Atiba Hutchinson and Team Canada will try to win the Gold Cup soccer tournament this summer for the first time since 2000. (Nam Y. Huh/Canadian Press)

Teams at this summer's Gold Cup may want to pack light because the men's soccer tournament is being played in a record 13 venues across the United States, meaning squads will be on the move for every game.

Unfortunately, Canada will be doing little travelling to prepare for the 12-country tournament July 3-26.

Coach Dale Mitchell confirmed Monday that Canada's warm-up for the CONCACAF championship will be a May 30 game in Cyprus, followed by a training camp.

FIFA has two international match dates for friendlies between March 28 and April 1, but Canada is not taking advantage.

"I would prefer to be playing on every international date, but it's not possible this year," Mitchell said Monday from Trinidad and Tobago, where he is taking in the CONCACAF under-20 qualifying tournament.

Budget issues seem to be the problem.

Canada, ranked 88th in the world and eighth among CONCACAF countries, has not played since finishing a disastrous World Cup qualifying campaign with a 3-0 loss in Jamaica on Nov. 19.

The Gold Cup is Canada's most important competition other than World Cup qualifying.

CONCACAF, which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean, has opted to divide its biennial championship among 13 cities, more than twice the previous high.

Doubleheaders will be played in 12 cities with the 13th venue — Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. — hosting the championship game.

The first round will take place July 3-12 in Los Angeles (Home Depot Center), Seattle (Qwest Field), San Francisco (Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum), Columbus, Ohio (Crew Stadium), Washington (RFK Stadium), Houston (Reliant Stadium), Miami (Florida International University Stadium), Foxborough, Mass. (Gillette Stadium) and Phoenix (University of Phoenix Stadium).

The quarter-finals will be at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field and the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium on July 18 and 19. CONCACAF said the soccer match will be the first ever sporting event in the Cowboys' new home in Arlington, Texas.

The semifinals are July 23 at Chicago's Soldier Field.

Canada likely to open at Seattle

Seattle could be a likely opening destination for Canada.

CONCACAF general secretary Chuck Blazer said increasing the number of venues might actually help during the economic downturn because the tournament won't be asking the same fan base to dig into their pockets for more than one game.

"In reality, it plays to the fact that people are going to save their money. They're going to use their money frugally," he said.

But Mitchell said coaches won't be as enthusiastic about the added travel.

"To be hopping around like that, I think if you talk to most of the coaches, they'd probably prefer to be in one city," he said.

Blazer said there had been "early consideration" about staging a game in Canada, but the idea was shelved because it was too complicated because of visas and other logistical reasons.

Games will be played on synthetic surfaces in four stadiums: Seattle, Miami, Foxborough and Arlington. Grass will be laid over the existing artificial surface for the final in Giants Stadium.

The Gold Cup was played in six different cities in its two most recent editions, including two venues in the Los Angeles area in 2005 (Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and Home Depot Center).

The draw for the tournament will be made 30 to 40 days from now, CONCACAF said.

The field will feature Canada, Mexico and the U.S. from the region's North Zone; Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua from Central America; and Jamaica, Grenada, Guadeloupe and Haiti from the Caribbean.

The Canadians, under manager Holger Osieck, won the event in 2000.