Anyone know the format for this? Who is our likely opponent? ...Here is why I ask, I'm thinking about asking Crew management to look into travel packages for probably 10-20 fans. Here's what I'm thinking though, if there is a home and away group stage to start out with, we're going to see the team play either way, so it's not worth making plans for this stage. Maybe if we make the quarters, semi's or finals?
It's home and away aggregate goal elimination throughout the Champions Cup. There will be two brackets with each bracket having 2 MLS, 2 MFL, 3 CenAm, and 1 Carribean team. The Crew will get either a CenAm or Carribean team in the first round. The Boston Globe ran a story about the cup for the Revs and the best thing about the Champions Cup is that they are supposed to start in late Febuary. Two great things about this; one it gives us deprived Crew fans a Crew fix and two CenAm and Carribean teams won't know what to do with themselves in Columbus in the middle of winter. The teams in the tournament are USA LA Galaxy(MLS Cup champions and Supporter's Shield) Columbus Crew(US Open Cup Champions) NE Revolution(MLS Cup Runner-ups) SJ Earthquakes(2nd best MLS record) CenAM Deportivo Arabe Unido(Panama) CD F.A.S(El Salvador) LD Alajuelense(Costa Rica) CD Motagua(Honduras) CSD Comunicaciones(Guatamala) CSD Municipal(Guatamala) Carribean Arnett Gardens FC(Jamacia) W Connection (T&T) Mexico Toluca Club America ? ?
Look at these stupid names... CSD Comunicaciones(Guatamala) CSD Municipal(Guatamala) Arnett Gardens FC(Jamacia Municipal? What is this court? An American team better win this tournament.
If cool names won championships the galaxy and wiz would be trophyless hmmm. would that be north, central or south??
Why am I getting an image of the movie Cool Runnings, where the Jamacian Bob Sleding team first steps foot in Canada for the Winter Olympics?
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad — A former player on Trinidad's national soccer team was shot and killed at his home Monday, a day after he helped a local club advance to the CONCACAF Champions Cup series. Ralston James, a 27-year-old striker for the W/Connection club, was shot twice in the chest in his apartment in Aranguez, outside the capital of Port-of-Spain, police said. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/digest.htm i thought they only did this in colombia...
Sheesh, what a joke this tournament is. Why not simply merge the CONCACAF Champions' Cup and the Copa Libertadores, then you might get some match-ups worth watching.
It can be a bitch. You have to pay attention regularly to catch stuff. Draw is scheduled for sometime early in the new year, no firm date that I know of. Format is aggregate over two legs. Not sure how they will break teams up. Mexico still hasn't declared its entries but all other 12 teams are determined. The first-round matches last season started Feb 13 (just one February match) and ended on March 27. Not sure when the draw took place.
What's the dif here between this and the CONCACAF Champs Cup? I saw the Fire play that Municipal team from Guatamala last spring in Chi town......looked like a good tournament to me!
Just "furthering" what Kryptonite mentioned: in last Friday's Dispatch (I'm current, huh?) they mentioned February 26 as a possible Champions Cup date. This would affect the Crew's on-off-on-off-on-off-on (or thereabouts) training trip to Portugal.
We have an advantage with the carribean/CenAm clubs with the weather. However, the Crew are going to have to rush players into training camp after the draft and deal without the players in NAT camp not being available for their camp. That's going to create some problems for the Crew in the First round, when you consider some of these leagues are a month into their first half of their 2003 season.