Target Field Hosts Its First-Ever Soccer Game
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- With the Twins on the road, Target Field is a soccer stadium Saturday night as Minnesota United gets set to face Club Leon from Mexico.
"They're going to love the atmosphere, they're going to love the event in playing here," said Minnesota United sporting director Manny Lagos.
Lagos played soccer in a baseball stadium plenty of times during his playing career.
"Oh yeah, many times. Many times," he said.
But this is a first for Target Field and for the team he now runs. And he knows his players will have some adjusting to do, to playing in an unconventional stadium where the seats and sidelines aren't where they'd normally be.
"There's going to be a little bit of depth perception involved, in terms of the players getting used to the angles of it," Lagos said. "Because, you're right, home plate, you almost feel like maybe sometimes you want to attack there, but home plate, in this configuration, will be out of bounds. So certainly the players are going to have to kind of adjust to that.
"To me, I always tell people, when you step between those white lines, it doesn't matter where you are or what type of level you're playing, the game itself is what matters, and how you play."
Fitting the soccer field into Target Field was a tight squeeze. But Lagos says that only makes the sightlines even better for fans.
"It's a little unique how we had to put the soccer field, but the people here, the Twins, have done such a great job of making the field tight and compact," Lagos said, "there won't be a bad seat in the house. Some fans are going to be right on top of the field, others will have great sideline views.
"For me, I'm excited for people to be involved in the sport I love, have a great night out in Minneapolis, and enjoy this iconic ballpark."
