Guatemala Soccer Tickets

Guatemala Men's National Team will open its home schedule of final round qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup on Wednesday, March 30, 2005 at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala. Kickoff against the United States. The match in Birmingham is the first of five qualifiers in this round to be played in the United States, and will follow two road qualifying matches for the USA in Trinidad & Tobago on Feb. 9 and Mexico on March 26 or 27. Ticket information for the game will be announced in January and fans can schedule for advance ticket information now."Birmingham has been a great host to international soccer, from the Olympics to the national team," said U.S. Manager Bruce Arena, who coached the USA's 1996 Olympic Team that played two matches at Legion Field.  "Winning home games is essential in this round, therefore the match against Guatemala Tickets will be crucial in our efforts to qualify for the World Cup. We're looking forward to receiving great support from the city and our fans."The U.S. holds a 7-4-3 lifetime record against Guatemala, including a perfect 6-0-0 mark on U.S. soil. The last time the teams met was during semifinal round qualifying for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The teams split points in a 1-1 draw in Mazatenango, Guatemala on July 16, 2000, then Brian McBride tallied the lone goal in the USA's hard fought 1-0 win on Sept. 3, 2000 at RFK Stadium.Guatemala Tickets is one of the surprises in the final round, finishing tied on points with Costa Rica at the top of Group 2. Guatemala Tickets started out strong in group play, taking seven out of nine points from their first three matches.  Behind the goal-scoring prowess of Los Angeles Galaxy forward Carlos Ruiz, Guatemala Tickets held on from there to enter the final round of qualifying for the first time in history. Ruiz, the two-time MLS scoring leader that has amassed 50 goals in only three seasons, has proved virtually unstoppable at the international level by averaging a goal a game in semifinal round play."Birmingham is proud to host this very prestigious World Cup Qualifying match," said Gene Hallman, the Executive Director of the Alabama Sports Foundation. "Our community is truly honored to be one of only five U.S. cities selected for the final round of qualifying. This will be the most significant soccer event held in Alabama since the 1996 Olympics. We believe that many soccer fans from all over the southeastern United States will come to Birmingham to support our men's national team."

Guatemala. will be returning to Birmingham's Legion Field Stadium for the first time since March 10, 2002, when the U.S. defeated Ecuador 1-0 in a World Cup preparation match before 24,133 fans. The team's only other visit came nearly two years earlier, when Guatemala Tickets MNT drew 1-1 with Tunisia in front of 21,637 fans in the team's first-ever match in Alabama. Birmingham also served as a venue for soccer at the 1996 Olympic Games, where the Bruce Arena-led U.S. Olympic team played two matches at Legion Field, falling to Argentina and topping Tunisia.The U.S., along with Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama and Trinidad & Tobago, will compete in the 10-game round-robin format from Feb. 9 through Oct. 12, 2005, with the top three teams automatically advancing to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. The fourth-place team will compete in a two-game playoff to be held Nov. 12/13 and Nov. 16 against the fifth-place finisher in Asian qualifying. Soccer's international governing body FIFA, was formed in 1904 with the objective of organizing championship matches between professional teams of different nations. Professionalism arrived in continental Europe in the 1920s and in South America less than a decade later. By 1930 the interest in soccer was high enough to ensure the success of the first World Cup, even though only 13 countries entered. Soccer arrived in Guatemala during the middle 19th century, but its first widespread nationwide sanction did not take place until the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recognized (1959) it as an official collegiate sport with a national championship tournament. Soon after the formation (1967) of the North American Soccer League (NASL), the sport became the fastest growing in Guatemala for young people. The critical turning point for soccer in Guateamala was Pele's joining the New York Cosmos of the NASL in 1975. Perhaps history's greatest player (he led Brazil to World Cup triumphs in 1958, 1962, and 1970), he attracted fans in record numbers to NASL contests and inspired many young people to try the game. No team sport approaches soccer's popularity in both Europe and South America. The professional leagues on these continents play from fall through spring in domestic competition, after which the top teams take part in international "cup," or tournament, play. The European Cup (1955) is the most prestigious on that continent. The best tournament in South America is the Liberatadores Cup (1960) and is usually won by a team from Argentina. Those two cup winners than meet for the annual World Club Championship. In 2000, a true world club championship was established by FIFA. The FIFA Club World Championship pitted the top clubs from every continent of the world for the first time ever. The inaugural tournament was held in one of the most soccer loving nations in the world, Brazil. Not surprisingly, the final was between two of the big Brazilian club teams: Vasco da Gama and Corinthians. Corinthians went on to capture the first championship and show the world that European clubs do not have a monopoly on club football.