Costa Rica Wins It’sThird UNCAF Nations'Cup Title

Costa Rica will lead the CentralAmerican nations into CONCACAF'sGold Cup of the new millenium afterwinning the UNCAF Nations' Cup inSan Jose, Costa Rica. The “Ticos”,needing a win by two clear goals in thefinal game against El Salvador, didtwice as much as was needed. By halftime, Costa Rica was winning 3-0 and afourth goal by Paulo Wanchope, ofEngland's Derby County, sealed the fateof all four final round participants. Itwas Costa Rica's third UNCAF Nations'Cup Championship.

With Guatemala's 2-0 win overHonduras in the first match of March28, the "Ticos" needed to beat ElSalvador by at least two goals to winthe championship on goal difference.Costa Rica rolled to a 4-0 win to lockup the title.

Costa Rica, along with second-placefinisher Guatemala and third-place fin-isher Honduras, qualifies for the 2000CONCACAF Gold Cup, Feb. 12-27 inLos Angeles, San Diego and Miami.Guatemala and Honduras finished withthe same number of points as CostaRica but with inferior goal differences.

El Salvador, finishing fourth, willplay against Canada and two Caribbeanteams for the last two berths to GoldCup 2000.

Costa Rica's Rolando Fonseca wasthe top goalscorer with 5 goals and wasalso awarded the MVP Trophy.Honduras won the Fair Play Trophy andGuatemala's Edgar Estrada won the TopGoalkeeper Trophy.See page 6 for results and standings.

(Costa Rica’s Eric Lonnis holds the cup)

O F F I C I A L B U L L E T I N O F T H E C O N F E D E R A T I O N O F N O R T H , C E N T R A L A M E R I C A & C A R I B B E A N A S S O C I A T I O N F O O T B A L L

T H E F O O T B A L L C O N F E D E R A T I O N M A Y J U N E 1 9 9 9 V O L U M E 9 / N U M B E R 2

President Jack Warner’s MessageCONCACAF's competitions continue to

assume ever greater importance and nonemore than the 1999 Champions' Cup. Thanksto FIFA's enlightened decision to inauguratethe first World Club Championship, our 1999winner will now compete against the bestfrom every Confederation next January.Our national teams, at every level, have beenintruding more and more into the world scene.Now it is time, and a wonderful opportunity,for our clubs to do the same.

After the tremendous success of our currentchampion, DC United of the United States, inwinning the InterAmerican Cup by beatingthe South American champion, Vasco DaGama of Brazil, over two legs last December,

we can look forward with great anticipation to January 2000 - no matter which club winsthe CONCACAF Champions' Cup this summer, with it, the right to represent us all.

It is truly time, after 111 years of professional club football, for a world club champi-on to be crowned.

By the time that happens, we will be on the brink of our other major competition, theCONCACAF Gold Cup of 2000, to be played in February in Miami, San Diego, and LA.

I offer my congratulation to our nations who have qualified thus far: Mexico, aschampions, the United States, Jamaica and the three qualifiers from UNCAF, Costa Rica,Guatemala and Honduras. Still to come is the winner of the 1999 Copa Caribe, playedfrom June 3 to 13, and then the top two from the playoffs between Canada, El Salvadorand two from the Caribbean.

But the Champions' Cup and the Gold Cup are only part of the CONCACAF action inthis hectic year.

On our own turf we shall shortly have the FIFA Women's World Cup, and then theFIFA Confederations' Cup. Our teams fought bravely in the 1999 FIFA World YouthChampionship where Mexico lost narrowly in the quarterfinals to finalist, Japan, and theUSA was eliminated by eventual winner, Spain. We will soon know, after the playoffsbetween them, whether El Salvador or the USA will join Mexico and Jamaica, in qualify-ing for the FIFA U-17 World Cup later this year.

Add to that the early and continuing qualifying rounds for the Olympic Games ofSydney 2000, and it is easy to claim that CONCACAF has become as active andcompetitive as any developing Confederation has a right to be.

