US World Cup Qualifying tickets go on sale Sunday; Brazil-Venezuela tickets tomorrow

Tickets for the US Men's first 2010 World Cup Qualifier go on sale this Sunday (happy Mother's day) at 3pm ET/12pm PT. The red, white and blue start their race to South Africa on 15 June at the The Home Depot Center in Carson, Ca. against Barbados.

Tickets prices range from $18 to $65 and can be purchased at ussoccer.com, by phone (213-480-3232 in L.A.; 714-740-2000 in Orange County; 619-220-8497 in San Diego), and at all Ticketmaster ticket centers throughout Southern California (including Macy’s, Wherehouse Music, FYE and Ritmo Latino).

This match represents the first ever World Cup Qualifier at the Home Depot Center, so hopefully a full house will come out.

On the other side of the country, tickets for the Brazil-Venezuela friendly on 6 June go on sale tomorrow (9 May). The game is a doubleheader with the New England Revolution and FC Dallas facing off in the second match.

Tickets for the two games rage from $30 to $110 and can be purchased by calling 1-877-GET-REVS or Ticketmaster at (617) 931-2222.

Two great nights of soccer on the coasts.

2007 Copa America - Day 1

Copa America Day 1 is over and done and what a surprise in the first match. Perhaps a few more shocks, but of a bigger variety, could still happen in the first round.

Peru 3-0 Uruguay
Little Peru topped the heavy group favorites Uruguay in an excellent match. This is the type of game soccer lovers enjoy viewing as it was an open attacking event. Peru was up 1-0 at the half and Uruguay came out in the second wanting to equalize fast, but Peru's keeper was there when needed. Uruguay kept pushing forward but over reached and left themselves open to quick counter attacks. This lead to the second goal, which was a piece of art, that flew from the right corner of the box into the net. The pressure was on the favorites and they were going for everything but Peru was not only able to hold but also score one more to finish it all off.
Goals: Peru: Miguel Angel Villalta (1) 26', Juan Carlos Marino (1) 68', José Paolo Guerrero (1) 88'

Venezuela 2-2 Bolivia
For DC United fans, it must have been enjoyable to watch this one as Jaime Moreno put on a wonderful show. He was causing pain for Venezuela and taking the game to their end yet someone the host nation made things happen against the run of play. Bolivia repeatedly put good balls into the area or at the net but they either were cleared or went off target while Venezuela used their limited chances wisely. There are huge gaps in the Bolivian backline and they were exploited tonight.
Goals: Venezuela: Giancarlo Maldonado (1) 20', Ricardo David Páez (1) 55'
Bolivia: Jaime Moreno (1) 38', Juan Carlos Arce (1) 83'

Group A

Team	Pts	GP	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD
Peru	3	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3
Venezula	1	1	0	0	1	2	2	0
Bolivia	1	1	0	0	1	2	2	0
Uruguay	0	1	0	1	0	0	3	-3

Group B

Team	Pts	GP	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD
Brazil	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Chile	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mexico	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ecuador	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Group C

Team	Pts	GP	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD
Argentina	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Paraguay	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Colombia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
USA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Copa America - No protesting where people will see you

Venezuela has outlawed protesting near stadiums, airports, highways or hotels during Copa America which starts next Tuesday (26 June).

Justice Minister Pedro Carreno said Tuesday that "all the protests staged near stadiums, airports, highways and hotels are not permitted, and the state's security forces will have act diligently to break them up."

This move is to prevent opponents of President Hugo Chavez from disrupting the tournament, but it could pave the way for a very disturbing backdrop. If the opposition decides to go ahead and stage mass protests across the country and the Chavez government does confront them, it will get mighty violent, mighty fast and at some point FIFA will have to decide if continuing the tournament is appropriate.

With the increase media that will be in country to cover the games, the world will be watching, so it will also be interesting to see if reporters are kept on a short leash or not.

Copa America quarterfinal moved

FIFA has decided the first quarterfinal of the Copa America cannot be played in La Carolina stadium in Barinas because of its low capacity. Instead, the game will move to Estadio Puerto La Cruz in the eastern state of Anzoátegui.

The interesting thing about this is the game was originally suppose to take place at Maracaibo's 40,000-capacity Jose Encarnacion Romero stadium before it moved to the 27,500-capacity stadium in Barinas. The fact that Barinas stadium is in the home state of President Hugo Chavez adds another dimension to everything. In moving the game for the second time FIFA said the smaller stadium was "insufficient to accommodate a match of this nature," but why did they allow it to move to a smaller location in the first place?

Here is the really interesting part:

The Venezuelan government has spent at least US$1 million (?750,000) to construct two new stadiums, remodel seven others, and renovate airports and surrounding areas for the tournament, which is being hosted in Venezuela for the first time from June 26 to July 15. But the projects have suffered from delays due to labor disputes and problems with bonus payments to workers.

Could all these moves have something to do with these delays?

Between the threat of violence against boycotts and the moving stadium situation, Copa America 2007 might turn out to be more interesting off the pitch then on.

Venezuela President warns groups not to boycott Copa America

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has faced two weeks of street demonstrations, has warned opposition groups not to boycott the Copa America games starting later this month.

"If they try that, it will be bad for them,'' Chavez said in a televised speech today in southern Apure state. "These people are against the fans, the country and the world.''

This could add a very odd element to the tournament.