Thursday, June 30, 2011

The long NCC wait is nearly over; CCL Prelims near

The final participant for the upcoming CONCACAF Champions League is set to be determined Saturday when the Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC play the second leg of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship Final. The two clubs go into the contest level 1-1 on aggregate.

It will certainly have been a lengthy wait in one of the largest spans imaginable between two legs of a championship series at 45 days. The extraordinarily long hiatus was courtesy of a thunderstorm that wiped out the second leg with the Whitecaps leading on the road in the second half of the contest.

The two re-acquainted themselves with one another for the first time since that initial second leg meeting May 26, squaring off in a league contest at BMO Field Wednesday evening to a 1-0 decision in favor of the hosts. 

CCL Preliminary Round Schedule Set

The two clubs learned their Preliminary Round CCL schedule recently for the winning club that will take on Nicaragua’s Real Esteli, the club who the Montreal Impact first played in their amazing run to the Quarterfinals in the inaugural 2008-09 edition of the CCL. The winner will play host to the Central American side July 27 before heading south for the second leg August 2.

The reigning US Open Cup champion Seattle Sounders will visit San Francisco of Panama in the opening game of the 2011-12 CCL July 26 with the second leg set for August 3.

Other related clubs feature MLS side FC Dallas and NASL Puerto Rico Islanders. FC Dallas plays Alianza FC (El Salvador) on the road July 28 and at Pizza Hut Park August 3. The Islanders also travel for the first leg to play in El Salvador, taking on Isidro Metapan before finishing at home August 3.

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