ATLANTA, GEORGIA—The members of the Atlanta United FC will start their three friendly games against three Mexican teams on February 6 against Celaya FC.
Celaya FC is a professional Mexican soccer team based in Celaya, Guanajuato. The club plays in Liga de Expansión MX, a second-tier league founded in 2020.
After Celaya the team will face LIGA MX power Chivas on Feb. 13, and against Tepatitlan, also on Feb. 13. The games will be streamed on atlutd.com/live. Times haven’t been announced.
United FC head coach Gonzalo Pineda said the team will have a lot of things to do that will not only improve them as players but camaraderie as well.
“We’re going to work a lot in Mexico, on how to unbalance positions, how to play out in the back, how to disrupt the midfield and how to attack in the final third,” Pineda said.
“I think the three teams are going to be competitive and something different,” Pineda added.
To develop chemistry, Pineda said he has some fun things planned for the players, including paintball and soccer golf to build camaraderie.
United FC veteran goalkeeper Brad Guzan is hopeful they can do a lot of things in Mexico.
“As every day comes with every training session, there will be more that’s being asked of us from the coaching staff, and it’s our job to try and pick that up as quick as possible and then implement that in games,” Guzan said.
“And obviously, we’ve got some some friendlies lined up down there. And there’ll be opportunities, like I said, to get better day in and day out,” Guzan added.
