Panama Qualifier location rumor

When was the last WCQ in California? Yeh I know the USMNT is big enough now they can schedule games in cities with large US support but still this seems to be a perfect game for the Home Depot Center. The Galaxy are the best supported team in the MLS, plus Southern California the second most populous area in the Country hasn't had a qualifier nearby since Costa Rica in 97 (I am sure I will be corrected if my memory fails me). The game should be In LA

 

Assuming the game is meaningless, play it somewhere they've never played before: New Orleans. At least those who travel in could have a decent party town...

 

I guess if you consider Portland, OR nearby?

 

They skipped the bleachers last year, but I expect them to be in place for the Men's College Cup this fall.

Frankly, I'd prefer to see the game at Blackbaud.

 

Actually, Salt Lake City (688 miles) is closer to LA than Portland is (963 miles). I enjoyed traveling to SLC for the recent WCQ but the time has come for a WCQ at the HDC.

 

Yeh SLC is only a 24 hour drive from San Diego right next door. Oh yeh and the game in 97 was in Palo Alto, I am thinking maybe the USA-Colombia game was the last meaningful US Nats game in Southern California.

 

I remember the 1997 US-Costa Rica WCQ as being in Portland, Oregon. I could be wrong but I believe that victory clinched a 1998 WC berth.

The US played Gold Cup games at the Rose Bowl as recently as 2002. I remember watching the US play South Korea, a game in which DaMarcus Beasley scored the game winner in what may have been his USNT debut.

I found the SoccerTimes report for that game

 

We played them in both. Costa Rica in Palo Alto was a semifinal round game (the withdrawn red card game, if I recall) and Portland was the Hexagonal game.

 

Correct the one in Palo Alto was a semi final, still making my point even more that California gets shafted on meaningful US nats games. Our last qualifier wasn't even in the final round. I do give the USSF credit for playing friendlies here and I understand that any games here against a central american opponent runs the risk of a split if not a hostile crowd this seems the perfect game for us. Espcially with the Home Depot Center a soccer specific Venue sitting there.

 

Amen.

It is after all, the home of the USMNT.

 

In case you didn't see it, 3rd Degree reports that FC Dallas GM Greg Elliot indicated that the Panama game has been awarded to someone but it wasn't Frisco (last question/answer at the bottom of the article):

http://www.3rddegree.net/thirdindex.cfm?page=article&show=731

 

The USA is going to Ra-cha-cha!


(Rochester for you non-upstate New Yorkers)

 

Charlotte is a big youth soccer hub. College soccer is really quite popular there - Davidson hosted the Men's NCAA final four for many years in the early/mid 90s (BA won a few of those). The UNC program is well-respected in the state and gets a fair amount of press. North Carolina has an exploding Hispanic population, along with the overall population of the state (expected to increase by 50% in the next 15 years). So, I'd think that Charlotte (because of its bank money) is an ideal location for USSF to test the waters. RTP would be good as well, but that area is so completely dominated by college basketball and has no real pro teams to speak of (given that the NHL seems to have stopped playing).

I'm all for it (and thinking about moving there . . .).

 

As much as I would love to have a qualifier or even a friendly in the Bay Area, or in CA in general, it ain't gonna happen for three reasons:

1) The last Bay Area friendly I can remember was against China in the Coliseum - an attempt to drun up some $$$$$ with the local Chinese community. And it still only drew around 9000 or so.

2) The often mentioned huge latino immigrant community in California that would make our home games anything but. Still, a T&T match or something would make sense until you bring in one factor that no one has mentioned....

3) Travel for our European-based players. In this cycle, every qualifier played while the European seasons were active took place in the Eastern Time Zone. Eindhoven/London/Berlin to Connecticut is a heck of a lot shorter than to fly to California, not to mention jet lag. I'll be surprised if I ever see a meaningful qualifier played in the Pacific Time Zone again.

 

I would love it if the match was to be in Charlotte. I am moving to Georgia and would drive up.

For what it is worth, here is the official schedule of Bank of America Stadium:

http://www.panthers.com/stadium/eventinfo.jsp

Saturday August 6 11:00 a.m. Fan Fest: Carolina Panthers practice
Saturday August 13 8:00 p.m. NFL Football: Carolina vs. Washington
Thursday September 1 8:00 p.m. NFL Football: Carolina vs. Pittsburgh
Sunday September 11 1:00 p.m. NFL Football: Carolina vs. New Orleans
Sunday September 18 1:00 p.m. NFL Football: Carolina vs. New England
Monday October 3 9:00 p.m. NFL Football: Carolina vs. Green Bay
Sunday October 30 1:00 p.m. NFL Football: Carolina vs. Minnesota
Sunday November 13 4:05 p.m. NFL Football: Carolina vs. New York Jets
Sunday December 4 1:00 p.m. NFL Football: Carolina vs. Atlanta
Sunday December 11 1:00 p.m. NFL Football: Carolina vs. Tampa Bay
Saturday December 24 1:00 p.m. NFL Football: Carolina vs. Dallas

 

Wasn't Charlotte "in the running" for one of the earlier games? Like the one in SLC?

 

No idea how accurate it is, but Steven Goff from the Washington Post said this in a chat today:


Washington, D.C.: Any chance that RFK gets the October qualifier vs Panama?

Steven Goff: Nope. Looks like Foxboro.


Chat is here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2005/06/30/DI2005063001857.html

 

From the News & Analysis forum:

https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=216093