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With Aston Villa coming to Chicago this weekend to play the Fire, they have announced the players that will be making the trip. "The Villains" will be coming into Toyota Park on Saturday, July 21st at 7:30 PM CST to ply their trade. Aston Villa is a club rich in history, and the friendly should be a blast for those attending. It's not every day that the Fire get to play against a club in the English Premier League. Anyone that attended the Fire/Manchester United match can attest to how fun these types of friendlies can be. Throw in the extra Supporter's Match that is happening Saturday morning, and it should be a pretty fun day for everyone in attendance.
Hat tip to Andrew Cieslak over at 7500 to Holte for posting the roster. Andrew has also been kind enough to participate in a 3 questions exchange so we can get some info out there for those readers that might not be familiar with the historic Aston Villa. I will have the exchange up later this week ahead of the friendly Saturday Night. If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, you should do so ASAP. Follow me after the break for the complete Aston Villa roster.
Forwards: Agbonlahor, Bent, Delfouneso, Weimann
Midfielders: Bannan, Carruthers, Delph, K.E. Ahmadi, Gardner, Herd, Holman, Ireland, Johnson, N'Zogbia
Defenders: Baker, Clark, Collins, Dunne, Lichaj, Lowton, Stevens, Warnoc
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan, Andy Marshall, Shay Given
For those of you familiar with the EPL, as you can see there will be some pretty big names showing up at Toyota Park. American goalkeeper and Evergreen Park native Brad Guzan will be there, along with Downers Grove native Eric Lichaj (pronounced Lee-High). World class striker Darren Bent will be there, along with dynamic striker/winger Gabriel Agbonlahor. Despite these big names, the Fire have a chance to show just how good we are as well. I thought we played Manchester United pretty well for part of the game last year. Even though it is a friendly, it's great exposure for the Fire and helps to put us and MLS in general on the map even more. A win against the Villains would really open some eyes as well. make sure you are there screaming for the Men in Red Saturday Night!