2008 Concacaf Chamipons Cup schedule - Can Houston or DC win the region?

In just two weeks both DC United and the Houston Dynamo will play their first meaningful matches of the year as the final installment of the Concacaf Champions' Cup (CCC) gets underway. The winner of this the CCC will represent the region at the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan this December.

The tournament is made up of three stages with each stage being a two leg (home-away) affair. Here is the full schedule (all times Eastern - FSC will air all matches in the US, though some are tape delayed):

Quarterfinals
Leg 1
QF 1 - CD Motagua (Hon) vs. Pachuca CF (Mex)
11 March Estadio Tiburcio Carias Andino - 8p - FSC 11p
QF 2 - Harbour View (Jam) vs. DC United (USA)
12 March Harbour View Stadium, Kinston - 8p - FSC 8p
QF 4 - CSD Municipal (Gua) vs. Houston Dynamo (USA)
12 March Estadio Mateo Flores - 10p - FSC 10p
QF 3 - Atlante FC (Mex) vs. Deportivo Saprissa (CR)
13 March Estadio Andres Quintana Roo, Cancun - 11p - FSC 11p

Leg 2
QF 2 - DC United (USA) vs. Harbour View (Jam)
18 March RFK Stadium - 7:30p - FSC 7:30p
QF 4 - Houston Dynamo (USA) vs. CSD Municipal (Gua)
19 March Robertson Stadium - 8:30p - FSC 8:30p
QF 1 - Pachuca CF (Mex) vs. CD Motagua (Hon)
19 March Estadio Hidalgo, Pachuca - 11p - FSC 11p
QF 3 - Deportivo Saprissa (CR) vs. Atlante FC (Mex)
20 March Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, San Jose - 10p - FSC 12a

Semifinals
Leg 1
SF 1Winner QF 1 vs. Winner QF 2
01 April
SF 2Winner QF 4 vs. Winner QF 3
02 April

Leg 2
SF 1Winner QF 2 vs. Winner QF 1
08 April
SF 2Winner QF 3 vs. Winner QF 4
09 April

Finals
Leg 1Winner SF 2 vs. Winner SF 1
23 April
Leg 2Winner SF 1 vs. Winner SF 2
30 April

The schedule means that if DC United advances to the end, they will host the second leg in all three rounds. Houston, meanwhile, will get to host the second leg only in the first round.

Both MLS sides will face the challenge of meeting teams in the middle of their season, but in the first round, Houston looks to have the tougher opposition. Municipal is a historic club in Guatemalan soccer and their current roster contains a large number of players from their national team, including Juan Carlos Plata. Also, chances are good that their 30,000 seat home stadium will be near capacity for this match.

DC should have an easier time with Harbour View as they are a good club but not a dominant one. However, the Caribbean winner has often given their first round opponent trouble, so United should not look past them.

Last year both DC and Houston had good runs in the CCC, only to fall in the second round to teams from Mexico. This year they have a little easier time of it as the matches start two and a half weeks later then they did in 2007, giving them more time in pre-season training to prepare.

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[Source: My Soccer Blog]