Nutrilite Canadian Championship makes first stop in Vancouver

The Nutrilite Canadian Championship will be making its first stop at Swangard Stadium, home of the Vancouver Whitecaps. The Whitecaps are hosting the Impact de Montreal in the return leg from last Tuesday’s battle at Stade Saputo. The Whitecaps will be looking to reverse its 0:2 loss in Montreal.



The 25 June match in Vancouver will have a full house in the stands and a live crowd on television. The match will be broadcast live on CBCSports.ca. The kickoff time is 20.00 PT.



The Impact are in first place in the standings with 3 points and two goals scored (1-0-1). The Impact are the only team, however, to have played two matches – an 0:1 loss to Toronto FC on 27 May and a 2:0 win over the Whitecaps on 17 June. After tonight’s game, the last three matches take place in July: the Canada Day tilt between the Whitecaps at Toronto FC at BMO Field (1 July at 16.00 ET), the return match with Toronto FC visiting Vancouver (9 July), and the final match featuring the Impact at Toronto FC (22 July).



The champion of the inaugural Nutrilite Canadian Championship will qualify for the 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League™ season. The Canadian entry will face a Nicaraguan club in the preliminary home-and-away series in late August and early September. The winners from the 16-team preliminary round will join the eight seeded teams in the group stage which will consist of four groups of four. All the teams in each group will play each other in a round-robin system during six match dates (three home games, three away games) from 16 September to 30 October.



The top two clubs from each group will advance to the knock out phase and play a home-and-away elimination. The quarterfinals commence in February 2009, with the semifinals to begin in March, and the Final to take place in late April. The CONCACAF Champions League™ winner will qualify as the CONCACAF’s representative to the 2009 edition of the FIFA Club World Cup.