2008 Pan-Pacific Championship

2008 Pan-Pacific Championship
Tournament details
Host countryUnited States
DatesFebruary 20 – February 23
Teams4 (from 2 confederations)
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
ChampionsJapan Gamba Osaka (1st title)
Tournament statistics
Matches played4
Goals scored14 (3.5 per match)
Attendance76,430 (19,108 per match)
Top scorer(s)Brazil Baré (5 Goals)
Best player(s)Brazil Baré[1]
2009

The 2008 Pan-Pacific Championship is the inaugural edition of the Pan-Pacific Championship association football competition which took place on February 20 and February 23 in Honolulu, Hawaii, featuring teams from Japan's J. League, United States Major League Soccer (MLS) and the A-League of Australia and New Zealand.

For the 2008 tournament, the A-League was not represented by the champion team but instead by the loser of the minor semi-final. This is due to a scheduling conflict with the Grand Final on February 24, which was moved back so as not to interfere with Australia's 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign.

The 2008 tournament also features Gamba Osaka of the J. League, which were the 2007 J. League Cup champion, and Major League Soccer representatives Houston Dynamo and Los Angeles Galaxy, the latter reportedly chosen instead of the desired 2007 SuperLiga champion, as Pachuca declined and Galaxy were the Superliga runner-up.[2] The Galaxy's first game was versus Gamba Osaka.[3] while the Dynamo were drawn against Sydney FC.

All matches were played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii.

  1. ^ Pan-Pacific Championship Archived February 26, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "ON SOCCER: Dynamo ahead of pack in more than one sense". November 29, 2007.
  3. ^ BBC SPORT | Football | Galaxy set for Pan-Pacific test