The Seattle Sounders, idle until Oct. 17 when they play Real Salt Lake, have accepted an invitation to participate in the 2013 FC Tucson (AZ.) Desert Diamond Cup, a four-team tournament sponsored by Desert Diamond Casino that will also include Real Salt Lake, the New England Revolution and New York Red Bulls. The tourney is over four days (Feb. 13, 17, 20, 23) at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The clubs will play a round-robin format through the first three dates with the tournament’s third-place game and title match Feb. 23.
The Sounders have never participated in the event, but Real Salt Lake, the Revolution and Red Bulls played in the tournament last year.
“We are very excited about playing in the Diamond Cup next preseason,” said Sounders owner and general Manager Adrian Hanauer. “The facilities at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium (11,000 capacity) and weather make this a good fit for us. The opportunity to play quality competition will help prepare us for the regular season.”
Additional announcements, including game times and ticket information, will be released later.
The Sounders play the Revolution Feb. 13, Real Salt Lake Feb. 16 and the Red Bulls Feb. 20.
FC Tucson owns FC Tucson Soccer, the city’s top-level soccer team, and the Diamond Cup tournament, an MLS preseason event.
The Sounders Thursday also announced that their match with Real Salt Lake Oct. 17 will be televised nationally on the NBC Sports Network. Kickoff is 7 p.m. at CenturyLink Field.
