2012 Olympic Draw: SJP to Host 9 Football Matches

The draw for the 2012 Olympic football tournaments was held Tuesday, and Newcastle will host 5 group stage matches on the men's side and 2 on the women's side. In addition, 1 quarterfinal match in each tournament will take place at St James' Park (Stadium sponsorships are not recognized at the Olympics - although I'm not quite sure SDA counts, since the club isn't even receiving any money from the arrangement).

The following matches will take place at SJP:

Men's Tournament

Match 2 (Group B), Mexico vs. South Korea, July 26

Match 5 (Group B), Gabon vs. Switzerland, July 26

Match 12 (Group D), Spain vs. Honduras, July 29

Match 15 (Group D), Japan vs. Morocco, July 29

Match 17 (Group C), Brazil vs. New Zealand, August 1

Quarterfinal (Winner, Group C) vs. (Runner-up, Group D), August 4

Women's Tournament

Match 14 (Group F), Canada vs. Sweden, July 31

Match 16 (Group G), France vs. Colombia, July 31

Quarterfinal (Winner, Group G) vs. (Third Place, Group E or F), August 3

That's 9 matches over a period of 9 days featuring the Brazilian, Spanish, and Mexican men's teams. We've known since November that St James' Park would not have the pleasure of hosting Team GB, but that's a pretty good consolation. Tickets are reportedly still available for most games.