NEW YORK – CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) ) has launched a ticket hotline number, +1/888-480-2005, for tickets to the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup™, which will be played in six USA cities from July 6-24, 2005. The domestic and international telephone number will allow fans to purchase tickets in any of the seven stadiums hosting games in the showpiece event. Ticket prices for single dates start as low as $20 in some venues for first round doubleheaders. Discounts are available for group tickets and for packages of tickets to all the match days in the same city. All tickets are subject to availability. www.goldcup.org
Ottawa, Ontario – The Canadian Soccer Association today announced that Nick De Santis has accepted the position of Honorary Co-Chair for the FIFA World Youth Championship Canada 2007. De Santis, who played nine times for Canada, has been the head coach of the Montreal Impact since November of 2003. In his first year, he lead the team to a club record of 12 straight games without a loss (8-0-4), and then to the league (A-League) championship in 2004. The same year, he was a finalist in the category of Coach of the Year in the league. De Santis played 10 seasons for the Impact. In 2003, as assistant coach and player, he helped the Impact win the Northeast Division title, as well as finish on top of Eastern Conference standings and first overall in the league.
Ottawa, Ontario – Canadian Women’s World Cup Team head coach Even Pellerud has named his 18-player roster for another European tour from Sunday, May 22 to Wednesday, June 1, 2005. The Canadians will play international friendlies against Denmark on Wednesday, May 25 in Copenhagen, Denmark, Sweden on Saturday, May 28 in Stockholm, Sweden, and concluding against Norway on Tuesday, May 31 in Oslo, Norway. “The senior women’s team is again touring Europe, this time to Scandinavia for three games. It is only a couple of weeks since we left Europe with impressive matches against Germany and France; creating great European reports on our team’s performances,” said Pellerud. “We certainly proved that we are still improving as a team; the consistent and evenly played games created a lot of confidence.” “The recent W-league kick-off can only benefit us in terms of game fitness, and I expect Canada to challenge all these strong Scandinavian teams; as they use us as their last sparring partner before the kick off of the European Championship final in June. Denmark, Sweden and Norway have all qualified for this championship and have consistently been top ranked teams in the world.”
Ottawa, Ontario – L’entraîneur-chef Even Pellerud de l’équipe canadienne féminine de Coupe du monde a dévoilé son alignement de 18 joueuses pour une autre tournée européenne, du dimanche 22 mai au mercredi 1er juin 2005. Les Canadiennes disputeront trois matchs internationaux amicaux contre le Danemark, mercredi le 25 mai à Copenhague, contre la Suède, samedi le 28 mai à Stockholm, en Suède et contre la Norvège, mardi le 31 mai à Oslo, en Norvège. « L’équipe senior féminine est de retour en Europe pour ces trois matchs. Il n’y a que quelques semaines que nous avons quitté le Vieux Continent avec des matchs contre l’Allemagne et la France où nous avons bien joué et attiré de belles critiques, » raconte Pellerud. « Nous avons certainement prouvé que nous nous améliorons et la constance ainsi que les matchs serrés nous ont donné beaucoup confiance. » « Le récent début de saison de la W-League nous profite en terme de forme de match et je m’attends à ce que notre équipe soit compétitive contre ces puissances scandinaves. Pour ces équipes il s’agira d’un dernier coup de préparation avant le championnat européen en juin. Le Danemark, la Suède et la Norvège sont toutes trois qualifiées pour ce tournoi et elles sont toujours été parmi les meilleures équipes au monde. »
Ottawa, Ontario – The Canadian Soccer Association held its Annual General Meeting in Regina, Saskatchewan, May 13-15 with several new board members voted to the Executive Committee. Victor Montagliani was elected Vice-President, Mike Traficante was elected Director, Technical and Vince Ursini was voted in as Director, Finance.
Montagliani is currently the President of the British Columbia Soccer Association and has served on the BCSA Board of Directors for six years. Traficante is a Past President of the Alberta Soccer Association while Ursini recently served as Commissioner of the Canadian Professional Soccer League. He is a member of the Ontario Soccer Association Board of Directors.
In other elections, Leeta Sokalski was Re-elected as Director, Female soccer and Nick Fillippone was voted in as Director, Professional Soccer.
Ottawa, Ontario – The CSA issued the following statement following the decision by York University to withdraw from the stadium project. “Despite the decision by York University to withdraw from the stadium project, the Canadian Soccer Association wishes to emphasize that this in no way jeopardizes the ability for Canada to host the FIFA World Youth Championship 2007. We will immediately review other possible hosting venues to join those already in place in Ottawa, Montreal, Edmonton, Victoria and Vancouver.” FIFA Vice President and CONCACAF President Jack Warner reiterated and emphasized FIFA’s continued and committed support to Canada hosting the FIFA World Youth Championship 2007 with or without a stadium at York University. He also singled out the positive announcement of the construction of a soccer specific stadium in Montreal (Saputo Stadium) which will hold 13,500 spectators, expandable to 17,000.”
Vancouver, BC – The Canadian Soccer Association, British Columbia Soccer Association and Vancouver Whitecaps FC today announced that Canada’s Men’s World Cup Team will play an international friendly against Honduras on Saturday, July 2 at Swangard Stadium. The game will kick-off at 7:00 p.m. The three organizations are jointly hosting the game which will be part of the International Pacific Soccer Series. The Vancouver Whitecaps will play Sunderland (recently promoted to the Premiership) on July 16 at Swangard at 7:00 p.m. as part of the series. Sunderland will also play the BC All-Stars on Thursday, July 14 at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria at 7:30 p.m. “I am delighted to have this game as part of our preparation for the Gold Cup,” said Canadian head coach Frank Yallop. “With us playing our first two games in Seattle it made perfect sense for us to play in Vancouver and we wanted to play a CONCACAF team. It’s great to see the three organizations coming together to put on a game of this calibre and to help promote international soccer in the area.”
Ottawa, Ontario – L’Association canadienne de soccer est heureuse d’annoncer que les billets étaient maintenant en vente sur le réseau Ticketmaster pour les matchs amicaux opposant les championnes du monde en titre de l’Allemagne face à l’équipe canadienne féminine de Coupe du monde, à Edmonton (une présentation de CIBC) et à Vancouver (une présentation de Telus) en septembre. Les billets pour la rencontre Canada-Allemagne (présentée par Telus) du 1er septembre 2005 à 19 h 00 (heure du Pacifique) au stade Swangard de Burnaby, en Colombie-Britannique sont vendus entre 10$ et 25$. Des forfaits familiaux et de groupe seront aussi disponibles. Les billets pour la rencontre Canada-Allemagne (présentée par CIBC) du 4 septembre 2005 à 14 h 00 (heure des Rocheuses) au stade Centennial d’Edmonton, en Alberta sont vendus entre 10$ et 19$. Un forfait de deux billets pour ces deux matchs est aussi disponible au coût de 17$.
Ottawa, Ontario – The Canadian Soccer Association is pleased to announce that tickets for the upcoming friendlies against 2003 Women’s World Cup Champions, Germany in Edmonton (presented by CIBC) and Vancouver (presented by TELUS) in September are now on sale through Ticketmaster. Tickets for Canada vs Germany (presented by TELUS) in Vancouver at 7:00 p.m. on September 1st, 2005 at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, BC are priced between $10.00 and $25.00. Various family and group packs are also available. Tickets for Canada vs Germany (presented by CIBC) in Edmonton at 2:00 p.m. on September 4th, 2005 at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, AB are priced between $10.00 and $19.00. A two ticket package is also available for a reduced price of $17.00.