Barcelona comes to Washington this weekend for Saturday’s European final rematch against Manchester United. In conjunction, the club’s female ambassador, Mia Hamm, will bring her annual charity soccer match to the District for the first time.
With a soccer surface laid down at Kastles Stadium on the Southwest Waterfront, Hamm, who was raised in the Northern Virginia suburbs, and husband Nomar Garciaparra will host a 7-on-7 match Sunday to benefit the Mia Hamm Foundation and Children’s National Medical Center.
Barcelona midfield maestros Xavi and Andres Iniesta and forward David Villa won’t play in the charity event (Lionel Messi isn’t even making the trip to D.C.), but that doesn’t mean there are no big names.
Hamm has invited U.S. defender Ali Krieger, a Dumfries native, and forward Alex Morgan, both fresh off the Women’s World Cup. Celtics forward and former Georgetown standout Jeff Green, a Hyattsville native, will trade in his basketball shoes, and Capitals defenseman John Carlson will leave his skates behind to participate. Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola is also expected to shed his usual dapper attire for a return to action.
With the game in Washington instead of its usual home in Los Angeles, it will lack its usual celebrity actor element, instead settling for spotlight-craving local media.
The event, in its fourth year, was created to help raise awareness of bone marrow diseases. Hamm’s younger brother, Garrett, died of complications from aplastic anemia, a rare blood disorder. Attendees on Sunday can register for the national bone marrow donation program, and at halftime three donors and their unrelated recipients will be brought together for the first time.
