If the Melbourne Victory reach the finals of the A-League, they might be in the running for a spot at the first-ever Pan-Pacific Championship in February. Four teams will compete in the tournament, to be held in Honolulu, Hawaii.
One Australian team will play the MLS Cup Champion, the Houston Dynamo, while David Beckham and the LA Galaxy will face the J-League’s Gamba Osaka.
Details on how the Australian team is selected are somewhat vague. The A-League website states that “an Australian side that will qualify on the basis of results from the Hyundai A-League finals series.” You’d assume the Grand Final winner gets through, right?
But the A-League Grand Final is to be played on the 24th of February – a day after the Pan-Pacific Championship kicks off. As a result, the loser of the preliminary final will get to compete in Hawaii.
Pretty sweet consolation prize, if you ask me.
