Manchester United will be unchanged in their friendly game against San Jose Earthquakes, Louis van Gaal has confirmed.
The side he will start with is therefore arguably stronger than that which will take to the field in the second half with Chris Smalling, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Ander Herrera the three who could realistically stake a claim to be in United’s first choice XI.
The teams that will play in the game that kicks off at 4am BST, then –
First half: Johnstone, Darmian, Jones, Blind, Shaw, Mata, Carrick, Schneiderlin, Young, Memphis, Rooney.
Second half: Johnstone, McNair, Smalling, Evans, Blackett, Schweinsteiger, Herrera, Lingard, Pereira, Januzaj, Wilson.
The San Jose Earthquakes were originally set up as the San Jose Clash but adopted the Earthquakes moniker to follow the tradition of the NASL team that existed from 1974-88.
San Jose Earthquakes was a professional soccer club that played from 1974 to 1988. The team began as an expansion franchise in the North American Soccer League. From 1983 to 1984, the team was known as the Golden Bay Earthquakes. They played their home games at Spartan Stadium. During this time, it also played in the original Major Indoor Soccer League and in the NASL’s indoor circuit. Their indoor games were first played at the Cow Palace and later at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.
Following the collapse of the NASL in 1984, the team’s name reverted to San Jose Earthquakes prior to joining the Western Soccer Alliance in 1985, where it played until the league’s folding after the 1988 season.
The name Earthquakes was created by general manager Dick Berg, but was criticized due to San Jose’s proximity to the San Andreas Fault. After it’s rebirth, the San Jose Earthquakes franchise made history when 6,256 people participated in groundbreaking for the new Avaya stadium which the club currently play in. This set a world record by Guinness World Records as the largest ever crowd to participate in a groundbreaking ceremony.
United have history with San Jose, with their 1968 European Cup team heavily involved – George Best played for them and Bill Foulkes managed them in 1980.
RetroUnited.com will be reporting live from the game on our Twitter and Facebook pages – check them for updates and pictures.
