German soccer club FC Bayern Munich has agreed to play the Major League Soccer (MLS) All-Stars next summer, at Jeld-Wen Field - home of the Portland Timbers, in announcement made Thursday afternoon.

"Becoming the first German club to contest the MLS All-Star Game is an honor," said Bayern coach Pep Guardiola on the club's official website. "MLS has developed very positively in recent years and we're looking forward to taking on the league's best players."

The reigning European and Budesliga champions will also tour the United States, playing around the country in hopes of raising their profile in the Western hemisphere, with Bayern Munich board member Joerg Wacker calling the American tour and the All-Star game appearance an "important step in our international strategy."

"We see the U.S. as a very important market for us, therefore we are planning our own subsidiary in the next couple of months in New York City and a summer tour in 2014, with the highlight game [in Portland]," said Wacker during Thursday's press conference. "Our goal here in the future will be to get closer with our brand, our team and our philosophy to our more than 10 million Bayern fans here in the U.S., and we all want to get closer to all the American soccer fans."

Bayern Munich, who has won 23 Bundesliga championships and five Champions League titles, wants to raise their brand awareness globally, realizing that they have fallen behind in the market to teams such as La Liga's FC Barcelona and English Premier League's (EPL) Manchester United FC.

Club CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge believes that playing in friendlies such as the MLS All-Star game and winning the upcoming Club World Cup, where Bayern Munich is set to play against Asian champion Guangzhou Evergrande of China in Tuesday's semifinals, are a step in the right direction.

"In Germany, the Club World Cup is currently not rated that highly. But it's a different story in Asia, Africa or South America," said Rummenigge to Germany's Bild. "The Club World Cup has a worldwide awareness and is very good for the image. We need to internationalize the brand, and a title like the Club World Cup is very helpful for that. Currently the brand FC Bayern belongs to the top five in the footballing world. But we have competitors who never rest. Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, they also make huge efforts and are also famous the world over."

MLS president and deputy commissioner Mark Abbot said the All-Star Game was pushed back from its traditional time by a week in order to make sure that both MLS and Bayern are able to field their top players - including those that make 2014 FIFA World Cup appearances.

The game against Bayern extends the MLS tradition, which they started in 2003, of having the best players in the league go up against a top-flight foreign club, having previously played against such clubs as Celtic FC of the Scottish Premiership, Chelsea FC and Manchester United of the EPL, and AS Roma of Italy's Serie A.

MLS commissioner Don Garber pointed out that he hopes to highlight Portland's passion for the Timbers and for the sport of soccer during the All-Star festivities.

"One of the great stories in Major League Soccer over the last number of years has been the enormous fan passion, civic support and stadium atmosphere in Portland," said MLS Commissioner Don Garber. "We look forward to showcasing this phenomenon to the rest of the world."