Hawaiian Islands Invitational

The Hawaiian Islands Invitational was an inter-confederation association football tournament that was founded in 2007, as the Pan-Pacific Championship. The tournament consisted of four teams, who contested a knock-out style competition that spanned three days.

Hawaiian Islands Invitational
Founded2007
RegionCONCACAF and AFC
Number of teams4
Current champions Busan IPark (1st Title)
Most successful club(s) Busan IPark (1)
Suwon Samsung Bluewings (1)
Gamba Osaka (1)
2012 Hawaiian Islands Invitational

History

When the Pan-Pacific Championship folded, due to turf issues at the Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, moves were put in place to attempt to reconstruct an inter-confederation, end of season tournament that would see some of the best teams from North American, Asia, and Australia go head to head. In March 2011, it was announced that the Hawaiian Islands Invitational would be set up, by ESPN Regional Television, Inc. in co-operation with the Hawai’i Tourism Authority and Major League Soccer.[1][2]

Like the former Pan-Pacific Championships, the tournament will be held at Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, and will be broadcast live on ESPN, and ESPNs subsidiary stations.[3]

Champions

The 2008 tournament was held in Aloha Stadium, Four teams were due to participate.

However, the A-League was not represented by the champion team but instead by the loser of the minor semi-final, Sydney FC. This is due to a scheduling conflict with the Grand Final on February 24, which was moved back so as not to interfere with Australia's 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) campaign. North American SuperLiga Champions Pachuca declined to enter the tournament and were replaced with runners up Los Angeles Galaxy.

The 2009 tournament was held in Home Depot Center, Four teams participated.

The 2012 tournament was held in Aloha Stadium, Four teams were selected. The teams come from the same confederations as the former Pan-Pacific Championships, CONCACAF and AFC.[4]

Year Host Final Third-place match
Winner Score Runner-up 3rd place Score 4th place
2008 Honolulu, Hawaii Gamba Osaka 6–1 Houston Dynamo Los Angeles Galaxy 2–1 Sydney FC
2009 Carson, California Suwon Bluewings 1–1
(P4–2)		 Los Angeles Galaxy Ōita Trinita 2–1 Shandong Luneng
2012 Honolulu, Hawaii Busan IPark 3–0 Yokohama FC Colorado Rapids 1–0 Melbourne Heart Youth Team

See also

References
  1. "Hawaiian Islands Invitational: New ESPN Soccer Event In 2012". PaddockTalk. 15 March 2011. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  2. Margolis, Rachel (15 March 2011). "Hawaiian Islands Invitational: New ESPN Soccer Event in 2012". ESPN. Archived from the original on 9 December 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  3. "COLORADO RAPIDS TO PARTICIPATE IN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS INVITATIONAL IN FEBRUARY". Gateway News. 15 March 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  4. "Rapids to participate in 2012 Hawaiian Islands Invitational". Major League Soccer. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
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