Gold Cup, FC New York

Thursday, 02 April 09, 03:20 PM · Comments (0)

Gold Cup

The matches for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup have been announced with Costa Rica and El Salvador set to kick-off the competition at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California on July 3rd. Jamaica and Canada will round out Group A which will play matches at the aforementioned Home Depot Center, FIU Stadium in Miami, and Crew Stadium in Columbus.

Group B sees regional giants the United States and Honduras matched up with minnows Grenada and Haiti. Seattle's Qwest Field, Foxborough's Gillette Stadium and DC's RFK will host the group.

Finally group C sees Mexico face Panama, Nicaragua, and Guadeloupe. Panama and Guadeloupe have proved stronger than they look in recent Gold Cups and will hope to build upon those foundations. Mexico find themselves struggling as of late but have more than enough power to win the group.

The quarterfinals will be played at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and the Dallas Cowboys' Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The semifinals will both take place at Soldier Field in Chicago with the final on July 26th in East Rutherford, New Jersey at the Meadowlands.

FC New York

As previously stated, FC New York will join the United Soccer Leagues First Division in 2010. It is a bold move for the ownership of the club who have started their ambitions to play in the CONCACAF Champions League soon. American USL clubs have one route to the Champions League, the Open Cup, and that will not be an easy task. That said, it's nice to see someone shoot for the stars.

The team will play most, if not all, matches during their first season at the 15,000-capacity James M. Shuart Stadium at Hofstra University on Long Island. This has been met with some derision as fans would like the team to play in New York City proper. That said, ownership has reportedly stated it's intentions to build a stadium in Queens. Again, ambitious, but nice to see.

The team will attempt to capture fans who feel they have been alienated by Red Bull New York either through their dissatisfaction with the club being used as a promotional vehicle or the fact that the team has never played home matches in New York.

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