Hamburg SV's Youth Squad Finishes 2nd at International Tournament
HSV goes undefeated at 2008 World Sport Chicago International Cup

2008/07/28

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hamburg SV's under-15 team defeated a U.S. National team en route to a second-place finish at the 2008 World Sport Chicago International Cup.

HSV finished the tournament with seven points, two behind Nigeria's 36 Lion Soccer Academy.

HSV opened the tournament on Thursday with a 2-0 win over one of two U.S. National teams in the competition. They defeated Chicago-based Sockers FC, 2-1, on Friday, and fought the regional U.S. Olympic Development Program select team to a scoreless draw on Sunday to close the tournament. Even with a win in their final game, HSV would still have finished second to 36 Lion because of total goals.

The second U.S. National teams finished third, and the Chicago Fire finished fourth, followed by Sockers FC from Chicago, the first U.S. National team, the Olympic Development Program select team and Centro de Formación Cuauhtémoc Blanco from Mexico.

Of the 16 teams in Germany's premier football league, HSV is the only one never to have been relegated to the second division (2nd Bundesliga). The club's under-15 team has carried that tradition of success to the U.S., winning Chicago International Cup titles in 2004, 2006 and 2007.

The tournament was played in a round robin format, with each team competing in three games. The winner was decided through a point system, where wins counted for three points, and ties counted for one.

The International Cup came a month after Chicago was named one of the four finalists to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This annual youth soccer tournament featuring some of the top international and Chicago-area programs was presented by World Sport Chicago, the "living legacy" organization of the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid focused on promoting the growth of Olympic and youth sport in Chicago. The International Cup was co-presented and organized by Illinois Youth Soccer.

For more details about the event, visit the World Sport Chicago International Cup page on www.illinoisyouthsoccer.org/InternationalCup.html.

To view more photos from the International Cup, please visit our Flickr page.

ABOUT WORLD SPORT CHICAGO
World Sport Chicago (WSC) is an Illinois not-for-profit working to enhance the image, awareness and participation in Olympic sports across Chicago and to extend Chicago's international outreach through and for sport and youth. Focused on promoting the development of recreational and competitive sport to the area's youth, WSC works closely with Chicago 2016 and Chicago's 2016's Athlete Advisory Counsel (AAC) to provide sport expertise and athlete insight to the execution of these sporting events. WSC intends to aid Chicago in developing a sustainable, international sporting legacy as a real agent of social change for the city. William Scherr, an Olympic medalist in wrestling, is chairman of the board and Scott Myers serves as the executive director.

ABOUT ILLINOIS YOUTH SOCCER
Illinois Youth Soccer is the official representative of US Youth Soccer and the United States Soccer Federation in Illinois. Affiliates of Illinois Youth Soccer provide more than 83,000 youth in Illinois with the opportunity to play soccer, making Illinois Youth Soccer Illinois' largest youth sport organization.

Media Contacts:
Mica Matsoff
Chicago 2016
Director of Communications
(312) 861-4891
mmatsoff@chicago2016.org