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Calendar of Events: Second Edition of FC Women'S Gold Cup Kicks Off
Calendar of Events: Second Edition of FC Women'S Gold Cup Kicks Off
VOLUME 12 / NUMBER 7
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
9-13 October
FC Champions Cup
Central Zone Qualifying (Group 1)
San Salvador, El Salvador
13/27 October
FC Champions Cup
Caribbean Zone Qualifying (Preliminary Round)
16-20 October
FC U-20 Youth Tournament
Final (Group A), Cd. Panama
23-27 October
FC Under-17 Junior Tournament
Caribbean Zone qualifying (Group C), Rep.Dominicana
23-27 October
FC Champions Cup
Central Zone Qualifying (Group 2), Cd. Guatemala
27 October 9 November
FC Womens Gold Cup 2002
Pasadena and Fullerton, California; Seattle, Washington
(USA); Victoria, British Columbia (Canada)
Captain Julie Foudy lifts the FC Women's Gold Cup after the USA defeated Brazil 1:0 in a
hard-fought final in the inaugural edition in 2000. (Photo: Tony Quinn/SoccerPixUSA)
When the second edition of the FC Womens Gold Cup kicks off in
Pasadena, California, eight teams will once again be battling for the
right to call themselves the best womens team in North and Central
America and the Caribbean.
But for those same eight teams, an equally important prize will be
on offer: Three berths in the biggest event in womens soccer, the FIFA
Womens World Cup.
Conceived a few short years ago to stand alongside the FC Gold Cup as the preeminent
national team competitions in the region, the Womens Gold Cup will crown its second
champion this year, after the USA defeated Brazil 1:0 in a hard-fought final to win the
inaugural event in 2000.
That first event saw two potent guest teams invited in Brazil and China PR which, of
course, the USA had defeated in the final of the Womens World Cup the summer previous. But this year, with the WWC berths on the line, all eight teams will come from the
CONCACAF confederation.
The tournament sees the teams divided into two groups of four teams, where each will
play the other once in round-robin play. The top two in each group will advance to the
semifinals, the winners crossing over to play the second-place side in the opposite group.
The semifinal winners will then play for the honor of Confederation champion and the
trophy and prize money that goes along with it, knowing theyve already secured places in
the Womens World Cup finals. The semifinal losers will play in the third-place match, that
winner keeping their WWC hopes alive by moving into a playoff with the third-place team
in Asian Football Confederation qualifying for the final spot in China PR 2003.
Group A, playing in the southern California venues of Pasadena and Fullerton, as well
as Seattle, Washington, features the defending champions USA, Mexico, Panama from the
Central American Zone and Jamaica from the Caribbean Zone. Matches will be played on
27 October (Pasadena), 29 October (Fullerton) and 2 November (Seattle)
Group B, which will be based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, will be comprised
of Canada, Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago and Haiti. Matchdays are set for 30 October and
1 and 3 November. The semifinals will be played at Safeco Field in Seattle on 6 November,
with the final to be played in the Rose Bowl the site of the 1999 FIFA Womens World
Cup final on 9 November.
27-31 October
FC Under-17 Junior Tournament
Caribbean Zone qualifying (Group D) Cuba
30 October 3 November
FC Champions Cup
Central Zone Qualifying (Group 3) Honduras (TBD)
30 October 3 November
FC Under-17 Junior Tournament
Caribbean Zone qualifying (Group A) Bermuda
10-20 November
FC Gold Cup
Caribbean Zone Qualifying (finals), Trinidad & Tobago
13-17 November
FC U-20 Youth Tournament
Final (Group B) Charleston, S.C., USA
23 November 7 December
Central American and Caribbean Games
San Salvador, El Salvador
11-15 November
FC Under-17 Junior Tournament
Central Zone qualifying, Siguatepeque, Honduras
ELECTIONS
PAGE 2
Regardless of
how you look at it,
CONCACAF teams
and officials turned
the inaugural FIFA
Under-19 Womens
World Championship, played from 17
August - 1 September in three venues
across Western Canada, into a showcase
for the Confederation.
The tournament was an unqualified
success: stadia packed with fans, terrific
football, and, oh yes, an all-CONCACAF
final. Lindsay Tarpleys 109th-minute goal
gave the USA the world championship in
a battle with their border rivals from the
host nation.
While the USA certainly had realistic
expectations of being in the final,
Canadas performance was quite impressive, getting through an incredibly difficult group before riding the talents of
Christine Sinclair winner of both the
Golden Shoe and the Golden Ball into
the matchup against the USA.
Not only was the quality of play of the
CONCACAF teams incredible, but the
Confederations game officials also
showed their mettle. Veteran referee
Diane Ferreira-James of Guyana patrolled
the center circle and was aided by Maria
Isabel Tovar of Mexico, selected as one of
the two referees assistants for the deciding match, played before a sellout crowd
of 47,784 at Edmontons Commonwealth
Stadium. In all, the tournament as a
whole drew nearly 200,000 fans to stadia
in Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria.
As the tournament drew to a close, the
worlds football officials were quick to
laud the accomplishments of both the
Confederation and the Canadian Soccer
Association, which opened its doors to the
world as host of the event.
I am at a loss for words in terms of
the miracle we have witnessed here in
Canada, and the final between the United
States and Canada only lends credence to
the primacy of CONCACAF in leading
womens football to greater heights, said
Confederation President Jack A. Warner.
Lindsay Tarpley's 'golden goal' gives the USA
the first FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship
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