July 9, 2007
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Freshmen Omar Gonzalez and Jeremy Hall will both don the stars and stripes and play for the United States soccer team that will take part in the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from July 13-27. There are four sites for matches during the games, two of which include João Havelange Stadium and Maracanã Stadium, home of the 1950 World Cup final.
Twelve teams will take part in the tournament and are divided into three groups of four teams. A total of 18 athletes are allowed for each team and the squad is limited to players in the under-20 category, except for three athletes who may be older.
The United States won its only gold medal at the Pan American Games in 1991 in Havana, Cuba. America has also won the bronze twice before including one in 1999 in Winnipeg. The other came back in 1959 in Chicago.
The US will open the tournament on July 15 against Venezuela at 5:15 p.m. at the Zico Football Center before taking on Bolivia on July 18 at 2:00 p.m. at the Miécimo da Silva Sports Complex. The Americans will round out its play in Group B against Mexico on July 21 at 9:00 a.m. at Brazil's famous Maracanã Stadium.
Both Gonzalez and Hall were major components of the Terps' success last fall in College Park. Gonzalez started all 22 matches for the Terps on defense and garnered Soccer America second team All-Freshman and ACC All-Freshman Team selections. He was a fixture at center back as he played every minute of every game beginning with the Loyola match on September 26. Gonzalez finished the year with a goal and three assists.
Hall earned Soccer America first team All-Freshman and College Soccer News All-Freshman Team selections in 2006 as he was second on the squad with seven goals and third with 17 points. He was named the 2006 ACC Freshman of the Year, the program's first since the inception of the award in 1990. Hall played in every game, making 19 starts, earning a permanent spot in the starting 11 on September 13 against Mount St. Mary's.
Competition Format
Twelve teams play in the men's football tournament: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, the United States and Venezuela.
The teams are divided into three groups of four teams, playing against the adversaries within their own group. The first place teams in each group plus the team with best overall performance among the teams coming in second place in each group move on to the semifinals. Cross-over matches happen as follows: 1st in C x 1st in B and 1st in A x the best overall second-placed team. The winning teams in this phase play for the gold and the losers play for the bronze. If there is a tie after regular time, a 30-minute overtime is held. If the tie persists, the decision is made by penalty kicks. In order to define the 5th through 12th positions, decision criteria are used (most victories, number of goals, most scored goals, direct confrontation and draw).
Athletes
The 22 teams participating in Rio 2007 (12 in the men's tournament and 10 in the women's tournament) are entitled to enter 18 athletes, for a total of 396 players.
The countries are represented in the men's tournament by athletes in the under-20 category, except for three athletes who may be older. There are no age restrictions in the women's tournament.
About the Pan American Games
The XV Pan American Games will take place July 13-29 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and will feature 5,500 athletes from 42 countries competing in 28 different sports.
The Pan American Games are a continental version of the Olympic Games that includes the Olympic Program sports and other events such as bowling, squash, roller sports and water skiing that are not part of the Olympic Games.
The U.S. delegation will include 650 athletes and will likely include strong national teams and Olympic-caliber athletes competing with the prospects of Beijing and the 2008 Olympic Games just around the corner.
Located on the Brazilian southeast coast, Rio de Janeiro is famous for its unique natural setting, the Carnival of Rio, samba music, its pavements decorated with black and cream swirl pattern mosaics, and last but not least, the superb beaches known all over the world, primarily Copacabana and Ipanema. Other interesting attractions in Rio are the statue of Christ the Redeemer (98.5 ft tall) on Corcovado Mountain, Marcanã Stadium (one of the largest in the world) and Sugar Loaf Mountain and its cable car.
Conducted every four years, always one year before the Olympic Games, the first Pan American Games were held in 1951, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. However, its origin dates back to 1932, in the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Inspired by the holding of the first Central American Games six years earlier, the Latin American representatives of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) proposed the creation of a competition that would include all the countries in the Americas, for the purpose of strengthening sport activities in the region.
