The U.S. men's national team learned on Tuesday that it will face Trinidad & Tobago, Guatemala and El Salvador in the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The defending champions and their Group B rivals will have matches in Carson, Calif., at The Home Depot Center and at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.
Coach Bob Bradley's side will open the regional championship tournament on June 7 vs. Guatemala at The Home Depot Center and will then take on Trinidad & Tobago two days later at the same venue. All four Group B teams will then head to the East Coast, where the U.S. will wrap up group play on June 12 vs. El Salvador.
"The Gold Cup is very important. It's the championship for our confederation and the USA won the last go around," said Bradley. "Defending the title in the first big tournament I'm coaching is very, very important."
Eight other teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean are also looking to win the title. Group A consists of Costa Rica, Canada, Haiti and Guadeloupe while Group C includes U.S. rivals Mexico, Honduras, Panama and Cuba.
The top two teams from each group will automatically advance to the quarterfinal round, with the best two third-place teams joining them. Those matches will be played on June 16 and 17 at Gillette Stadium and Houston's Reliant Stadium, respectively. The semifinals are set for June 21 at Chicago's Soldier Field, with the final scheduled for June 24 in the Windy City.
The CONCACAF Gold Cup will kick off a very busy summer for the U.S. team, as Bradley will take a side to Venezuela for the 2007 Copa America just after the conclusion of the Gold Cup. The USA will kick off that competition against Argentina on June 28 before facing Paraguay (July 2) and Colombia (July 5). Ticket information for the 2007 Gold Cup will be announced in March.
U-20 draw tough group for World Cup
Last Saturday the U.S. U-20 men's national team learned that it has been drawn into a very difficult group for this summer's FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada. Thomas Rongen's side will open the competition against the Korea Republic on June 30 and Poland on July 3. They will then wrap up Group D play against four-time U-20 world champion Brazil on July 6.
"Anytime you go to a World Cup and you're drawn with Brazil it's exciting," said U.S. U-20 MNT head coach Thomas Rongen. "For us to go out and measure ourselves against the best in the world is what this under-20 competition is all about. With Poland and South Korea complementing Brazil we have a very interesting and tough group, but saying that, all 24 teams at this stage deserve to be there so there are no easy games."
The U.S. booked a spot in the tournament by earning a first-place finish in Group A at the CONCACAF U-20 Final Round Qualifying Tournament in Panama City, Panama.
Jonathan Nierman is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
