CONCACAF men's football Olympic preliminaries starts in U.S.

WASHINGTON, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The 2008 CONCACAF men's Olympic qualification will take place in the United States from March 11-23 and the top two finishers are to advance to the football tournament of this summer's Beijing Olympics.

This is the first time in eight years that the final round of the CONCACAF men's Olympic qualification will be held in the USA. The 2000 event took place in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The CONCACAF final round tournament, an under-23 event, will consist of two groups of four competing on a round-robin basis from March 11-16.

Group A, which will play games at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, has Cuba, Honduras, Panama, along with the hosts. Meanwhile, Group B, will be played at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The group consists of the defending CONCACAF Champion, Mexico, along with Canada, Guatemala and Haiti.

The top two teams from the two groups will sail into the semifinals in Nashville, Tennessee on March 20, where the two winners of the semifinals will qualify to the 2008 Olympic Games, to be opened on Aug. 8 in Beijing.