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It looks like Bonney Field may be seeing some soccer action before the start of next season.
On Wednesday, Latin Entertainment, Inc. announced on Facebook that the Republic home will be hosting a friendly on December 29th between Liga MX clubs Leon and Monarcas Morelia.
Club Leon (“Lion”) is a seven-time Liga MX champion currently in the quarterfinals of the Mexican league’s playoffs. The Guanajuato-based club is home to two American players—goalkeeper William Yarbrough and midfielder Miguel Ibarra. Both have previously featured for the US Men’s National Team (USMNT).
Yarbrough was born in Mexico to American parents and holds dual citizenship, but chose to accept an offer to represent the USMNT in 2015. As fate would have it, the Aguascalientes native made his second national team appearance in a friendly against Mexico in April 2015, coming on as a second-half substitute in the Americans’ 2-0 win (Luis Montes, who captained Mexico that day, is Yarbrough’s teammate in Leon). Yarbrough was also recently called up for the USMNT’s recent World Cup Qualifying games against Mexico and Costa Rica, but did not feature.
Curiously enough, the New York City-born Ibarra also holds dual citizenship through his Mexican parents. Ibarra played three seasons for Minnesota United prior to joining the La Fiera (“The Wild Beast”) in 2015. During his time in the Midwest, Ibarra earned NASL Best XI honors twice and made history as the first second-division player called up to the USMNT since 2005. With Leon, Ibarra has made 19 appearances across all competitions and scored four goals.
On the other side of the field, Monarcas (“Monarchs”) Morelia have one Liga MX championship in their 92-year history, but the club failed to make the playoffs this season and will be in the battle to avoid relegation for the first time since they won promotion to the first division in 1981.
Latin Entertainment, Inc. previously organized the October 5th friendly between Republic FC and Chivas, which ended 1-1.
Will you be attending the match? Let us now in the comments below: