COSMOS COPA RETURNS THIS SUMMER TO CELEBRATE THE WORLD OF NYC SOCCER

April 10th, 2012 (New York, NY) – The New York Cosmos are happy to announce that the grassroots tournament, Cosmos Copa, will return this summer for its fourth year.

Cosmos Copa is the nation’s preeminent amateur adult soccer tournament that unites New York City’s diverse community. The tournament is a NYC “World Cup-style” event where the best NYC soccer players represent their country of heritage. Local teams representing 28 different countries will compete for the title of “Cosmos Copa City Champion” – in honor of both New York City as well as their country of origin.

This year, Cosmos Copa has partnered with the Cosmopolitan Soccer League and Modell’s Sporting Goods to engage the 28 local communities of the teams involved in this year’s tournament.

Every year, the tournament begins with a qualifying round, which will be spread out over two weekends in June. The qualifying teams this year are: Afghanistan, Albania, Argentina, Bolivia, Croatia, Egypt, France, Guyana, Holland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kosova, Liberia, Paraguay, Portugal, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Spain, USA, and Uruguay.

These 20 teams will be competing for the remaining eight spots available for this year’s Cosmos Copa tournament, taking place in late July. Last year’s eight quarterfinalists- Colombia, England, Greece, Haiti, Ireland, Jamaica, Poland and Senegal will round out the rest of the tournament. All games will take place within the 5 boroughs of NYC.

The official Cosmos Copa tournament draw party will take place on Tuesday, June 26th and will feature New York City Soccer legend, Giovanni Savarese and Cosmos legend, Shep Messing amongst other guests.

The tentative 2012 Cosmos Copa Tournament Dates are as follows (dates subject to change):

• Official Draw Party: June 26th at Scandanavia House, Park Ave and 38th Street
• Group Stage: July 14th and 15th at Pier 40 (day 1) and TBD
• Quarterfinals: July 21st at Octagon Field on Roosevelt Island
• Semi-­‐finals: July 22nd at TBD
• Finals: July 28th at Macomb’s Dam Park in the Bronx

For more information, go to www.cosmoscopa.com or follow the tournament on Twitter at @CosmosCopa or Facebook at www.facebook.com/cosmoscopa.

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Contact: Sofia Sanchez, Communications Manager, The New York Cosmos, ssanchez@newyorkcosmos.com.