Wisconsin Soccer Central

When SV Blau-Weiss Wiehre Freiburg paid a visit to Breese Stevens Field in May, the German side was celebrating promotion – an accomplishment achieved a few days before they flew to the U.S. – and their friendlies against the Madison 56ers and other amateur teams in the Midwest were simply part of an enjoyable vacation.

Another European team comes to Madison on Tuesday night, but with a decidedly different attitude.

University of Portsmouth FC will take on the 56ers in the third match of their 23-day American tour, becoming the first English side to face the National Premier Soccer League team in its nine-year history. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Breese Stevens, and the home team should expect to face highly motivated opposition.

"It's been the buzz around the camp. All year, really, all we've been talking about is (the tour)," UPFC coach Bruce Suraci said from Cary, Ill., the team's home base for the tour. "Everyone's been working hard, everyone's been training hard. We did a three-week training camp in England and we trained six or seven times a week, every day pretty much.

"Before we came out, I did a questionnaire for everyone and I asked, 'What are the main aims on the tour for you?' The options were like to get a scholarship, to get a pro contract, to improve as a player and one was holiday. No one selected holiday. Everyone selected scholarship and improve as a player. So I knew that everyone was really serious."

Land of opportunity

UPFC brought a 21-player roster for its fifth American tour, which includes six matches and the Schwaben AC tournament on July 13 and 14. Suraci said the roster includes seven players from the UPFC first team, with the others coming from the second, third and fourth teams – the school has six men's teams in all.

The goal of the tour is to get the players opportunities to play in the U.S., likely in the USL Premier Development League, NPSL or with a college team, because in England their chances to play at a relatively high level are slim.

"At their age, you're talking 18 to 23, it's very, very unlikely they're going to get any kind of contract," Suraci said. "That's why we come to America, to be honest, because the opportunities over here are great.

"The opportunities to get scholarships from colleges, you've got opportunities to go to clubs and get trials. In England, it's very difficult to get trials, especially over the age of 18. And really, everyone that comes over loves America. They fall in love with it and they want to stay here."

The Chicago Fire have added several UPFC players to their developmental teams over the years, including Kieron Lewis and James Potton in 2010 – they played for the Fire's NPSL team that summer and were part of the team that won the U.S. Adult Soccer Association Under-23 national title.

However, their contact at the Fire, Brad Wellmen, no longer is with the Major League Soccer club, so Suraci is looking to establish partnerships with American teams that would allow UPFC players to come over each summer. He said he's had discussions with the PDL's Chicago Inferno and will do the same with 56ers NPSL general manager Cristian Brei.

And it's not just the players who are looking for opportunities.

The 23-year-old Suraci, who has worked for several professional clubs and academies and even has done some work with the Premier League, would like to find a coaching job in the U.S. He said he's paid to coach UPFC for just eight hours per week, and works full-time coaching at Portsmouth College, which is roughly equivalent to an American high school. 

"I'm partly doing a lot of networking ... my goal is to stay out here and work full-time as a coach," said Suraci, who hopes to complete his UEFA "A" coaching license in October.

On the field

UPFC is a member of the British Universities and College Sport, and its first team plays in the country's First Division – they finished fourth in the South Eastern 1A league with a 4-4-2 record this season. The top 12 teams in the country play in the Premier Division, with the next 12 in the First Division, separated into North and South divisions.

"We're the equivalent of a D-I university," Suraci said. "I'd say we're probably ranked 14th or 15th in the whole country. None of the boys are on scholarships - our university doesn't even offer scholarships for soccer - they come to UPFC because they're studying a course and they play football alongside it.

"We don't have a great deal of funding, we can only play once a week – because of the lack of money, we're very limited. But what we are fortunate in is we've got a good group of players. For some reason, Portsmouth University, we just tend to have good players every year."

To that end, one of the players who was supposed to be part of the tour, Tim Rivers, withdrew from the squad because he signed a pro contract with Lamphun Warriors of the Thai Premier League.

They started their tour with a 1-1 draw against the Inferno on Saturday night in Wheaton, Ill., taking the lead through Kiri Portou in the 31st minute before the hosts equalized 10 minutes later, and were scheduled to play a team in Crystal Lake, Ill., on Monday night.

Suraci wasn't quite sure what to expect Tuesday against the 56ers, who are coming off a vital 2-1 victory over the Milwaukee Bavarians on Friday night and have another big match Sunday at the Quad City Eagles as they try to stay alive in the NPSL Midwest Region Central Conference race.

As of Friday night, Madison coach Jim Launder said he planned to play approximately 20 players in the friendly, likely bringing on his regular starters as second-half subs.

"It's very hard to say," Suraci said of facing the 56ers. "In reality, it's going to be a tough game, I assume. We're looking forward to it."

This will be the 56ers' third international friendly since the NPSL team was started in 2005 - they beat German club SC Wiedenbruck 4-1 on June 23, 2007, and knocked off SV Blau-Weiss Wiehre Freiburg 3-1 on May 25.