CONCACAF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Jack Austin WarnerPresident

Lisle Austin - BarbadosVice-President, Caribbean ZoneRafael Salguero - GuatemalaVice-President, Central ZoneAlan Rothenberg - U.S.A.Vice-President, North ZoneAnthony James - JamaicaMember, Caribbean Zone

Sergio Torres - El SalvadorMember, Central ZoneHugo Kiese - MexicoMember, North Zone

Chuck BlazerGeneral Secretary

CONCACAF REPRESENTATIVES TO FIFA

Jack Austin Warner FIFA Vice-President

Issac Sasso Executive Committee Member

Chuck Blazer Executive Committee Member

Office of the PresidentJack Austin Warner

Edward and Oxford Street, Port of Spain,Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

Phone: 1-868-625-9611 Fax: 1-868-625-9609concacaf@cariblink.net

Office of the Deputy General SecretaryCONCACAF/UNCAF Headquarters

Oscar Thamar Torres15 Avenida “A” 20-07, Zona 13, PO Box 916

Guatemala City, Guatemala C.A.Phone: 1-502-361-6996 Fax: 1-502-361-5577

concacaf@quetzal.net

Office of the Deputy General SecretaryCONCACAF/CFU Headquarters

Harold Taylor131 Eastern Main Rd, Arouca, Trinidad W.I.Phone: 1-809-646-5753 Fax: 1-809-646-4076

cfu@wow.net

CONCACAF NEWSPublished at CONCACAF Headquarters

Office of the General Secretary725 Fifth Avenue, Trump Tower, 17th Floor

New York, NY 10022Phone: 1-212-308-0044 Fax: 1-212-308-1851

concacafny@aol.com

Editor Carlos GironArt Director Michael MaselliProduction Nino Bussani

Jack Warner with Sir Geoff Hurst of the England bid group for the 2006 FIFA World Cup

CONCACAF Makes aStrong Showing AtThe 1999 FIFA WorldYouth Championship

Highlighted by impressive wins overtop European and South American com-petition, Mexico, the United States andCosta Rica made a strong showing atthe 1999 FIFA World YouthChampionship, April 3-24.

Mexico (3-1-1) advanced to thequarterfinals winning its group poweredby wins over current European champi-ons, Ireland, and Australia. TheMexicans scored an impressive 4-1 vic-tory over South American powerhouse,Argentina, in the Round of 16, beforefalling to Japan, 2-0 in the quarterfinals.

The United States (2-0-2) defeatedEngland and Cameroon in first roundplay, losing by one goal to the bestEuropean team in the competition,Spain, in their Round of 16 match.USA's Taylor Twellman finished amonga select group of strikers scoring fourgoals.

Costa Rica (1-1-2) opened with a tieagainst host Nigeria. The CentralAmericans went on to defeat Germanyearning the right to play Ghana in thesecond round. Ghana won, 2-0.

Only Honduras (0-0-3) had a disap-pointing performance, losing all three ofit’s matches.The Round of 16 results for theCONCACAF teams were:

14.04.99 at Kaduna:Ghana vs. COSTA RICA 2:0 (1:0)15.04.99 at Port Harcourt:Spain vs. USA 3:2 (3:0)15.04.99 at Ibadan:MEXICO vs. Argentina 4:1 (0:1)Quaterfinal Results:18.04.99 at Ibadan:Japan vs. MEXICO 2:0 (2:0)

CONCACAF Executive CommitteeFocuses On Two World Cups

The CONCACAF ExecutiveCommittee, meeting in New York, spenttime on two World Cup competitions, dur-ing two days of meetings at theConfederation offices on May 2-3.

First, the committee listened to a pres-entation from the England bid group forthe 2006 World Cup; then prepared its rec-ommendation to FIFA for the format forthe CONCACAF qualifying rounds for the2002 World Cup in Japan/Korea.

Alec McGiven, head of England's bid,and Sir Geoff Hurst, who scored three ofEngland's goals in the 1966 World Cupvictory over West Germany, spent 30 min-utes explaining the strength of England'sbid, after which CONCACAF PresidentJack Warner said: "It was a first class pres-entation in every respect. We listened carefully and we will listen with equal care to apresentation from any of the other bidding nations; then make an objective decision."

