The fifth edition of the CONCACAF Champions League begins Tuesday evening with two matches featuring the defending two-time champions Monterrey in one contest and Real Salt Lake of MLS in the other. The 2011 US Open Cup champion representative Seattle Sounders open their third consecutive CCL campaign Thursday.
CONCACAF Champions League
CCL resumes: Numbers show MLS improving; new format protects US & Mexican clubs
As the CONCACAF Champions League returns to action this week with the Quarterfinals, Major League Soccer heads toward its greatest opportunity to win the confederation’s championship without serving as the event host. Improved performance away from home this year is arguably the key component to the league’s success.
CONCACAF Champions League makes changes; All 24 clubs enter altered group format
A day after the United States Soccer Federation announced significant changes to its annual championship tournament, the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, the governing confederation CONCACAF announced its own major alterations to its Champions League competition. The new format for the 2012-2013 edition of the event will see the elimination of the 16-team Preliminary Round in favor of advancing all 24 qualified teams into an opening group stage of eight, three-team groups.
The Other US Opens and marketing the ‘US Soccer Majors’
TheCup.us will now refer to the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, MLS Cup, MLS Supporters’ Shield, and CONCACAF Champions League as the ‘US Soccer Majors.’ It’s an effort to raise the profile of all the championships that teams in the U.S. play for, similar to the sports of golf and tennis.
2010 Open Cup Champion Sounders Set for CONCACAF Champions League starting Tuesday
The 2010 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup champion Seattle Sounders will kick off their second consecutive campaign in the CONCACAF Champions League Tuesday evening with a first leg match against San Francisco at Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama. The match is the opening contest of the 2011-12 edition of the CCL event, now in its fourth year as the new version of the confederation’s club championship. Current semifinalist FC Dallas is slated for its CCL debut.
Sounders headed to the CONCACAF Champions League as Open Cup champs
The announcement was made by CONCACAF after rumors had spread that the number of club teams competing in the 2010/11 competition from the United States could be reduced from four to three, potentially leaving the Open Cup champion out.