Pasadena Seeks 1994 World Cup Soccer Matches

With a goal of holding preliminary matches and the 1994 World Cup Final at the 101,000-seat Rose Bowl, Pasadena officials are confident about the U.S. Soccer Federation’s bid to be host nation for the cup tournament.

Officials of the U.S. Soccer Federation, the city of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl met this week to discuss planning for the U.S. bid.

The Rose Bowl, site of soccer competition in the 1984 Olympics, is one of 27 stadiums across the country under consideration by the USSF. The federation will include only 12 in its final application for the 1994 Cup.

“I think we’re a very strong contender,” Bill Thomson, Pasadena’s vice mayor, said Thursday.

“We’re certainly deserving of it,” said Dave Jacobs, director of Pasadena’s Community Services Agency. “I’m very confident.”

Thomson and Jacobs were part of a civic committee that met on Wednesday with Phil Woosnam, a USSF adviser charged with inspecting each of the 27 stadiums. According to a federation directive, Woosnam is judging each on field size and surface, nearby hotel and support facilities, and civic and community commitment.

The Coliseum, center stage for the 1932 and 1984 Olympics, also was included in the USSF’s original 27.

The USSF also is considering stadiums in such cities as Palo Alto, Seattle, Detroit, Dallas, Chicago, St. Louis, Miami, Atlanta, Washington, New York, Boston, Tampa, Fla., and Annapolis, Md.

Brazil, Morocco and Chile also are bidding on the 1994 Cup. FIFA will then conduct thorough reviews of each proposal, including private hearings and on-site inspections, before announcing its decision in June 1988 at the European Cup tournament in West Germany.