For the World Cup of 2002, the Executive Committee asked General Secretary ChuckBlazer to research and make a recommendation on how the preliminary rounds should beplayed but confirmed the format for the semi final and final rounds which will be recom-mended to FIFA.

The semi final round will consist of 12 nations, divided into three groups of 4, play-ing a round robin within each group. The top two in each group will qualify for the FinalRound of six teams, who will also play a round robin, with the top three qualifying forthe World Cup Finals.

Before leaving the subject of world championships, the Executive Committee pledgedits fullest support to Guatemala in that country's bid to become host of the 2000 FIFAFutsal (Indoor) Championship. On Saturday, May 8, CONCACAF Vice President, RafaelSalguero and UNCAF General Secretary, Oscar Thamar, will attend a meeting of theGuatemalan FIFA Futsal Championship 2000 Organizing Committee with the Presidentof the Republic to further discuss the bid.

The next CONCACAF Executive Committee meeting will be in New York onNovember 15. The CONCACAF Congress of 2000 will be held at the Atlantis Hotel,Nassau, The Bahamas on May 13 next year.

The committee spent several hours in a computer workshop to learn how to commu-nicate through E Mail via the internet. The internet will be a necessary tool during thefuture course of the comittees’ work and travels on CONCACAF business. "I feel sure,"

said General SecretaryChuck Blazer, "that we arethe only Confederation ofFIFA where all membersof the ExecutiveCommittee and all staffmembers, in our offices inNew York, Port of Spainand Guatemala City, cannow be in immediate con-tact with each via theInternet. "Not only willthis make us more effi-cient but enable ourincreasing workload to beaccomplished quicker andmore economically.”

May 1999 Executive Committee Meeting

ExCo members being instructed in the CONCACAF New York office.

Mexico and Jamaica Qualify to the 1999 FIFA U-17World Championship

Jamaica's U-17 team followed in the footsteps of their seniors by qualifying for thefinals of the FIFA U-17 World Championship. The young Jamaicans made soccer historybecoming the first U-17 national team from the island and the second team from theCaribbean to qualify to this FIFA competition, which was inaugurated in 1985.They did so by finishing first in Group A of the 1999 CONCACAF Juniors Tournamentto earn an automatic berth in the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship to be held inNew Zealand, November 10-27.

"We are elated," Jamaica Football Federation General Secretary, Horace Reid, said."The victory suggests that our youth development program is in the right track. It is clearthat the success of the (senior) national team has served as an inspiration to our youngerplayers." The Jamaican senior national team, also known as "The Reggae Boyz," madeits first appearance in the finals of the FIFA World Cup last year in France.The United States, the Group A runner up, earned the chance to garner the third and finalCONCACAF berth in a home and away series against El Salvador, the Group B runnerup, set for May 9 in El Salvador, and May 22 in the USA.

Mexico played a superb tactical game before a capacity crowd of 42,000 at SanSalvador's Estadio Cuscatlan, February 14, to defeat the hosts, 3-0, earning first place inGroup B of the CONCACAF Juniors (U-17) Tournament. Consequently, Mexico earnedone of the three berths assigned to CONCACAF to the finals of the 1999 FIFA U-17World Championship in New Zealand, 10-27 November.

In the final and deciding match of Group B competition, Ricardo Sanchez gaveMexico a 1-0 first half lead with his 15th minute penalty goal. El Salvador engagedMexico in an all-out attack without success. Mexico scored twice late in the game oncounter attacks. The goals were tallied by Juan Estrada (87) and Isaac Moreno (89, pen.)

