Minnesota United will play Irish club St. Patrick's Athletic in an international friendly at Allianz Field on March 20, three days after the Dublin-based team commemorates St. Patrick's Day itself in the Twin Cities. It will come during a FIFA international break taking place after the Loons' first four league games.
Minnesota United set to play Irish club St. Patrick's Athletic in international friendly
The friendly will fall during the March international break, four games into Minnesota United's MLS season.
January 11, 2024 at 12:45AM
![Minnesota United fans celebrate after the Loons won 5-2. The Minnesota United FC Loons hosted the Los Angeles Galaxy at Allianz Field on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023 in St. Paul, Minn. ] RENEE JONES SCHNEIDER • renee.jones@startribune.com](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/PYAHPVVFVDRUKAH2Q2NKHGXB34.jpg?&w=712)
St. Patrick's Athletic, nicknamed the Saints, will be the 13th team to play the Loons in an international friendly in St. Paul. Minnesota United faced German second-division club FC Kaiserslautern at home last summer, winning 2-1.
"It is a great and unique opportunity for St Patrick's Athletic to test our squad against Minnesota United," Saints General Manager Anthony Delaney said in a statement. "Major League Soccer has shown rapid growth in the last number of years so it will be exciting to play a team from this league."
This will be the first time a League of Ireland Premier Division club has played a MLS team during the season since MLS' founding in 1996.
Minnesota started only two strikers against Seattle, leaving Sang Bin Jeong and Joseph Rosales to provide the width behind Teemu Pukki and Kelvin Yeboah.
