Costa Rica to face El Salvador on opening night at The Home Depot Center

NEW YORK (Thursday, 2 April 2009) – Central American foes and World Cup hopefuls Costa Rica and El Salvador will face off to headline an opening doubleheader in the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup™ on 3 July at The Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, highlighting the first day of the 10th edition of the 12-team championship.

The match will follow a clash between Canada and Jamaica that will open the tournament and play in Group A. The two-time defending champion USA will play the following day, American Independence Day, in Seattle against Grenada in Group B, which also will include Honduras and Haiti.

Mexico will anchor Group C, which will begin in San Francisco on 5 July with Panama facing Guadeloupe and El Tri playing Nicaragua.“We’re excited at having created these groups. They are well balanced and will provide very interesting matches,” CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer said. “Given the variety of teams and the cities we’re going to, it offers something for everyone.”

After the openers, Group A will move on to Columbus, Ohio, on 7 July for a second doubleheader, and will conclude the first round in Miami at FIU Stadium on 10 July.Group B will leave Seattle for a doubleheader in Washington on 8 July and finish in Boston on 11 July.

Group C will play its second doubleheader in Houston on 9 July and then wrap up the first round in Phoenix on 12 July.A two-week private pre-sale will begin today, Thursday, 2 April 2009. Fans can call the local stadium box office or local MLS team for further information.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday, 17 April through www.Ticketmaster.com, www.Tickets.com (Oakland) and www.Completeticketsolutions.com (Miami).The Gold Cup, which has seen record attendances and television ratings in each of the past two competitions (2005 and 2007), will be played coast-to-coast at an unprecedented 13 venues this year.“We’ve been successful in the past creating entertaining match-ups and I think this year will continue that tradition,” Blazer said.

Each group has at least one representative from CONCACAF’s three geographic regions: North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The top two teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals along with the two best third-place teams.

The winners of Groups A & B will head to Philadelphia for their quarterfinals on July 18 while the Group C winner will play in Dallas the following day. The winners of the Philadelphia quarterfinals will face off in one semifinal on 23 July in Chicago’s Soldier Field, and the Dallas quarterfinal winners will contest the other. The semifinal winners will meet for the title Sunday, 26 July in Giants Stadium.

2009 CONCACAF GOLD CUP™

GROUP A: Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Jamaica

GROUP B: Grenada, Haiti, Honduras, USA

GROUP C: Guadeloupe, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama

SCHEDULE

First Round

Friday, July 3 – Los Angeles (The Home Depot Center)
Canada vs. Jamaica, 5 p.m. (8 p.m. EDT)
Costa Rica vs. El Salvador, 7 p.m. (10 p.m. EDT)

Saturday, July 4 – Seattle (Qwest Field)
Honduras vs. Haiti, 4 p.m. (7 p.m. EDT)
Grenada vs. USA, 6 p.m. (9 p.m. EDT)

Sunday, July 5 – San Francisco (Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum)
Panama vs. Guadeloupe, 2 p.m. (5 p.m. EDT)
Nicaragua vs. Mexico, 4 p.m. (7 p.m. EDT)

Tuesday, July 7 – Columbus, Ohio (Crew Stadium)
Jamaica vs. Costa Rica, 7 p.m. (7 p.m. EDT)
El Salvador vs. Canada, 9 p.m. (9 p.m. EDT)

Wednesday, July 8 – Washington (Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium)
Haiti vs. Grenada, 7 p.m. (7 p.m. EDT)
USA vs. Honduras, 9 p.m. (9 p.m. EDT)

Thursday, July 9 – Houston (Reliant Stadium)
Guadeloupe vs. Nicaragua, 7 p.m. (8 p.m. EDT)
Mexico vs. Panama, 9 p.m. (10 p.m. EDT)

Friday, July 10 – Miami (Florida International University Stadium)
Costa Rica vs. Canada, 7 p.m. (7 p.m. EDT)
El Salvador vs. Jamaica, 9 p.m. (9 p.m. EDT)

Saturday, July 11 – Boston (Gillette Stadium)
USA vs. Haiti, 7 p.m. (7 p.m. EDT)
Honduras vs. Grenada, 9 p.m. (9 p.m. EDT)

Sunday, July 12 – Phoenix (University of Phoenix Stadium)
Panama vs. Nicaragua, 2 p.m. (5 p.m. EDT)
Mexico vs. Guadeloupe, 4 p.m. (7 p.m. EDT)

Quarterfinals
Saturday, July 18 – Philadelphia (Lincoln Financial Field)
Group A winner vs. Group B runner-up, TBD (x)
Group B winner vs. Group A/C third-place, TBD (x) x-matches scheduled for 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. with order TBD

Sunday, July 19 – Dallas (Dallas Cowboys New Stadium)
Group C runner-up vs. Group A runner-up, TBD (y)
Group C winner vs. Group A/B third place, TBD (y) y-matches scheduled for 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. local (4 p.m. and 7 p.m. EDT) with order TBD

Semifinals
Thursday, July 23 – Chicago (Soldier Field)Philadelphia
quarterfinal winners, TBD (z) Dallas quarterfinal winners, TBD (z) z-matches scheduled for 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. local (7 p.m. and 10 p.m. EDT) with order TBD

Final
Sunday, July 26 – New York (Giants Stadium)
Semifinal winners, 3 p.m. (3 p.m. EDT)

About CONCACAFCONCACAF

“The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football” is one of six continental confederations of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) and serves as the governing body of football in this part of the world. It is composed of 40 national associations, from Canada in the north to Guyana, Surinam and French Guyana in the south.