Fabián, Fellow Strykers Battle for $1 Million Starting Wednesday

Over 70 MASL players descend on North Carolina for The Soccer Tournament

Cary, N. C. — Starting this Wednesday, several Empire Strykers players — along with the club’s executive vice president, Jimmy Nordberg — will begin competing for one million dollars in prize money as part of The Soccer Tournament (TST). Among a total of over 70 Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) players rostered for the high-stakes event are seven who factored significantly for Empire during the 2023-24 campaign, including Mexican icon Marco Fabián.

Having debuted last year, TST is a World Cup-style, 7v7 tournament held in Cary, N. C., and featuring an expanded field of 48 participating squads, which have been divided into 12 groups. The top two finishers from each group of four advance to the knockout rounds.

Those following the action in person at WakeMed Soccer Park or watching on ESPN+ will be treated to a host of former national team stars like Fabián, Sergio Aguero (Argentina), Luis Nani (Portugal), Geoff Cameron (U.S.) and Sebastian Giovinco (Italy). A number of celebrities from other fields or sports will lace up as well — among them JJ Watt, Pat McAfee and Chad Johnson of American football fame.

Italy’s Inter and England’s Burnley FC are both entering squads, as are German giants Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. Dortmund’s roster boasts some of the biggest names to have worn the famous black and yellow over the course of the past three decades.

As a member of Tranqui10 FC, two-time FIFA World Cup veteran Fabián will take the field with fellow Strykers aces Momo Gueye and Alan Perez. Tranqui10 FC will be coached by Nordberg, who served as Empire’s head coach for six seasons prior to joining the front office last year. Midfielder Justin Stinson and forward-defender Stefan Mijatovic, both of whom spent time on loan at Tacoma this spring, will be donning the kits of defending champion Newtown Pride FC and The Concafa SC, respectively. Goalkeeper Brandon Gomez will guard the net for Saturdays Football, and attacker Garrett Blume will represent Tenfifteen FC.

While the Strykers retain the MASL rights to forward Lucas Roque (Nani FC) and netminder William Vanzela (North Carolina FC), neither player has ever spent any significant time with the team.

The most Empire-heavy side, Tranqui10 FC, opens its TST campaign against KwikGoal FC on Wednesday at 10:15 AM PST, followed by a clash with Pasha FC at 7 PM PST that same day and the squad’s final group game against Sneaky Fox FC on Thursday at 5:45 PM PST. The knockout stages will be played from Friday to Sunday, with the winner-take-all one million dollar championship match taking place on Monday, June 10, at 5:30 PM PST.