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Virginia Men's Soccer Team Prepares For European Exhibition Games
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Aug. 14, 2001
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia men’s soccer team will play three exhibition games in Europe before beginning the regular season portion of its 2001 season. The Cavaliers will kick-off their three-game, exhibition schedule with two contests in Holland. UVa’s first match is scheduled for Saturday, August 18th against PSV in Eindhoven, Netherlands before facing Feyenoord on Sunday, August 19th in Feyenoord, Netherlands. Following its two matches in Holland, Virginia will travel to Munich, Germany to face 1860 Munich on Wednesday, August 22nd. UVa may also play a possible fourth contest against an opponent to be determined on Friday, August 24th.
Virginia head coach George Gelnovatch feels the European exhibition games will be a valuable experience for the 2001 Cavaliers both on and off the field.
“Soccer is the world’s game, and anytime you go to Europe to play, most of the time you are going to find better competition at any level,” says Gelnovatch. “From the youth level to the professional level, soccer is great there (Europe), it is a part of their culture. The trip is going to be a good experience for our team so we all can see how these kids (Europeans), who are basically their own age, are living and breathing soccer and how it is a part of their everyday life. It will give us all a chance to see how important it is to their development. It is also a great opportunity for us as a team to get away, play some soccer against some great teams and to receive a good cultural experience.”
The Cavaliers will depart from Charlottesville on Thursday, August 16th before returning home on Saturday, August 25th to host the 2001 Virginia Soccer Classic. The tournament will be played on August 31st and September 1st at Kl?ckner Stadium. UVa returns nine starters and 14 letterwinners from last year’s team that finished 17-6-1 overall, 5-1-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Virginia will face Liberty in its first regular season contest on Friday, August 31st at 8:00 p.m. in the second match of the Virginia Soccer Classic.