Advertisement

CONCACAF Cup Final Set for Azteca

Share
Times Staff Writer

If the United States is to retain its title this summer as champion of soccer’s North and Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF) region, it will have to do so in the daunting confines of Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.

Chuck Blazer, the confederation’s general secretary, announced Monday that the seventh edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup will be played July 12-27 in Foxboro, Mass.; Miami and Mexico City, with the final scheduled for the Mexican capital.

The U.S. defeated Costa Rica, 2-0, at the Rose Bowl in January 2002 to win the Gold Cup. The last time Mexico City was involved in the tournament was in 1993, when Mexico shut out the U.S., 4-0, in the final before 120,000 at Azteca Stadium.

Advertisement

The 12-nation tournament will include World Cup champion Brazil and South American champion Colombia as guest participants, Blazer revealed.

Also playing will be Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and the U.S. Four other teams, at least three from the Caribbean, have yet to qualify.

O’Brien Returns

U.S. World Cup midfielder-defender John O’Brien, who has been sidelined for five months while rehabilitating from an Achilles’ tendon injury, returned to the Ajax Amsterdam lineup Sunday, played the full 90 minutes and had an assist as defending champion Ajax topped Vitesse Arnhem, 2-0, to remain in second place in the Dutch league.

“I stepped on the field with no worries about the body, and just went out and played,” O’Brien told U.S. Soccer. “The leg held up well. It’s the rest of me that’s tired.”

USA Splits Two

The U.S. women’s under-19 national team split a pair of games on the road against Mexico, whose coach, Leonardo Cuellar, used a mix of under-19 and full women’s national team players.

The Americans lost the first game, 1-0, in Colima, Mexico, with the match proceeds going in part to help victims of the recent earthquake there. The U.S. won the second game, 2-0, in Guadalajara, where Megan Rapinoe and Angela Woznuk scored first-half goals.

Advertisement

Batteux Dies at 83

Funeral services will be held today in Grenoble, France, for Albert Batteux, one of the most successful French club coaches of all time and a former coach of France’s national team. Batteux died Friday at 83.

Batteux was France’s coach when it finished third in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden and was instrumental in developing such legendary players as Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine.

A former national team player, Batteux coached Stade Reims to five French league championships, a French Cup and to the final of the European Cup twice during the club’s heyday in the 1950s and 1960s when it rivaled Real Madrid in talent.

He later coached St Etienne to four league titles and two French Cups.

“French soccer has lost one of its legends,” Jean-Francois Lamour, France’s Sports Minister, said in paying tribute to Batteux.

Glazer Invests

Malcolm Glazer, whose Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl, has paid more than $14 million to buy a 2.9% share in Manchester United, Reuters reported from London.

No Carnival In Berlin

It might be Carnival time in Rio de Janeiro, but that doesn’t mean Brazilians should dance the night away in Berlin. At least that’s the opinion of Hertha Berlin’s business manager, former German international Dieter Hoeness.

Advertisement

After Hertha dropped two games in the last week, Hoeness took exception to Brazilian midfielder Marcelinho’s partying after each loss at a Brazilian nightclub in the German capital.

“It’s a matter of principal,” Hoeness was quoted as saying Monday by Associated Press. “How can you go out and have fun after defeats? I am disgusted.”

Hoeness said Marcelinho would be fined.

Ecuadorean Antics

After the start of the Ecuadorean league season was delayed a week by a referees’ strike, one of the first major games was abandoned after 37 minutes Sunday when fans at the Atahualpa stadium in Quito pelted referee Alfredo Altamirano with ice and his assistants with orange peels and bottles during a match between Deportivo Quito and Barcelona.

Quick Passes

The Galaxy and the New York/New Jersey MetroStars played to a 2-2 tie Monday in a scrimmage at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Jaime Moreno and Derk Droze scored for the MetroStars and Hercules Gomez and Cobi Jones for Los Angeles.... Major League Soccer’s Dallas Burn announced that it would play host to an international friendly between Mexico and Bolivia at Texas Stadium on March 19.

Advertisement