1999 CONCACAF Junior Tournament Final Standings and ResultsGroup A, Jarrett Park, Montego Bay, February 24-28Group A GP W L T GF GA PTSJamaica 3 2 0 1 3 0 7USA 3 1 0 2 5 2 5Costa Rica 3 1 1 1 5 5 4Honduras 3 0 3 0 1 7 0

24.02.99 Costa Rica vs. USA 2-2 (2-1) Jose Farias (CAN)24.02.99 Jamaica vs. Honduras 1-0 (1-0) Ulises Ranger (MEX)26.02.99 Honduras vs. USA 0-3 (0-2) Noel Bynoe (TTO)26.02.99 Jamaica vs. Costa Rica 2-0 (0-0) Nery Alfaro (SLV)28.02.99 Honduras vs. Costa Rica 1:3 (0-2) Jose Farias (CAN)28.02.99 Jamaica vs. USA 0:0 (0-0) Ulises Rangel (MEX)

Group B, Cuscatlan Stadium, San Salvador, El Salvador, February 10-14Group B GP W L T GF GA PTSMexico 3 3 0 0 13 2 9El Salvador 3 2 1 0 8 4 6Canada 3 1 2 0 6 6 3Trinidad y Tobago 3 0 3 0 3 18 0

10.02.99 Mexico vs. Canada 4:0 (1:0) Kevin Stott (USA)10.02.99 El Salvador vs. T&T 6:1 (1:0) Hugo Castillo (GUA)12.02.99 Trinidad & Tobago vs. Mexico 2:6 (1:2) Oscar Bardales (HND) 12.02.99 El Salvador vs. Canada 2:0 (0:0) Stuart Crockwell (BER)14.02.99 Canada vs. Trinidad & Tobago 6:0 (1:0) Hugo Castillo (GUA)14.02.99 El Salvador vs. Mexico 0:3 (0:1) Kevin Stott (USA)

Mexico and Jamaica qualified for the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship. ElSalvador and the USA will play a home and away series, May 9 (SLV) and May 22(USA), for the third and final CONCACAF berth.

USA Beats FormerWorld Cup Champion

The United States notched its sixthvictory against a former World Cupchampion, beating Germany, 3-0, May6, at Jacksonville, Florida. This was theUSA's first victory in four tries againstthe three-time World Champions.

The victory continued a series ofupsets against former World Cupchampions by the United States, whichinclude wins over England (1950 and1993), Uruguay (1991), Argentina(1995), and Brazil (1998). TheAmericans scored their impressive winover four-time World Champions,Brazil, in the 1998 CONCACAF GoldCup.

Held to scoreless draws againstAustralia and Bolivia since Bruce Arenawas appointed head coach, the USAapplied pressure on the three-time WorldCup champions from the kickoff, scor-ing all its goals in the first 26 minutes.

The United States hadn't scored agoal in 288 minutes of action beforeJovan Kirovski started the Americangoal spree in the 16th minute. JeffAgoos started the play with a pass outof the midfield to a streaking Kirovskion the left side. The 22-year-old attack-ing midfielder collected the pass andunleashed a ferocious 23-yard right-footer that slammed into the upper-rightcorner.

Tony Sanneh and Claudio Reynarounded up the scoring for the USA. Allthree scorers play in Germany.

The USA lost to Germany, 2-0, ingroup play in the 1998 FIFA World Cuplast summer in France. The USA meetsGermany again, July 30 in Guadalajara,Mexico, in the FIFA Confederations' Cup.

Hugo SanchezSelected The"CONCACAF Player OfThe Century"

Legendary Mexican striker HugoSanchez of Mexico has been selected the"CONCACAF Player of the Century," bythe International Federation of FootballStatistics and History, a soccer historyorganization based in Germany.

Sanchez scored 394 goals in 662appearances in the First Division leaguesof Spain, Austria, Mexico and the UnitedStates and represented his country innumerous international competitions. Hecurrently serves in the newly createdFIFA Football Committee.

Carlos Hermosillo of Mexico, wasnamed CONCACAF's "Top Goalscorerof the Century", while Antonio Carbajal,also Mexican, was voted the "CONCA-CAF Goalkeeper of the Century."

1999 CONCACAFChampions' Cup

The 1999CONCACAFChampions' Cupassumes evengreater importancenow that the win-ner will represent

the Confederation in the first FIFAWorld Clubs Championship nextJanuary, in a site to be determined.

At the time of writing, decisionswere also being made as to the venue forthe finals of the CONCACAFChampions Cup; taking into accountscheduling, television requirements andthe status of qualifying stages, amongother things.Thus far, DC United (USA), reigningchampions and winners of the 1998InterAmerican Cup, Joe Public(Trinidad) and Chicago Fire (USA) havetaken three of the eight places in thefinals.

