Pan-Pacific Championship

The Pan-Pacific Football Championship was an inter-confederation football tournament between teams from A-League (Australia and New Zealand), Chinese Super League (China), J. League (Japan), K-League (Korea), and Major League Soccer (United States and Canada). The event was underwritten by MLS and promoted through its Soccer United Marketing arm.[1]

Pan-Pacific Championship
Founded2007
RegionAsia, North America,and Oceania
Number of teams4
Current champions Suwon Bluewings (2009)
Most successful club(s) Gamba Osaka,
Suwon Bluewings (1 time)
WebsiteOfficial website
Pan-Pacific Championship 2009

History

The inaugural edition of the competition took place from February 20 to February 23, 2008 in Honolulu, Hawaii.[2] Four teams took part in the competition.

Houston Dynamo qualified as MLS Cup champions, and Gamba Osaka qualified as champions of the Japanese League Cup. Australia's A-League was represented by the loser of the minor semi final instead of the champion team. This was due to a scheduling conflict with the A-League Preliminary Final on February 17, followed by the Grand Final on February 24, which were moved back so as not to interfere with Australia's 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign.[1] The fourth competitor was originally intended to be the SuperLiga champion, Pachuca, but the club reportedly declined to take part and their place in the competition was awarded to Los Angeles Galaxy.

Teams from China and Korea made their debut in the tournament in the 2009 edition, which was held at the Galaxy's Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

While no official statement has been issued, the tournament was not held in 2010 or 2011. In 2012, Aloha Stadium is scheduled to host the Hawaiian Islands Invitational, a preseason tournament that will also feature teams from Japan, Australia, the United States, and South Korea. A similar tournament, the Pacific Rim Cup, will be held in Honolulu in February 2018, featuring MLS and J League teams.[3]

Results
Year Host Final Third-place match
Winner Score Runner-up 3rd place Score 4th place
2008  United States Gamba Osaka 6–1 Houston Dynamo Los Angeles Galaxy 2–1 Sydney FC
2009  United States Suwon Bluewings 1–1
(4–2p)		 Los Angeles Galaxy Oita Trinita 2–1 Shandong Luneng

Statistics

By club
Team Won Runner-up Years won Years runner-up
Gamba Osaka102008
Suwon Samsung Bluewings102009
Los Angeles Galaxy012009
Houston Dynamo012008

By nation
Nation Times won Times runner-up Winning clubs Runners-up
Japan 1 0 Gamba Osaka (1)
South Korea 1 0 Suwon Samsung Bluewings (1)
United States 0 2 Houston Dynamo (1), Los Angeles Galaxy (1)

See also

References
  1. Cockerill, Michael (2007-11-06). "A-League joins the world game as pioneers of the Pan-Pacific championship". The Sydney Morning Herald. ISSN 0312-6315. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
  2. International tourney to debut Feb. '08 in Hawaii Archived December 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Crew SC to participate in inaugural preseason Pacific Rim Cup". Columbus Crew SC. November 13, 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
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