Carmelo Anthony’s Puerto Rico FC To Play First Game on Saturday

Carmelo Anthony’s brand new soccer club, Puerto Rico FC, is all set to play its first ever game on Saturday evening at St. John’s in Queens. PRFC will host the Puerto Rican National Team at Belson Stadium, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. EST.

Melo has been adamant about his pride for Puerto Rico, where his father’s from. He’s also been extremely active off the court as his career has gone on. From the Jordan Brand to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Melo has kept it movin’. He’s also trying to get the Knicks back to the Playoffs.

SLAM caught up with the nine-time All-Star in Manhattan ahead of this weekend’s match on Saturday and Puerto Rican Day Parade on Sunday. Anthony’s remained involved, he says, in every aspect of hiring a coaching staff, finding people to run the front office and putting players on the pitch.

His pride for Puerto Rico and New York are driving him to bring his squad up to the city.

“This is not a big, extravaganza game,” Anthony says. “This is just something that I wanted to put together for the Puerto Ricans that are here in New York to get an understanding of what we have going on down on the Island. I realized that soccer is the fastest growing sport in this world.”

Melo has his sets sight on today and tomorrow. He’s present, not only for PRFC, but for the Knicks. He also knows he has to be ready for when he hangs up his Js.

“That’s my aspiration, to own a basketball team,” Anthony says. “I’ll work on that when I’m done. But right now, for me to still be a current player in my own game, in my own league, to be an owner in another league, it honestly don’t get better than that.”

Catch Carmelo on Saturday at Belson Stadium. For ticket information, go to PRFC’s website.