The Mexican summer championshipwinner will qualify automatically for aplace, as will the three top clubs fromthe Central American qualifying stages.

The final place will go to the winnerof the play off between Los AngelesGalaxy (USA) and Necaxa (Mexico).

Mexico continues remarkable year,Wins the 1999 US Cup

Mexico continued to make 1999 a year to celebrate by beating the United States, 2-1,in the final of the U.S. Cup, in front of over 50,000 fans in San Diego, California inMarch.

Already in 1999 Mexico has set a FIFA record by being the first country to qualifyfor four FIFA finals in the same year:

FIFA Confederations Cup, to be played in Mexico from July 24 to August 4

FIFA Women's World Cup, to be played in the USA from June 19 to July 10

FIFA Youth (Under 20) World Cup, to be played in Nigeria from April 3 to April 24

FIFA Junior (Under 17) World Cup, to be played, New Zealand from November 10 to 27

Mexico's victory against the US in the final of the U.S. Cup, was an extremely closeand hard-fought affair and signaled the first defeat in six games for new US nationalcoach Bruce Arena and his team of increasingly new, young players.

An own goal (Robin Fraser) gave the lead to Mexico in the 14th minute. FrankieHejduk struck a 15-yard shot past Mexico's keeper Oscar Perez in the 51st minute, andJose Manuel Abundis tapped in a loose ball off the USA keeper's hands in front of thegoalpost at the 57 minute, to seal the victory for the reigning 1998 CONCACAF GoldCup Champions.

NIKE U.S. CUP '99 - Final Standings and ResultsGROUP B W L T GF GA DIF PTSMexico 2 0 0 4 2 +2 6USA 1 1 0 4 3 +1 3Guatemala 1 1 0 3 4 -1 3Bolivia 0 2 0 2 4 -2 0Results:11.03.99 USA 3, Guatemala 1 13.03.99 USA 1, Mexico 2

Mexico 2, Bolivia 1 Bolivia 1, Guatemala 2

Additionally, as if all this was not enough, the Mexican National Team won theCarlsberg Cup, a tournament held in Hong Kong that included the participation ofBulgaria, Egypt and the host country.The 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup reigning champions scored an impressive win in thefinal over the 1998 African Cup winners, Egypt, 3-0, in front of a sell-out crowd of36,000, February 19. Rafael Márquez (34m), José Manuel Abundis (43m), and LuisHernández (87m, penalty kick), tallied the goals for the Mexican team.

Mexico will meet Egypt, again, July 27, in first round play in the 1999 FIFAConfederations' Cup in Mexico City.

The three-time CONCACAF Gold Cup champions reached the final beating a HongKong combine, 4-3 via penalty kicks, following a scoreless match in regulation. Bulgariawon third place beating Hong Kong, 3-0.

Costa Rica, Guatemala and Honduras Advanceto 2000 Gold Cup

1999 UNCAF Nations' Cup Final Second Round StandingsGP W L T GF GA PTS

Costa Rica 3 2 1 0 6 2 6Guatemala 3 2 1 0 3 1 6Honduras 3 2 0 0 5 4 6El Salvador 3 0 3 0 1 7 0

1999 UNCAF Nations' Cup Second Round Results24.03.99 El Salvador vs. Honduras 1-3 Noel Bynoe (T&T)24.03.99 Costa Rica vs. Guatemala 1-0 Leon Padro (MEX)26.03.99 Guatemala vs. El Salvador 1-0 Noel Bynoe (T&T)26.03.99 Honduras vs. Costa Rica 2-1 Leon Padro (MEX)28.03.99 Honduras vs. Guatemala 0-2 Rafael Rodriguez (SLV)28.03.99 El Salvador vs. Costa Rica 0-4 Oscar Bardales (HND)

1999 UNCAF Nations' Cup First Round StandingsGroup 1 GP W L T GF GA PTSHonduras 2 2 0 0 6 1 6Costa Rica 2 1 1 0 7 1 3Belize 2 0 2 0 1 12 0

