Shalrie Joseph holds the SuperLiga 2008 trophy aloft after the Revs defeated the Houston Dynamo in penalty kicks.

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution, which was crowned champion of North America after winning SuperLiga 2008, will defend its title as one of four Major League Soccer teams to compete in SuperLiga 2009, MLS Commissioner Don Garber announced this past weekend during his state of the league address prior to MLS Cup. New England is joined in the tournament by fellow MLS clubs Chicago Fire, Kansas City Wizards and Chivas USA. The four Mexican participants as well as group pairings, dates and locations for the matches, will be announced at a later date.

SuperLiga is a premier international tournament that pits the best of the United States against the best of Mexico, with eight clubs – four each from the top-flight leagues in the U.S. and Mexico – vying to determine a singular champion of North America. The competition includes a group phase and knockout phase, with – in previous years – all games held at U.S. venues.

Competitive criteria determined which clubs would represent MLS in SuperLiga 2009, with Garber announcing that teams could compete in either the 2009/10 CONCACAF Champions League or SuperLiga, but not both. MLS Cup Winner Columbus Crew will participate in next year’s CONCACAF Champions League along with the MLS Cup Runner-up New York Red Bulls, U.S. Open Cup champion D.C. United and regular-season Western Conference leader Houston Dynamo. The top four teams not competing in the CONCACAF Champions League were then selected for SuperLiga 2009, and given these criteria, New England qualified along with Chicago, Kansas City and Chivas USA.

The Revs will enter SuperLiga 2009 as the competition’s defending champions, as they defeated MLS-rival Houston, 6-5 on penalty kicks, after a 2-2 draw in the 2008 title match on Aug. 5 at Gillette Stadium, capping their first-ever SuperLiga appearance with a championship. The trophy was the Revolution’s second in two years after winning the 2007 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.