The soon-to-be-completed brand new Red Bull New York training facility will serve as the Brazilian National Team’s training grounds during this summer’s World Cup.
The Brazilian Football Confederation made the announcement on Wednesday that the MLS club’s’ new 80-acre facility in Morristown, New Jersey, will be their base when one of the globe’s biggest sporting events comes to the United States. The confederation revealed that it will stay at The Ridge Hotel in Basking Ridge.
“I believe we made the best choice based on our assessments,” Rodrigo Caetano, general coordinator for the Brazil national team, said in a statement. “Since securing our qualification, we have taken every precaution to find a place that could offer the necessary training structure, with privacy, modernity, and comfort. After the draw that defined the groups and the locations of the games, we intensified our search and found the perfect setting at the RB New York training center to host the national team.”
During the World Cup run, the facility will be known as Columbia Park Training Center.
The new facility, which is being built at a cost north of $100 million, according to the Morristown Daily Record, is set to open in March and is roughly two miles away from the Jets complex in Florham Park.
The RWJBarnabas Health Red Bulls Performance Center, which will be the site’s official name when it opens, boasts eight full-size outdoor soccer fields, with one 500-seat match field that will be designated for academy games, along with state-of-the-art fitness and nutrition facilities.
Red Bull New York has described their new headquarters as “the most innovative soccer training facility in North America.”
In their announcement, the Brazilian Football Confederation said the Red Bull New York facility had been the most requested by national teams competing in the World Cup.
“We analyzed several aspects. The main objective was to find the best quality playing fields, hotels, logistical facilities, the smallest possible time difference, and other factors that could positively influence the team’s performance,” Cícero Souza, general manager of men’s national teams at the CBF, said in a statement. “We found the best conditions in all these areas in the New York/New Jersey region, and this can make all the difference in a competition that is extremely complicated given the magnitude of the event.”
The World Cup begins on June 11 in Mexico and MetLife Stadium will host eight matches during the tournament, including the World Cup Final on July 19.
Brazil was placed in Group C during the World Cup Draw held last month in Washington D.C. They will play their first game of the tournament at the Meadowlands on June 13 against Mexico.