Group 2 GP W L T GF GA PTSGuatemala 2 1 0 1 2 1 4El Salvador 2 1 0 1 2 1 4Nicaragua 2 0 2 0 0 2 0(GP: Games played; W: Wins, L: Loss, T: Ties, GF: Goals in Favor, GA: Goals Against, PTS: Points)

1999 UNCAF Nations' Cup First Round Results17.03.99 Guatemala vs. Nicaragua 1-0 Ocar Bardales (HND)17.03.99 Costa Rica vs. Belize 7-0 Noel Bynoe (T&T)19.03.99 Honduras vs. Belize 5-1 Freddy Burgos (GUA)19.03.99 Guatemala vs. El Salvador 1-1 Greivin Porras (CRC)21.03.99 El Salvador vs. Nicaragua 1-0 Leon Padro (MEX)21.03.99 Costa Rica vs. Honduras 0-1 Rafael Rodriguez (SLV)

1999 UNCAF Nations' Cup All-Star TeamThis is the 1999 UNCAF Nations' Cup AllStar Team, selected by the CONCACAFTechnical Commission. The players wereselected based on their performance in thistournament, not on their background or pastperformances. The players are (alphabetically):Goalkeepers: Wilmer Cruz (Honduras);Eric Lonnis (Costa Rica).Defenders: Jervis Drummond (Costa Rica);Julio Giron, (Guatemala); Jose Hernandez,(El Salvador); Nimrod Medina, (Honduras) ;Erick Miranda, (Guatemala); Milton Reyes,(Honduras) .Midfielders: Jorge Caballero, (Honduras);Jeustin Campos, (Costa Rica); RobelBernardez, (Honduras) ; Rolando Fonseca,(Costa Rica); Guillermo Garcia,(ElSalvador); Christian Santamaria, (Honduras)Forwards: Milton Nunez,(Honduras) ;Carlos Pavon, (Honduras) ; Jose Ramirez,(Honduras); Jorge Rodas, (Guatemala) .Nicaragua vs. El Salvador

1999 Copa Caribe

Haiti, Guadeloupe, St. Kitts-Nevis,Grenada and Cuba are the five teamsthat survived the preliminary competi-tion and have reached the final round ofthe 1999 Copa Caribe tournament to beheld in Trinidad & Tobago, June 3-14.The five qualifiers will be joined bydefending champion, Jamaica, the U-20Brazilian national team, and the hostteam.

The tournament winner will automat-ically advance to the 2000 CONCACAFGold Cup finals, February 12-27.Trinidad, as runners up in 1998, hasalready qualified for a place in the play-off pool to decide the final two qualifiersfor the Gold Cup, but can qualify direct-ly to the finals as winners this year.Other possibilities follow:

If Jamaica wins again and a teamother than Trinidad is runner up, thenJamaica would be joined in the GoldCup finals by the runner up with the bestrecord; the second best runner up goinginto the playoff pool along with the thirdplaced team with the best record.

If Trinidad is the winner and Jamaicathe runner up, then the two best thirdplaced teams would enter the Gold Cupand the runners up, or third-placedteam(s) with the best record, dependingon who finishes second this year, wouldgo to the playoffs.Group A: Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago,Guadeloupe, and GrenadaGroup B: Brazil (U-20), Haiti, St.Kitts/Nevis, and Cuba03.06.99 Guadeloupe vs. Grenada03.06.99 Trinidad & Tobago vs. Jamaica04.06.99 Haiti vs. Cuba04.06.99 Brazil vs. St. Kitts/Nevis05.06.99 Jamaica vs. Guadeloupe05.06.99 Grenada vs. Trinidad & Tobago06.06.99 St. Kitts/Nevis vs. Haiti06.06.99 Cuba vs. Brazil07.06.99 Jamaica vs. Grenada07.06.99 Trinidad & Tobago vs. Guadeloupe08.06.99 Cuba vs. St. Kitts/Nevis08.06.99 Haiti vs. BrazilSemifinals 10.06.99Winner Group B vs. Runner up Group AWinner Group A vs. Runner up Group BThird Place Match 12.06.99 Championship Match 13.06.99 Matches will be played at the HaselyCrawford Stadium and the Dr. JoaoHavelange Centre of Excellence (JHCE).

