April 2, 2009

RFK Stadium to Host USA, Honduras, Grenada and Haiti in First Round Concacaf Gold Cup Matches July 8

Tickets go on sale Friday, April 17

(Washington, DC) – Two-time defending champion USA will meet Honduras in the second game of a doubleheader at RFK Stadium during the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Wednesday, July 8. Haiti and Grenada will meet in the first game as RFK Stadium hosts Gold Cup games for the first time in its history.

The USA and Honduras last met at RFK Stadium in September 2001 for a World Cup qualifier game before 54,282 fans, the third largest soccer crowd in RFK Stadium history. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, April 17 through www.ticketmaster.com.

“RFK Stadium is proud to host another world-class soccer event,” said Erik Moses, CEO of the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission. “We expect a great crowd and two competitive and exciting games.”

Central American foes and World Cup hopefuls Costa Rica and El Salvador face off to headline an opening doubleheader on July 3 at The Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, highlighting the first day of the 10th edition of the 12-team championship.

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. The 12 competing teams are broken into three groups (Groups A, B and C). Each group has at least one representative from CONCACAF’s three geographic regions: North America, Central America and the Caribbean. Group breakdowns are listed below.

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.

The complete schedule is as follows:

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 CONCACAF
CONCACAF “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, Suriname and French Guyana in the south.

About DC Sports and Entertainment Commission
The DC Sports and Entertainment Commission, an independent agency of the District of Columbia Government, seeks to enrich the local community by attracting and hosting sports, entertainment and special events in Washington, D.C. while promoting the Nation’s Capital as a premier event destination. In addition, the mission of the organization is to support citywide community events and programs involving youth, amateur and professional sports. The DCSEC operates the Stadium-Armory campus which includes RFK Stadium, the DC Armory and the surrounding Festival Grounds and serves as the landlord of Nationals Park. For more information, please visit www.dcsec.com.