Former Columbia Men's Soccer Star Leads U.S. U-17 Women's National Team at World Cup Qualifier
7/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Former Columbia men's soccer standout Kazbek Tambi '83 has lead the U.S. U-17 Women's National Team to a 2-0 start thus far at the 2008 CONCACAF Under-17 Women's Championship in Trinidad. Tambi, serving as head coach, and the American squad have dominated their first two opponents, defeating Costa Rica, 6-0, on July 18 and El Salvador, 9-0, on July 20.
Tambi was a four-year letterwinner for the Lions from 1979-82 and was a two-time All-Ivy League selection. Over the course of his four seasons at Columbia, the men's soccer program went a combined 48-11-9, won four straight Ivy League championships and advanced to the NCAA Tournament every year. In 1980, Tambi helped advance the Lions to the team's first ever Final Four appearance.
The U.S. will conclude Group A action on Tuesday, July 22, with a match against host nation Trinidad & Tobago at 7:00 p.m. The top two teams from Group A and Group B will advance to the semifinals, to be played on July 24. The third-place and championship matches will take place on July 27.
The U.S. has clinched a berth into the semifinal round and sits atop Group A with six points. Trinidad is in second place with four points. The teams are attempting to qualify for
the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, which will be held from
Oct. 28-Nov. 16 in New Zealand. CONCACAF is the last region to qualify
for the 2008 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in New Zealand, after
Ghana and Nigeria clinched African qualifying earlier this month. Three
teams will qualify from the CONCACAF region, including the two U-17
Women's Championship finalists and the team that finishes in third
place.
The winner of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament will
join Group C as the seeded team along with Japan, France and Paraguay.
One other CONCACAF team will play in Group A with host New Zealand,
Colombia and Denmark. The other CONCACAF qualifier will play in Group B
with Germany, North Korea and either Ghana or Nigeria.
