CONCACAF Champions League Officially Launched

[NEColourULike]

Originally Posted by Bearded Kyle

CONMEBOL? Is that the South American federation? Do you mean they'll get an invite to the Copa Libertadores?

What do you mean by unfair?

Yeah the CONCACAF winner gets invited to the Copa Libertadores (I Believe, I could be slightly off on that)

Only unfair in the sense that you win CONCACAF now you have to go through the full strength of CONMEBOL as opposed to in years past when the CONCACAF winner got a straight match against the CONMEBOL winner, but that is evened out by the Club World Cup

[Bearded Kyle]

I think it would be a tremendous honour to compete in the top club competition in the Americas. I dream of the Whitecaps playing against teams like Boca Junior or Santos one day. Getting invited to the Copa Libertadores could be a step towards a more regular inclusion of North American teams in that tournament.

I think several teams from Mexico already play in that tournament. I wonder if those slots will be affected by the CCL?


EDIT: I just realised that I had the Champion's Cup confused with the SuperLiga. Will the SuperLiga also be scrapped? Too many tournaments.

[dsp87260]

Originally Posted by Bearded Kyle

I think it would be a tremendous honour to compete in the top club competition in the Americas. I dream of the Whitecaps playing against teams like Boca Junior or Santos one day. Getting invited to the Copa Libertadores could be a step towards a more regular inclusion of North American teams in that tournament.

I think several teams from Mexico already play in that tournament. I wonder if those slots will be affected by the CCL?


EDIT: I just realised that I had the Champion's Cup confused with the SuperLiga. Will the SuperLiga also be scrapped? Too many tournaments.

Here are the details for this year's Superliga...

Group A
D.C. United (MLS)
Houston Dynamo (MLS)
CD Guadalajara (México)
Atlante (México)

Group B
Chivas USA (MLS)
New England Revolution (MLS)
Pachuca CF (México)
Santos Laguna (México)


SuperLiga 2008 Schedule*
(All Times Eastern) / * Subject to change
Saturday, July 12
D.C. United vs. CD Guadalajara (RFK Stadium - Washington D.C.) 20:00
Houston Dynamo vs. Atlante (Robertson Stadium - Houston, TX) 22:00

Sunday, July 13
NE Revolution vs. Santos (Gillette Stadium - Foxborough, MA) 20:00
Chivas USA vs. Pachuca CF (Home Depot Center - Carson, CA) 22:00

Tuesday, July 15
D.C. United vs. Atlante (RFK Stadium - Washington D.C.) 20:00
Houston Dynamo vs. CD Guadalajara (Robertson Stadium - Houston, TX) 22:00

Wednesday, July 16
NE Revolution vs. Pachuca CF (Gillette Stadium - Foxborough, MA) 20:00
Chivas USA vs. Santos (Home Depot Center - Carson, CA) 22:00

Saturday, July 19
D.C. United vs. Houston Dynamo (RFK Stadium - Washington D.C.) 20:00
Atlante vs. CD Guadalajara (Location TBD) 22:00

Sunday, July 20
Chivas USA vs. NE Revolution (Venue TBD - Los Angeles, CA) 20:00
Santos vs. Pachuca CF (Location TBD) 22:00

Tuesday, July 29
Semifinal 1 (Location TBD)

Wednesday, July 30
Semifinal 2 (Location TBD)

Tuesday, August 5
Final (Location TBD)

(from mlsnet.com)

[NEColourULike]

Canadian Qualifier Announced for 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League




26.3.08 - CONCACAF along with the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) announced today details of the qualifying tournament for Canada’s entry to the inaugural 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League.

Canada's three professional clubs, the Impact de Montreal, Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, will play a home-and-away round-robin tournament from May to July 2008. The winner will progress to the Preliminary Round of the 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League to be held in August 2008.

“We are very pleased that the Canadian Soccer Association has developed a professional club qualifying tournament to the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League,” said CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer. “We are confident that the qualifying tournament will contribute to the ongoing growth of soccer in Canada and serve as excellent preparation for Canada's representative in the CONCACAF Champions League."

