. The joint announcement was made Friday by the Ravens, Maryland Stadium Authority and Maryland Office of Sports Marketing. “It's unusual to get two Premier League teams playing a match in the United States.

A soccer rivalry that has endured for decades in England will hit Baltimore this summer. Liverpool F.C. and the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, two of Europe's most storied soccer teams and long-time foes in the English Premier League, will play an exhibition game at M&T Bank Stadium on July 28. The joint announcement was made Friday by the Ravens, Maryland Stadium Authority and Maryland Office of Sports Marketing. “It's unusual to get two Premier League teams playing a match in the United States.