2009 Gold Cup to be played in 13 US cities

CONCACAF is spreading the wealth as the 2009 Gold Cup will be played in a record 13 different U.S. cities this summer, it was announced by the continental governing body Monday afternoon.

By comparison, the 1994 FIFA World Cup was played in nine different venues. Previously the regional championship used six venues.

"While 13 cities create logistical challenges, we think the benefits of reaching out to more venues are clearly worthwhile," CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer said. "The ability of so many people to see national teams play we feel is well worth the effort."

Each venue will host a doubleheader, with the exception of Giants Stadium, home for the July 26 final. It is the second time Giants Stadium has staged the final and first since 2005. Grass will be laid over the artificial turf.

Soccer fans in Columbus, Phoenix, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia will get to see the Gold Cup in their cities for the first time and a Gold Cup quarterfinal will be the first sporting event to be played at the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium on July 19.

"We think it provides a premier facility, certainly the largest in the area," Blazer said. "We're hoping to be able to see it sell out as we sold out Houston's Reliant Stadium in the past."

The competition begins on July 3 at The Home Depot Center, followed by Seattle's Qwest Field (July 4), Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (July 5), Columbus Crew Stadium (July 7), RFK Stadium (July 8), Reliant Stadium (July 9), Florida International University Stadium (Miami, July 10), Gillette Stadium (July 11) and University of Phoenix Stadium (July 12).

The quarterfinals will be played at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field on July 18 and the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington, Texas, on July 19. The semifinals are at Soldier Field in Chicago on July 23 and the final is at Giants Stadium three days later.

The tournament will use the same format as in 2005 and 2007, with the 12-team field divided into three, four-team groups. The top two teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals along with the two best third-place teams.

But unlike in years past, each group will not have one home base and group stage matches will be played in three different cities. The group parings and schedule will be announced at a later date.

"We've added an additional day given that there's travel between each game in that first round," Blazer said. "The entire group travels together so there's no advantage from one team to another. There's plenty of time for rehab after the first round because there's a gap until you get to the quarters."

The three first-round groups for the qualifiers are still to be decided from the 12 qualifiers: Canada, Mexico and the USA from the North Zone; Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua from Central America; and Jamaica, Grenada, Guadeloupe and Haiti from the Caribbean.

Haiti replaced Cuba, which qualified, but asked the Caribbean Football Union to step aside. Blazer said Cuba's decision had nothing to do with the defections that took place during the last Gold Cup.

"There are legitimate issues that the Cubans had," Blazer said. "We're satisfied that these were reasonably unique, but at the same time qualified them to be able to get this exemption."