TT in tough Gold Cup group

TRINIDAD and Tobago will kick off their 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup campaign against Honduras on July 6 at the Orange Bowl, Miami. The Soca Warriors have been grouped with South Americans Colombia, Honduras and Panama who are also in their World Cup qualifying group. National coach Bertille St Clair is looking forward to the Gold Cup challenge, describing it as beneficial warm-ups for the World Cup qualifiers which will follow after the tournament. “The Gold Cup is an important tournament and it is being held at a very good period for us. We should have all of our top local and overseas-based players available since the season in England would have ended,” St Clair said yesterday.

“Last time I was at the Gold Cup, we made it to the semi-finals so I am hoping to do a repeat or to go one step higher. The group we are in is a strong group and Colombia has always produced good teams so the competition will be tough. But we will be ready for the challenge and this tournament will also help us with our World Cup campaign,” he said. In Group “B”, playing in Seattle’s Qwest Field before moving to the Gillette Stadium in Foxboro near Boston, are the recently crowned Central America champions Costa Rica; both Canada and the USA from North America; and Cuba from the Caribbean. The final group, Group “C”, have another guest team —  South Africa; Central American qualifiers Guatemala; recently-crowned Caribbean champions Jamaica; and the reigning CONCACAF Gold Cup champions Mexico. 

Group “C” matches are at two venues in the Los Angeles Area — Carson’s Home Depot Centre and the LA Memorial Coliseum, before moving to Reliant Stadium in Houston for the last day of first round play. The quarter-final matches, on Saturday, July 16 (two matches in Foxboro) and Sunday, July 17 (two fixtures in Houston) will comprise of the first and second-placed team from each of the three groups along with the two best-finishing third-place teams. The 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup semi-finals and final is scheduled for Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Thursday, July 21 and Sunday, July 24, respectively.

Fixtures
ROUND 1—
WEDNESDAY, JULY 6 (Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida)
Match 1—  Group “A” — Colombia vs Panama, 7 pm
Match 2 — Group “A” — Trinidad and Tobago vs Honduras, 9 pm
THURSDAY, JULY 7 (Qwest Field, Seattle, Washington)
Match 3—  Group “B” — Canada vs Costa Rica, 5.30 pm
Match 4—  Group “B” — Cuba vs USA, 7.30 pm
FRIDAY, JULY 8 (Home Depot Centre, Carson, California)
Match 5—  Group “C” — South Africa vs Mexico, 7 pm
Match 6 — Group “C” — Guatemala vs Jamaica, 9 pm

SATURDAY, JULY 9 (Qwest Field, Seattle, Washington)
Match 7—  Group “B” — Costa Rica vs Cuba, 11.30 am
Match 8—  Group “B” — USA vs Canada, 1.30 pm
SATURDAY, JULY 9 (Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida)
Match 9—  Group “A” —  Panama vs Trinidad/Tobago, 7 pm
Match 10—  Group “A” — Honduras vs Colombia, 9 pm 
SUNDAY, JULY 10 (LA Memorial Coliseum, California)
Match 11—  Group “C” — Mexico vs Guatemala, 12 pm
Match 12—  Group “C” — Jamaica vs South Africa, 2 pm
MONDAY, JULY 11 (Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida)
Match 13— Group “A” — Colombia vs Trinidad/Tobago, 7 pm
Match 14 — Group “A” — Honduras vs Panama, 9 pm
TUESDAY, JULY 12 (Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, Mass.)
Match 15— Group “B” — USA vs Costa Rica, 7 pm
Match 16— Group “B” — Canada vs Cuba, 9 pm
WEDNESDAY, JULY 13 (Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas)
Match 17— Group “C” —  Guatemala vs South Africa, 7 pm
Match 18— Group “C” — Mexico vs Jamaica, 9 pm
QUARTER-FINALS —
SATURDAY, JULY 16 (Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, Mass.)
Quarter-final 1 —  A1 vs B2, 1 pm
Quarter-final 2 —  B1 vs 3A or C, 4 pm
SUNDAY, JULY 17 (Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas)
Quarter-final 3 —  C1 vs  3A or B, 2 pm
Quarter-final 4 —  C2 vs  A 2, 5 pm
SEMI-FINALS—
THURSDAY, JULY 21 (Giants Stadium,New Jersey)
Semi-final 1 —  Q1 vs Q2, 6 pm
Semi-final 2 —  Q3 vs Q4, 9 pm
FINAL—
SUNDAY, JULY 24 (Giants Stadium, New Jersey)
Final —  S1 vs S2, 3 pm