体坛英语新闻：San Jose to host important sports events in coming two years

SAN JOSE, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- San Jose, capital city of Costa Rica, will host important sports events that will be a rehearsal for the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) U-17 Women's World Cup, to be held in the Central American country for the first time in 2014.

The first, the Central American Football Union (UNCAF) 2013 Central American Cup, will be held from January 18 to 27, with the participation of Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Panama and Belize.

The second event, the 10th Central American Games, the first time in Costa Rica, will be held from March 3 to 17, 2013. This event opens the Olympic cycle in the region.

The third event is the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup to be hosted by Costa Rica in 2014. This cup will be the first one that FIFA has granted to a Central American country and is a time challenge for Costa Rica, because the country hasn't build the necessary stadiums yet.

UNCAF 2013 CENTRAL AMERICAN CUP

This tournament will define the qualification of the four Central American countries that will take part in the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) Gold Cup, to be held in the United States by mid-2013.

The last time Costa Rica was seat of a UNCAF cup was in 1999, when all the matches were played at the "Estadio Nacional de la Sabana" old stadium and Costa Rican national team won the regional championship.

The "Sabana" stadium was also the seat of the first UNCAF cup in 1991, where Costa Rica was also champion.

This time UNCAF cup will be played again in "Sabana" stadium as well as in the new "Estadio Nacional de San Jose", donated by the People's Republic of China and opened in March 2011.

The new stadium, with capacity for 35,000 people, has become Costa Rica's spearhead to organize several sports events.

2013 CENTRAL AMERICAN GAMES

About the Central American Games, Johnny Araya, Mayor of San Jose and President of the organizing committee, told Xinhua that all the sports facilities to be used in these games are practically ready, including the "Estadio Nacional de San Jose", where the opening and closing ceremonies will be held.

"Everything is practically ready so that we will make the Central American Games a great and memorable event. We only lack some small details. But I'm sure they will be a success for Costa Rica," said Araya.

The Costa Rican sculptor, Jorge Jimenez Deredia, will be in charge to design the cauldron for the Olympic fire, which will travel through the total 81 cantons in relay races.

The games' official song, called "Let's Stand Up", is performed by Debbie Nova, while the official mascot is a jaguar called "Namu", a word from the Costa Rican indigenous group Bribri to name this animal.

Costa Rica expects the presence of 3,800 athletes from the region, who will compete for the gold, silver and bronze medals in 35 sports.

2014 FIFA U-17 WOMEN'S WORLD CUP

The 2014 FIFA Women's World Cup's main seat will be the "Estadio Nacional de San Jose" stadium, while the "Ricardo Saprisa" stadium, in the northern region of San Jose, will also host the competition.

Nevertheless, after her recent visit to Costa Rica, Tatjana Haenni, FIFA's Women's Competitions Director, said she was concerned because the stadiums of Jaco, at 90 kilometers east of San Jose and of Liberia, in the country's northwestern region, are not finished yet.

Jaco and Liberia cities haven't yet began the stadiums' building process just 15 months before the cup. Haenni said "it's possible to build them in this time but the building has to begin right now."

Despite the economic and organization difficulties, the Costa Rican authorities have said that thanks to the "Estadio Nacional de San Jose" they are able to host several international sports events.