Women’s Soccer Tourney Field Is Set

The 2006 Seoul International Women’s Club Soccer Championship opens on May 13 at Seoul World Cup Stadium. Since its inauguration last year, the sports event has hosted women’s soccer clubs from all around. The six clubs competing in the event are; Seoul City Hall, the Taiwan national team, Shanghai STV, Queensland Sting (Australia), Spartak (Russia), and Ajax America (USA).

The strongest candidate for this year’s title is Shanghai STV, whose roster includes 10 China national team members. But Shanghai faces formidable opponents: Ajax America, whose start player Shannon Boxx was voted as one of the Best Eleven at the 2003 Women’s World Cup; and the Queensland Sting, the top club in Australia. Taiwan is also a worthy contender, ranked 25th in FIFA rankings. Seoul City Hall, fronted by its talented striker Park Eun-sun, aims to uphold the ego of the host nation.

The opening ceremony is scheduled to commence at 2:00 p.m., May 13. The show will feature performances by Koyotae, Tuti, and other big name pop singers. The opening match between Seoul City Hall and the Taiwan national team will be held at three in the afternoon. The games will be played as a full-league tournament divided into two groups, with three teams in each group. The final match will be fought between the winners of each group at 2:00 p.m. on May 19.

The upcoming event is hosted by the city of Seoul and managed by Seoul Sports Council in conjunction with Yeonhanaro. KBS SKY and SBS will broadcast the event, sponsored by Dong-A Ilbo. Admission is free to all matches.

Jae-Yun Jung jaeyuna@donga.com