Rose bowl to host CONCACAF’s 2011 gold cup final

City of Pasadena to welcome back CONCACAF’s premier event on its 20th anniversary

CONCACAF announced today it has chosen the Rose Bowl as the site of the 2011 Gold Cup final on June 25, marking the 20th anniversary of the confederation’s premier national team tournament.

The CONCACAF Gold Cup, which will start June 5, is a 12-team competition that crowns the region’s top national team. A year ago, Mexico defeated the United States in front of nearly 80,000 at Giants Stadium to claim its fifth Gold Cup title. The United States has captured the trophy four times and Canada once.

The 2011 winner will qualify for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup as CONCACAF’s representative.

“We are very excited to return to the Rose Bowl to crown our region’s champion. The Gold Cup has grown dramatically over the past 20 years and the Rose Bowl remains a fantastic venue to celebrate our final,” CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer said.

The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, last hosted the Gold Cup in 2002 when a total of 10 matches were played in the legendary stadium. The final will return to the United States’ West coast for the first time since 2002 following 2005 and 2009 in New York’s Giants Stadium, 2007 in Chicago’s Soldier Field and 2003 in Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca.

“The Rose Bowl is thrilled to be hosting the final of the Gold Cup on its 20th anniversary,” said Rose Bowl General Manager, Darryl Dunn. “We recognize the importance of the tournament, and believe this event will add to the great history of soccer in our venue, as we are the only facility in the world to have hosted the finals of the World Cup (1994), Women’s World Cup (1999) and men’s Olympics (1984).”

The Rose Bowl is no stranger to top-class soccer events having recently hosted sold-out matches featuring the Mexican national team and FC Barcelona in addition to firmly cementing its place in soccer history by hosting the 1994 FIFA World Cup final between Brazil and Italy. The stadium is also part of the USA Bid Committee’s final 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid proposal which was submitted to FIFA in early June.

The additional venues as well as the tournament’s schedule are expected to be released in early 2011.