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U.S. chooses new stadium for women`s world cup final
Washington, June 17: The 2003 women`s world cup soccer final will be played in the new 27,500-seat Home Depot center in Carson California, U.S. Soccer officials have said.
Washington, June 17: The 2003 women's world cup soccer
final will be played in the new 27,500-seat Home Depot center in
Carson California, U.S. Soccer officials have said.
At a news conference announcing the schedule for the 16-nation tournament, U.S. Soccer federation president Dr. S. Robert Contiguglia defended the choice of the stadium for the October 12 final after the 1999 decider was held in the 90,000-seat Rose Bowl.
''Although one way to look at it is by the numbers in the stands, another is what is right for the athletes, what is right for the spectators'', Contiguglia said yesterday. ''We believe that the Home Depot center represents the future of the sport in the United States'', he said. ''You step on that field and all you have to say is 'wow this is world class.' I hate to say this, but no American football stadium can compare. April Heinrichs, coach of the U.S. women's team, the defending champions, said the final in California is ''going to be intimate and exciting. It will be great for all athletes who play there''.
The Home Depot stadium was opened earlier this month as a purpose-built soccer stadium and is the new home of MLS team Los Angeles Galaxy and the training base for the U.S. national team.
The tournament's opening ceremony will be held on September 21 at RFK stadium in Washington D.C.
The action will start the previous day with a doubleheader at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial field.
Washington, Columbus, Ohio, Portland, Oregon and Carson, California, will each host six games, while Foxboro, Massachusetts, will host four.
Dan Flynn, secretary-general of the U.S. Soccer Federation, said organisers said the draw for the tournament would be held in mid-July.
Last month, soccer's governing body, FIFA , decided to move the women's world cup from China to the United States because of SARS, which has infected more than 5,300 people in China and killed 346.
The United States staged the event four years ago and won the title, defeating China in the final.
Bureau Report
At a news conference announcing the schedule for the 16-nation tournament, U.S. Soccer federation president Dr. S. Robert Contiguglia defended the choice of the stadium for the October 12 final after the 1999 decider was held in the 90,000-seat Rose Bowl.
''Although one way to look at it is by the numbers in the stands, another is what is right for the athletes, what is right for the spectators'', Contiguglia said yesterday. ''We believe that the Home Depot center represents the future of the sport in the United States'', he said. ''You step on that field and all you have to say is 'wow this is world class.' I hate to say this, but no American football stadium can compare. April Heinrichs, coach of the U.S. women's team, the defending champions, said the final in California is ''going to be intimate and exciting. It will be great for all athletes who play there''.
The Home Depot stadium was opened earlier this month as a purpose-built soccer stadium and is the new home of MLS team Los Angeles Galaxy and the training base for the U.S. national team.
The tournament's opening ceremony will be held on September 21 at RFK stadium in Washington D.C.
The action will start the previous day with a doubleheader at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial field.
Washington, Columbus, Ohio, Portland, Oregon and Carson, California, will each host six games, while Foxboro, Massachusetts, will host four.
Dan Flynn, secretary-general of the U.S. Soccer Federation, said organisers said the draw for the tournament would be held in mid-July.
Last month, soccer's governing body, FIFA , decided to move the women's world cup from China to the United States because of SARS, which has infected more than 5,300 people in China and killed 346.
The United States staged the event four years ago and won the title, defeating China in the final.
Bureau Report