Estadio Universitario to host CONCACAF W Champions Cup
Can the Portland Thorns qualify for the first ever FIFA Women's Club World Cup?
After qualifying as the second place finisher in the group stage of the Concacaf W Champions Cup, the Portland Thorns officially qualified for the semifinals.
The historic venue of Estadio Universitario, the home of Tigres, will be the host for the inaugural edition of this tournament. “El Volcan” will host the semifinals, third place match, and final match. One of these four remaining teams will qualify for the first ever FIFA Women’s Club World Cup.
"Nuevo Leon’s Estadio Universitario is a historic venue in our region and has hosted many great Concacaf matches over the years. We are confident they will be excellent hosts for the four participating clubs and their fans, as they continue a thrilling journey to become the Confederation’s first-ever women’s club champion. On behalf of Concacaf, I would like to thank the leadership team at Tigres for their commitment to hosting the Concacaf W Champions Cup Finals and for playing a key role in the ongoing development of all aspects of women’s football,” said Concacaf President and FIFA Vice President Victor Montagliani.
“It is a source of pride and a great challenge for our institution to host the Concacaf W Champions Cup Finals, where our Amazonas will seek to qualify for the first FIFA Women's Club World Cup. Bringing this type of tournament to El Volcán and giving our fans and those of all of Mexico the opportunity to enjoy high-quality football is a reflection of Tigres' commitment to the development of women's football and our desire to take this team to the next level,” said Club Tigres President Mauricio Culebro.
This will be the Portland Thorns’ first ever trip in Mexico for a club match.
The exciting conclusion will take place on May 21 and conclude on May 24. The final four teams consists of two clubs from both Liga MX Femenil (group winners) and NWSL (second place finishers).
Can the Portland Thorns make history and book their ticket to the FIFA Women’s Club World Cup?
What gets me is that the whole "keep the troops informed if you don't want troublesome morale issues developing" is kind of Management 101. Regardless of whether it's government or sports or business, being proactive about messaging - the message YOU want - is pretty universal and fundamental.
How hard is a weekly presser? You can placate the mob with generalities: "We've got (number) GM candidates in the interview stage, including two we're very hopeful about." "We worked with Kelli and her agent, and made what we feel was a very reasonable offer but were unable to reach an agreement." "We're currently looking over several promising player signings, including some NCAA players as well as pros currently playing overseas..."
Plus you keep the club in the news, keep public interest in the offseason. Win-win!
The club not taking this what-seems-simple-and-obvious way of doing this stuff is what makes me increasingly skeptical of the Bhathal's sports savvy, beyond the obvious boneheaded actions like Ken and Karina. This shouldn't be rocket science. But...
Re: Hubly- While I think she’s someone whose individual issues were exacerbated by the shape/coaching problems over the last two years, she’s also a largely flawed player with very clear issues on the ball, speed-wise, and with her passing. I don’t want to hear the same people who bitched —often excessively and unfairly— about her for the last four years all of a sudden act like she’s some massive loss because it fits the narrative. I also couldn’t care very much less about how it makes Soph feel. If she’s already pissed, she wouldn’t have re-signed because Kelli Hubly is on the roster, and Hubly leaving won’t be the reason she leaves. I’d also offer that there’s a very real possibility that Kelli and Eryk will be in the same (not Portland) city next year.
The big issue, as ever, is with the organization and whether Smith (and all of us!) have faith that there’s some semblance of a FO structure given there’s less than a week until 2025. I’m not sure this changes anything for me in either direction.