SuperLiga 2008 Teams Announced, Major League Soccer Kicks Off Season

The SuperLiga 2008 - a tournament between 4 top teams in Major League Soccer (MLS) and 4 top teams in Mexico's Primera Division - teams and schedules have been announced. In addition to a tournament championship, the winning club will take home the richest pot ever in North American soccer - $1,000,000.

The MLS teams were chosen based on regular season records last year: Supporter's Shield winner D.C. United, Western Conference champion Chivas USA, MLS Cup 2007 champions Houston Dynamo and MLS Cup finalist New England Revolution. Mexico's Primera Division will be represented by invitation: 2007 Apertura tournament champion Atlante, 11-time Mexican League champion CD Guadalajara, Mexican Primera Division champions Santos Laguna and the 2007 SuperLiga champion Pachuca CF.

Pachuca defeated the LA Galaxy in last years' inaugural SuperLiga in the Galaxy's home stadium - the Home Depot Center, in Carson, CA - in a shoot out.

The SuperLiga is made up of a group phase and a knockout phase. All games will be held in American venues. Play begins July 12; the final will be August 5, location TBD.

The MLS season kicks off March 29 and will run through October 26. Teams will play 30 games over 31 weeks: each team will play every other team twice in a home and away schedule, and will play against different intra-conference teams (two home games and two away games), with consideration given to rivalries. The first game of the season will be Toronto FC at the Columbus Crew on March 29; The Fox Soccer Channel's first broadcast of the season kicks off later on in the day with the MLS Cup Champions Houston Dynamo visiting Cup Runners up New England Revolution at 7:30.

RESOURCES:

http://www.superliga2007.com/headlines/index.html?article_id=181 retrieved 3/13/08

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_SuperLiga retrieved 3/13/08

http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20080207&content_id=138148&vkey=pr_mls&fext=.jsp retrieved 3/13/08