Enrique Cerezo, president of Atletico Madrid, and Jacopo Bracco, president of DirecTV PanAmericana, presented at the Vicente Calderon the international tour that the rojiblancos will hold in South America next season and will be organized by the leading satellite television services in the United States and Latin America. The Atletico squad will play three friendlies in South American soil in three different locations in the last week of July and first of August 2013. In the coming days new information about the cities, dates and opponents of our team in this international tour will be revealed.

The presentation was attended by the Vice Presidents Lazarus Albarracín and Antonio Alonso, the general manager, Clemente Villaverde, sporting director Jose Luis Perez Caminero, and Noain Alfonso, director of sports marketing for DirecTV along with Diego Pablo Simeone, Radamel Falcao, Diego Godin, Cata Diaz, Emiliano Insua and Cristian Rodriguez, American representatives of the first team squad, who were very excited about the idea of playing in their 'home' this summer.

The Atletico president said in his speech, after welcoming the President of DirecTV, Jacopo Bracco, that "it is gratifying for me to introduce to you the agreement we have reached with DirecTV PanAmericana, so this U.S. company will organize the 2013 pre-season international tour of Atletico Madrid. In this case, the tour will consist of three friendly matches between the last week of July and first of August, in three different locations in South America, and DirecTV Atletico and we will announce more details soon."

Enrique Cerezo went on to note that "as you all know, Atletico Madrid has been developing in the past a strategic international presence of its brand, which has led us to become strategic partners of many clubs in many countries in the world, developing different aspects of sporting, economic and corporate social responsibility. Through football clubs and their players, reaching the international dimension, the social impact they have and the media coverage they generate, become privileged tools to extend certain business initiatives. In this sense, Atletico Madrid are working every day to have a greater presence in the Americas, so this agreement will allow us to strengthen the current position in this huge market."

Atletico Madrid are working every day to have a greater presence in the Americas

 Then he said that "as of this moment, we are committed to publicize and promote the brand of Atletico Madrid and its benefits, through the generation of specific content that the American company may be disseminated through its multiple communication channels and platforms, which serve to promote friendly matches to be held next summer. Among the marketing strategies, the tours are a valuable tool for projecting the image of an international team. In recent years, we have traveled many miles through China, Mexico, Thailand, Colombia and Costa Rica, so now we are glad to have the opportunity to travel back to South America and to bring European football to new corners of the world".

This agreement with this television company is an important step for Atletico because, as the president stated, "we know that our team generates a lot of iterest in Latin America. Our Club has nurtured great players from this region, so we have a lot of respect and consideration for this market. We always look with affection and sympathy for Americas, recalling the many figures who have worn our shirt: from Luiz Pereira, Leivinha & Ratón Ayala who played with us in the 70s, to players like Kun Aguero and Forlan, who have marked our recent history, up to the players that are currently part of our squad such as Godin, Cristian Rodriguez, Miranda, Luis Filipe, Cata Diaz, Emiliano Insua, Diego Costa, Falcao and of course, our coach Diego Simeone and his assistant Germán Burgos. This Atlético has a Latin heart."

Finally, the Atletico president stressed that "for the club, it is a privilege that DirecTV has chosen us among many teams in Europe and we can make the most of this tour, forming a partnership with the international media outlet, the leading television services via satellite, which has 20 million customers in the United States and more than 15 million in Latin America and the Caribbean. Last year, in Colombia, we saw the passions unleashed by our team and the presence of figures considered as 'national heroes' as was the case Falcao. For this reason, I'm sure this summer these scenarios will be repeated in other parts of South America, where the enthusiasm and excitement to all the fans and supporters of Atletico will be contagious and will allow the fabs to see many of their idols returning home."

I think it will be a very interesting tour, very innovative and successful

 Meanwhile, Jacopo Bracco, president of DirecTV PanAmericana, said "I am very pleased about this agreement with Club Atlético de Madrid for this tour being organised in Latin America. DirecTV, as you have seen, is the protagonist in sports in Latin America and, since 2006, is the only television operator on which you can see all matches of the Spanish League and we have the greatest European football coverage in Latin America. There is a large presence of DirecTV in football and this agreement with Atletico Madrid gives the chance to not only bring it on television, but we can bring it live to the cities. I think it will be a very interesting tour, very innovative and very successful."

Jacopo Bracco ended his speech saying "DirecTV has 35 million subscribers, 15 million in Latin America and 20 million in the United States. We specialise in sports, a multichannel television company in football players, present in all European Cups and FIFA, besides also being leaders in other sports. I want to give thanks to a strong club and the players and the coach for being here to sign this agreement."