Believe it or not, in about two weeks, New York City will host a 16-team world soccer tournament. Copa N.Y.C., a sort of mini-World Cup, is made up of national teams drawn from the Metropolitan area's diverse cultural and ethnic communities. Each team, according to Copa N.Y.C.'s website, consists of a team president, coaches, and 25 players who can at least claim some heritage to their country they're representing. The 16 teams-- the United States, England, Ireland, France, Ghana, Korea, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Greece, Trinidad & Tobago, Cyprus, Albania, Liberia, Jamaica and Ecuador-- have been split into four groups. The top two finishers from each group advance to the next round. For those scoring at home, the United Sates is in Group C with Cyprus, Argentina and Liberia. First round games are 50 minutes long, while the semifinals, quarterfinals and finals are all 90 minutes.
The first round kicks off July 25 at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens. Semifinals and finals are scheduled for the following week at the Metropolitan Oval in Maspeth, also in Queens. This should be fun. I'm going to go out on a limb and predict Ghana comes out of Group B, and wins it all.
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