Home Depot Center News

The Home Depot Center to host the finals for the qualification tournament for the Copa Libertadores; All matches to be broadcast live in the U.S. by Fox Sports en Español

NEW YORK & MEXICO CITY - The Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (FMF), together with Soccer United Marketing (SUM), today announced the teams, groups, schedule and venues for InterLiga™ 2009.

The sixth edition of InterLiga will be played from January 2-11, 2009 in Dallas and Houston, Texas, and Los Angeles, California. The eight participating clubs in their respective groups for InterLiga 2009 are:

Group A - Toluca, UAG, Morelia, Pachuca
Group B - Tigres UANL, CD Guadalajara, Atlas, América

InterLiga 2009 will determine two Mexican club berths for Copa Libertadores known as \"Mexico 2\" and \"Mexico 3\". The other spot known as \"Mexico 1\" has been awarded to San Luis de Potosi due to the club's finish as SuperLider of the Mexican Torneo de Apertura 2008, or the regular season champions of the current Mexican season.

Following the draw for the 2009 Copa Libertadores, it was revealed that Mexico 2 will be part of Group 6 with Lanús (Argentina), Everton (Chile) and Caracas (Venezuela). Mexico 3 will play a two-leg play in series against la Universidad de Chile. If victorious, Mexico 3 would be placed in Group 3 with Aurora (Bolivia), Boyaca Chico (Colombia) and a team to be determined from Brazil.

The new qualification system for InterLiga 2009, announced in March of 2008 by the FMF, to accommodate the CONCACAF Champions League, is as follows: the eight best teams in the general standings at the end of the current Apertura season of the Mexican domestic league move on to InterLiga, except for the club that finishes first in the regular season standings, which will qualify directly to Copa Libertadores as \"Mexico 1,\" per FMF regulations. Due to their participation in the 2008-2009 CONCACAF Champions League, Atlante, Cruz Azul, Pumas and Santos will not participate in InterLiga regardless of their place in the Apertura standings.

CALENDAR

The sixth edition of InterLiga will begin on Friday, January 2 in Frisco, Texas with a doubleheader featuring Group A matches Toluca vs. Morelia and Tecos vs. Pachuca, beginning at 7:00 pm local. The tournament then moves to Houston, Texas for doubleheaders on January 3 and 4. After another doubleheader on Monday, January 5 in Frisco, the tournament will arrive at its final location in Los Angeles where it will feature the final group phase games on January 8 and 9. The InterLiga 2009 finals will take place on Sunday, January 12 at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, beginning at 4:00 pm local. This will mark the fifth InterLiga finals in the Southern California stadium.

An exclusive pre-sale to all Visa card holders will begin on December 8. Tickets will go on sale to the general public shortly following the Visa pre-sale. The Federación Mexicana de Fútbol invites you to use your Visa card.

For further information on the tournament and its history, visit www.InterLiga.com .

INTERLIGA™ 2009 SCHEDULE (all times local)
All matches to be broadcast live in the United States by Fox Sports en Español.

Friday, January 2 - Pizza Hut Park (Dallas, Texas)
Game 1 - Group A -Toluca vs. Morelia- 19:00
Game 2 - Group A -UAG vs. Pachuca- 21:30

Saturday, January 3 - Robertson Stadium (Houston, Texas)
Game 3 - Group B -Tigres UANL vs. Atlas- 19:00
Game 4 - Group B -CD Guadalajara vs. América- 21:30

Monday, January, 5 - Robertson Stadium (Houston, Texas)
Game 5 - Group A -UAG vs. Morelia- 19:00
Game 6 - Group A -Toluca vs. Pachuca- 21:30

Tuesday, January 6 - Pizza Hut Park (Dallas, Texas)
Game 7 - Group B -Tigres UANL vs. América- 19:00
Game 8 - Group B -CD Guadalajara vs. Atlas- 21:30

Thursday, January 8 - Home Depot Center (Carson, CA)
Game 9 - Group A -Morelia vs. Pachuca- 18:00
Game 10- Group A -Toluca vs. UAG- 20:30

Friday, January 9 - Home Depot Center (Carson, CA)
Game 11 - Group B -Atlas vs. América- 18:30
Game 12 - Group B -Tigres UANL vs. CD Guadalajara- 21:00

Sunday, January 11 - Home Depot Center (Carson, CA)
Final 1 - 16:00
Final 2 - 18:30

VENUES

Pizza Hut Park (Frisco, Texas)
9200 World Cup Way
Frisco, TX 75034
1-888-FCD-GOAL
Inauguration: 2005
Total Seating Capacity: 20,500

Pizza Hut Park serves as the home to Major League Soccer's FC Dallas. Since its inauguration in August 2005, the complex in Frisco has hosted the MLS Cup 2005 and 2006, InterLiga doubleheaders in 2006, 2007 and 2008, and Mexico vs. Ghana in March 2006, among other international events. With 17 championship size soccer fields for the local community leagues, the soccer complex will host its fourth consecutive InterLiga™.

Robertson Stadium (Houston, Texas)
3700 Cullen Blvd.
Houston, TX 7720
(713) 743-9550
Inauguration: 1942
Total Seating Capacity: 32,000

Robertson Stadium, home of the Houston Dynamo (MLS) and its third consecutive year as an InterLiga™ venue, sits on the campus of the University of Houston. A massive renovation of Robertson Stadium took place in 2004, thanks to a $6 million gift from the John and Julie O'Quinn Foundation to the University of Houston. In addition to the 20 luxury suites added in the summer of 1998, \"Phase I\" entailed replacement of the track with a ring of tiered seating, bringing the stadium's capacity to 32,000. Robertson has also seen prominent international clubs on its field including River Plate and Boca Juniors of Argentina, as well as Mexican clubs Club America, Cruz Azul, Tigres, Chivas, and Monterrey.

The Home Depot Center (Carson, California)
18400 Avalon Blvd., Suite 200
Carson, CA 90746
(310) 630-2200
Inauguration: 2003
Total Seating Capacity: 27,000

The state-of-the-art soccer stadium is home to Major Leagues Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy and Club Deportivo Chivas USA, hosting major national and international events, including the 2003, 2004 and 2008 MLS Cup and the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup championship game, as well as the 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008 InterLiga finals and several matches featuring the Mexican National Team. The HDC is also the soccer training headquarters for the U.S. Soccer Federation National Teams and offers nine practice fields for training.

www.InterLiga.com