Canada To Play USA, Costa Rica and Cuba at 2005 CONCACAF GOLD CUP™

Ottawa, Ontario – Canada’s Men’s National Team will play the USA, Costa Rica and Cuba in Group B at the 2005 CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) Gold Cup™ which will take place from July 6-24 across the USA, it was announced today.



Canada will play its first two games against Costa Rica (July 7) and the USA (July 9) at Seattle’s Qwest Field before moving to the Gillette Stadium in Foxboro near Boston to face Cuba on July 12.



“I am delighted to be located in Seattle and to give some of our fans a chance to come and support us,” said head coach Frank Yallop. “We are very familiar with Costa Rica having played them twice in qualifying and of course the US game will be a great test for us. We also have some unfinished business with Cuba as they beat us last time out. It’s an exciting draw and it should prove a real test for our young team.”



Should Canada finish in the top two of Group B they would play their quarter-final in Boston. If they are one of the two best third-place finishers, they will be forced to travel to Houston for their quarter-final.



Group A, which will be based in Miami’s Orange Bowl, contains Central American Qualifiers Honduras and Panama, Trinidad & Tobago from the Caribbean and the second of two guest teams announced today, Colombia.



The final group, Group C, will see games between the other guest team South Africa, Central American qualifier, Guatemala, recently-crowned Caribbean champions, Jamaica and the reigning CONCACAF Gold Cup™ champions Mexico. Group C games take place in two venues in the Los Angeles Area, Carson’s Home Depot Center and the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, before moving to Reliant Stadium in Houston for the last day of first round play.



The quarterfinal matches, taking place on Saturday, July 16 (two games in Foxboro), and Sunday, July 17 (two games in Houston) will comprise of the first and second-placed team from each of the three groups along with the two best-finishing third-place teams.



The 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup™ semifinals and final is scheduled for Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Thursday, July 21 and Sunday, July 24, respectively.



Tickets for the CONCACAF Gold Cup™ will be available starting on March 16 with purchase information to be made available shortly.



2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup™ Match Schedule



Group A

Honduras

Panama

Trinidad & Tobago

Colombia



Group B

Costa Rica

USA

Canada

Cuba



Group C

South Africa

Guatemala

Mexico

Jamaica



ROUND 1

WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY Orange Bowl-Miami, Florida

Match 1 Group A – Colombia vs. Panama – 7:00 pm

Match 2 Group A – Trinidad & Tobago vs. Honduras – 9:00 pm



THURSDAY, 7 JULY Qwest Field – Seattle, Washington

Match 3 Group B – Canada vs Costa Rica – 5:30 pm

Match 4 Group B – Cuba vs USA – 7:30 pm



FRIDAY, 8 JULY Home Depot Center – Carson, California

Match 5 Group C – South Africa vs Mexico – 7:00 pm

Match 6 Group C – Guatemala vs Jamaica – 9:00 pm



SATURDAY, 9 JULY Qwest Field – Seattle, Washington

Match 7 Group B – Costa Rica vs Cuba – 11:30 am

Match 8 Group B – USA vs Canada – 1:30 pm



SATURDAY, 9 JULY Orange Bowl – Miami, Florida

Match 9 Group A – Panama vs Trinidad-Tobago – 7:00 pm

Match 10 Group A – Honduras vs Colombia – 9:00 pm



SUNDAY, 10 JULY LA Memorial Coliseum, California

Match 11 Group C – Mexico vs Guatemala – 12:00 pm

Match 12 Group C – Jamaica vs South Africa – 2:00 pm



MONDAY, 11 JULY Orange Bowl – Miami, Florida

Match 13 Group A – Colombia vs Trinidad-Tobago – 7:00 pm

Match 14 Group A – Honduras vs Panama – 9:00 pm



TUESDAY, 12 JULY Gillette Stadium – Foxboro, Mass.

Match 15 Group B – USA vs Costa Rica – 7:00 pm

Match 16 Group B – Canada vs Cuba – 9:00 pm



WEDNESDAY, 13 JULY Reliant Stadium – Houston, Texas

Match 17 Group C – Guatemala vs South Africa – 7:00 pm

Match 18 Group C – Mexico vs Jamaica – 9:00 pm



QUARTERFINALS

SATURDAY, 16 JULY Gillette Stadium – Foxboro, Mass.

Quarterfinal 1 – A1 vs B2 – 1:00 pm

Quarterfinal 2 – B1 vs 3A or C – 4:00 pm



SUNDAY, 17 JULY Reliant Stadium – Houston, Texas

Quarterfinal 3 – C1 vs 3A or B – 2:00 pm

Quarterfinal 4 – C2 vs A2 – 5:00 pm



SEMIFINALS

THURSDAY, 21 JULY Giants Stadium – New Jersey

Semifinal 1 – Q1 vs Q2 – 6:00 pm

Semifinal 2 – Q3 vs Q4 – 9:00 pm



FINAL

SUNDAY, 24 JULY Giants Stadium – New Jersey

Final – S1 vs S2 – 3:00 pm