1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final Draw:Mexico To Face Brazil; USA Opens AgainstDenmark; Canada Plays Champions Norway

The final draw of the 1999 FIFA Women's WorldCup, conducted at halftime of the first-ever Women'sWorld All-Star Match, (that saw the FIFA World Starsdefeat the USA, 2-1, in front of a crowd of 15,367 atSpartan Stadium), resulted in the following groupings:

The USA will head Group A and will face KoreaDPR, Nigeria and Denmark. The Americans have neverfaced Korea DPR or Nigeria, but have a 6-3-1 careerrecord against the Danes, including a 5-0 victory in thesemifinals of the 1998 Goodwill Games last summer.

Mexico is in Group B, called the "Group of Death,"containing European champion Germany, 1996 Olympicsemifinalist Brazil, and European runner-up Italy. Thewinners and runners-up in Groups A and B will "cross-over" and meet in the quarterfinals.

Canada, in Group C, is paired with DefendingWomen's World Cup champion Norway, three-timeWomen's World Cup participant Japan, and Women'sWorld Cup newcomer Russia.

Group D will be headed by Olympic silver medalistsChina, who face a tough challenge from Oceania cham-

pion Australia, first-timer Ghana and 1995 host Sweden. The winners and runners-up inGroups C and D will "cross-over" and meet in the quarterfinals.

Group A: USA, Korea DPR, Nigeria, Denmark

Group B: Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Italy

Group C: Norway, Japan, Canada, Russia

Group D: China PR, Australia, Ghana, Sweden

The Women’s tournamentwill begin on Saturday, June 19(15:00), when the United Statestakes on Denmark, at theMeadowlands’ Giants Stadium,in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The tournament final will beplayed Saturday, July 10(14:00), at the Rose Bowl inPasadena, California.

For more up to date infor-mation and a history of thecompetition, please visit therecently launched, Official 1999FIFA Women's World Cup website: www.WWC99.com.

CONCACAFRefereeing NewsCONCACAF's Codesal appointed headof refereeing for the FIFA Women'sWorld Cup USA '99

CONCACAF's Director of Referees,Edgardo Codesal, has been appointedhead of refereeing for the FIFA Women'sWorld Cup. Codesal of Mexico, has alsobeen appointed by FIFA as a member ofthe refereeing committee for the FIFAWorld U-20 Championship in Nigerianext month, The Confederations Cup inMexico in July/August and the FIFAWorld U-17 Championship in NewZealand in November.

CONCACAF Game Officials Appointedto FIFA Women’s World Cup

Six CONCACAF referees have beenappointed to officiate at the 1999 FIFAWomen's World Cup in the UnitedStates. Only UEFA, with eight appoint-ments, has more.

Sonia Denoncourt of Canada, MariaAlpizar Jimenez of Costa Rica, andSandra Hunt of the USA, are on theReferees' List, while Maria Rodriguez ofMexico, Jackeline Saez of Panama, andBoni Bishop of Trinidad and Tobago, areon the List of Assistant Referees.

CONCACAF Referees and AssistantReferees in Nigeria 1999

Two referees and three assistant ref-erees from CONCACAF officiated in the1999 FIFA World Youth Championshipin Nigeria. They are:Referees: Felipe Ramos, Mexico; andWilliam Mattus, Costa Rica.Assistant Referees: Walter Rivera,Honduras; Curtis Charles, Antigua andBarbuda; and Haseeb Mohammed,Trinidad & Tobago.

Canadian Doctor Honored Dr. Rudy Gittens of Ottawa,

Chairman of the CONCACAF MedicalCommittee, has been honored with the1999 Canadian Sport Medicine andScience Award, created to recognizeindividual service in a critical segmentof support for athletes.

Dr. Gittens is currently a member ofthe FIFA Sports Medicine Committeeand Chairman of the Canadian SoccerAssociation's Sports MedicineCommittee. He has provided fifteenyears of exceptional service to Canada.

USA defender, Brandi Chastain (#6),in action during a match against

Sweden in 1998