Soccer United Marketing (SUM) announced today a World Cup preparation doubleheader extravaganza on Wednesday, August 12 at Giants Stadium, in East Rutherford, NJ. The South American neighbors, Colombia and Venezuela, will open the night cap starting at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed by Jamaica vs. Ecuador (8:30 p.m. ET). These matches are on a FIFA date – allowing the national teams to bring their top stars – will serve the teams to finalize their preparation ahead of the last two rounds of South America’s World Cup 2010 qualifiers scheduled to begin the first week of September. All three of the South American countries, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela are vying for two available berths in next year's FIFA World Cup in South Africa, including a direct entry and the fifth and final berth via play-in game.
Tickets, starting as low as $35, can be purchased starting Monday, July 13, at 10 am ET, at the IZOD Center Box Office (Mon-Fri 11 AM-6 PM), www.Ticketmaster.com, by phone at 1-800-745-3000 or any Ticketmaster outlet. Additional fees may apply. Groups of 15 or more contact Meadowlands Group Sales at 201-460-4370 for special discounts.
Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz will be led by newly-appointed head coach Theodore “Tappa” Whitmore. The Ecuadorian National Team, led by Head Coach Sixto Vizuete is not a stranger to Giants Stadium as they played in it as recently as August 2008 in a highly contested match against long-time rival, Colombia. Ecuador won 1-0. In the last three matches in the Ecuadorian team’s path to South Africa, they have won one match against powerhouse Argentina and tied the other two games against Brazil and Paraguay. Ecuador, No. 5 in the CONMEBOL standings, will face Colombia on Sept. 9 in World Cup qualifying. The Reggae Boyz, as the Jamaican National Team is known, will be in New York for its first game after participating in the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2009.
Colombia and Venezuela will close out the night in their first meeting since this past March 31, where Venezuela hosted and defeated Colombia 2-0 in an important World Cup qualifier match that kept the two teams locked in a tie in the CONMEBOL qualifier standings. In the last four matches for the Venezuelan National Team in World Cup qualifiers, “La Vinotinto” has earned three wins against Uruguay, Bolivia and Colombia and a loss against Argentina. In Colombia’s last four World Cup qualifying matches, they earned two wins against Peru and Bolivia, and two losses against Argentina and Venezuela. Colombia and Venezuela, tied in the seventh slot in the qualifier standings, next face Ecuador and Chile on Sept. 10, respectively, in search of a trip to South Africa in 2010.