The 2008 Pan-Pacific Championship is the inaugural edition of the Pan-Pacific Championship association football competition which took place on February 20 and February 23 at the Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States featuring teams from Japan's J. League, United States Major League Soccer (MLS) and the A-League of Australia and New Zealand.
For the 2008 tournament, the A-League was not represented by the champion team but instead by the loser of the minor semi-final. 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 campaign.
The 2008 tournament also features Gamba Osaka of the J. League, which were the 2007 J. League Cup champion, and Major League Soccer representatives Houston Dynamo and Los Angeles Galaxy, the latter reportedly chosen instead of the desired 2007 SuperLiga champion, as Pachuca declined and Galaxy were the Superliga runner-up. The Galaxy's first game was versus Gamba Osaka.BBC SPORT | Football | Galaxy set for Pan-Pacific test while the Dynamo were drawn against Sydney FC.
Bracket
Semifinals
Third-place match
Final
2008 Pan-Pacific ChampionshipwinnersGamba Osaka1st title
Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals 1 Baré Gamba Osaka 5 2 Ely Allen Los Angeles Galaxy 1 Ricardo Clark Houston Dynamo 1 Dwayne De Rosario Houston Dynamo 1 Stuart Holden Houston Dynamo 1 Brendan Renaud Sydney FC 1 Lucas Severino Gamba Osaka 1 Josh Tudela Los Angeles Galaxy 1 Chris Wondolowski Houston Dynamo 1 Masato Yamazaki Gamba Osaka 1
Sponsors The following is a list of the official sponsors of the Pan-Pacific Championship 2008. MLJ Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa on Waikiki Beach Onkyo The Honolulu Advertiser Japan Airlines Yamazaki-Nabisco Active Hawaii Johnson & Johnson
References
nl:Pan-Pacific Championship 2008