CSA Club Qualifying Tournament Schedule
27 May: Impact de Montreal vs. Toronto FC at Montréal’s Stade Saputo
17 June: Impact de Montreal vs. Vancouver Whitecaps at Stade Saputo
25 June: Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Impact de Montreal at Vancouver’s Swangard Stadium
1 July: Toronto FC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps at Toronto’s BMO Field
9 July: Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Toronto FC at Swangard Stadium
22 July: Toronto FC vs. Impact de Montreal at BMO Field

The new CONCACAF Champions League will be comprised of 24 teams drawn from across the CONCACAF's region. The tournament will feature three Caribbean teams, the most in any CONCACAF international club competition to date; four teams each from Mexico and USA; two clubs each from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama; and one representative from each of Canada, Belize, and Nicaragua.

Eight clubs (two from Mexico, USA and one from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama) will be seeded directly to the Group Stage of the CONCACAF Champions League. Sixteen teams will be paired in eight home-and-away match-ups in the Preliminary Round which will take place from 26-28 August 2008 and 2-4 September 2008.

The Preliminary Round winners will join the eight seeded teams in the Group Stage that consists of four groups of four teams each. Each team will play two matches (one home, one away) against each of the other teams in its group, in a round-robin system, from 16 September 2008 – 30 October 2008.

The top two clubs from each of the four groups will advance to the Elimination Stage of the CONCACAF Champions League. These eight teams will be drawn into four Quarterfinal pairings to play home-and-away match-ups in February 2009. The four Quarterfinal winners will then play in two Semifinal home-and-away match-ups in March and April 2009 with the two Semifinal winners squaring-off in the home-and-away CONCACAF Champions League Final in late April 2009.

The CONCACAF Champions League winner will qualify as the CONCACAF’s representative to the 2009 edition of the FIFA Club World Cup.

2008-09 CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – Calendar of Events
2008
June: Draw for Stage 1 – Preliminary Round
26-28 August: Preliminary Round – Game 1
2-4 September: Preliminary Round – Game 2
Early September: Draw for Stage 2 – Group Stage
16-18 September: Group Stage – Game 1
23-25 September: Group Stage – Game 2
30 September – 2 October: Group Stage – Game 3
7-9 October: Group Stage – Game 4
21-23 October: Group Stage – Game 5
28-30 October: Group Stage – Game 6
Early November – Draw for Stage 3 – Elimination Round

2009
24-26 February: Quarterfinal, Game 1
3-5 March: Quarterfinal, Game 2
17-19 March: Semifinal, Game 1
7-9 April: Semifinal, Game 2
21-23 April: Final, Game 1
28-30 April: Final, Game 2
December: FIFA Club World Cup

Photo #1 - Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Photo #2 - Toronto FC

So there you have it

[Bearded Kyle]

very excited. thanks.

[ELLADA]

Can someone give me odds on Montreal winning the entire thing? I am honestly not kidding.

[NEColourULike]

the ENTIRE thing? 0 to none, say you totally discredit the MLS sides as many here are wont to do, the Mexican and Costa Rican sides are still no cake walk in the least

[ELLADA]

Originally Posted by NEColourULike

the ENTIRE thing? 0 to none, say you totally discredit the MLS sides as many here are wont to do, the Mexican and Costa Rican sides are still no cake walk in the least

Of course they are not, but you do realize that the Impact is in a lower league than MLS clubs?

EDIT: Sorry, I understand what you mean now.

[Bearded Kyle]

I think if you're referring to the Canadian bid I think it's wide open. Montreal could get it as easily as Toronto or Vancouver.

Whomever gets it it'll be fun to watch this competition.

[Splatypus]

Originally Posted by Bearded Kyle

Whomever gets it it'll be fun to watch this competition.

I'm sure the CSA will manage to fuck it up somehow, they are very consistent in that regard.