Let's Play... Soccer?

This story was written by City News Service

Soccer will make its debut at Dodger Stadium Saturday with a doubleheader involving three European teams and the two-time defending Major League Soccer champion Los Angeles Galaxy.

The doubleheader, part of the eight-team Guinness International Champions Cup, will begin at 5 p.m. with a game between Real Madrid, the 2012- 13 runner-up in Spain's La Liga, and Everton, which finished sixth in England's Barclays Premier League in the 2012-13 season.

The Galaxy will face Juventus, the champion of Italy's Serie A the past two seasons, at 7:30 p.m.

The soccer games will be the "first of many, many more" at Dodger Stadium, Dodger president and CEO Stan Kasten said in May when the doubleheader was announced.

"As soon as we heard about the possibility, we jumped right in cause this was such an exciting opportunity for city of Los Angeles and the Dodgers to host this kind of event," Kasten said.

The approximately 100-yard by 70-yard field will be laid out along the first base and right field foul line, with one goal around what would be the home plate area and the other in right field, Kasten said.

Galaxy forward Landon Donovan called it a dream to play at Dodger Stadium.

"In some ways it would be fun to get a baseball mitt and bat and play baseball instead, but it will be fun to be on that stadium in front of hopefully a decent crowd," said Donovan, who described himself as a lifelong Dodger fan.

This will be the second consecutive game Everton will play in a baseball stadium. It defeated Juventus 6-5 on penalty kicks after regulation play ended in a 1-1 tie Wednesday at San Francisco's AT&T Park.

"The baseball stadiums have been interesting," Everton's New Jersey- born goalkeeper Tim Howard said. "They're kind of fun to play in from an asestic standpoint."

Everton and Real Madrid, which opened tournament play by defeating the Galaxy, 3-1, Thursday at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., will play for a berth in the tournament's championship game, which will be played Wednesday at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

The Galaxy-Juventus game will help determine which of the consolation games both teams will play in at Sun Life Stadium.

"It's a game that for all intents and purposes is meaningless, but it's still a really good exercise for us," Donovan said. "We have 12 games left in the season and Champions League and we want to use these games to get better so we're prepared for those."

While the Galaxy is in the midst of their season, the three European teams are preparing for their seasons, which will begin later this month. Everton's first-year manager Roberto Martinez said he will use today's game to assess players and partnerships.

"If I can finish the game with no injuries, I know it will be a success," Martinez said.