This was an ugly game and Mexicans difficulties continues in this competition 🇹🇳🇹🇳🇹🇳Nine-man @ESTuniscom prevailed on penalties to win the #ClubWC match for fifth place against @Chivas 👇 pic.twitter.com/NjOSvQWdl9— FIFA (@FIFAcom) December 18, 2018
🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪Host team @alainfcae_en advanced to the #ClubWC final after a penalty shoot-out victory against @CARPoficial 💪 pic.twitter.com/xWI2L3QtTH— FIFA (@FIFAcom) December 18, 2018
6th place is the worst finish ever for the CONCACAF representative in the CWC. Combined with River Plate's failure it was a terrible day for the Americas. Great semifinal to attend however! A historic moment for UAE soccer.
Looked like concacaf might have turned a corner last year with a great showing by club America, but then Chivas took this thing the other way. So now Asia and Africa have been to the final. Concacaf not so much. Also, we've been robbed of what would have actually been a quite interesting final. ******** soccer.
Nice I bought an Al Ain jersey when we stopped in Abu Dhabi on deployment a few years ago. Might have to break that sucker out again.
The schedule information is out: https://www.concacafchampionsleague...the-2019-scotiabank-concacaf-champions-league 2019 CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16 Home team first, times are ET First Leg Tuesday, February 19 Saprissa (CRC) v. Tigres UANL (MEX) 8:00 pm Club Atletico Independiente (PAN) v. Toronto FC (CAN) 8:00 pm CD Guastatoya (GUA) v. Houston Dynamo (USA) 10:00 pm Wednesday, February 20 CD Marathon (HON) v. Santos Laguna (MEX) 8:00 pm Club Atletico Pantoja (DOM) v. NY Red Bulls (USA) 10:00 pm Alianza FC (SLV) v. CF Monterrey (MEX) 10:00 pm Thursday, February 21 Sporting Kansas City (USA) v. Toluca FC (MEX) 8:00 pm CS Herediano (CRC) v. Atlanta United (USA) 10:00 pm Second Leg Tuesday, February 26 Houston Dynamo (USA) v. CD Guastatoya (GUA) 8:00 pm Toronto FC (CAN) v. Club Atletico Independiente (PAN) 8:00 pm Tigres UANL (MEX) v. Deportivo Saprissa (CRC) 10:00 pm Wednesday, February 27 NY Red Bulls (USA) v. Club Atletico Pantoja (DOM) 8:00 pm Santos Laguna (MEX) v. CD Marathon (HON) 8:00 pm CF Monterrey (MEX) v. Alianza FC (SLV) 10:00 pm Thursday, February 28 Atlanta United (USA) v. CS Herediano (CRC) 8:00 pm Toluca FC (MEX) v. Sporting Kansas City (USA) 10:00 pm The Quarterfinals start on March 5.
And under a better system, Herediano would have been seeded, while Atlanta wouldn't have, so it all balances out. If you use my (obviously unimpeachable ) coefficients, Atlanta would have been the #11 seed, behind all 4 Mexican teams, New York, Kansas City, Toronto, Saprissa, Herediano, and Alianza.
If you're worried about the non-Mexican teams you might as well just give up now. It doesn't get any easier once you get past them.
@ArsenalMetro 's post speaks to a deeper case of getting screwed: the fact that CRC only gets one direct entry into the CCL while the USA gets four is incredibly uneven, given past performance. Considering who the top countries are and how competitive their leagues are, a fair CCL would see 3 USA teams and 2 CRC teams getting direct entry, while one more from each going to the CL first.
Since 1996 to present the US and CR aren't that far apart but it is apparent that MLS is and will be better than CR. Since 1996 to date MLS (including Canada since they don't have a league yet and their teams are actually MLS teams) have won 2 CCL and have come up 4 times Runners up. 3 times 3rd place and 2 times 4th place. (3rd and 4th was from 2008 forward) Costa Rica has 3 CCL and 2 Runners up since 1996. 2 3rd place and 2 4th place since 2008. All in all they aren't that far apart but aside from Saprissa and Alajualense, Costa Rica's other clubs aren't that good. Herediano has recently challenged again the other two in their domestic league ever since it got sold a few years back but it is usually those 2 that have represented CR. MLS, much like Liga MX, doesn't have 1 or 2 clubs dominating season after season. Having more clubs from Costa Rica won't really change their chances of performing better.
The number of teams able to win the title doesn't matter as long as the continental-qualifying teams still hold their weight in international play. See: the extended dominance of the "Big Four" in the Premier League. The three CRC clubs you mention usually do very well in the CCL - close to what the better two or three USA teams do. That's all they need to justify having more than one slot.
It's been over a decade since South American teams could compete against the UEFA champions. Now with moneyed leagues popping up all over the world and draining South American talent even more plus development all over the world improving substantially I think we are now at an era were it's UEFA and everybody else. Simply put, the money is in UEFA.
I tend to agree. Let's see if River Plate manage to avoid the worst finish ever for CONMEBOL tomorrow against Kashima Antlers.
With the rest (e.g. China, the Gulf leagues, Liga MX, MLS) struggling to wrest talent away from the big leagues by offering above market value for players or waiting until they are past their prime. A similar dynamic to what you see in basketball, where star NBA players could easily earn more by signing overseas, but stay for the prestige. The one difference, to be fair, is that said football leagues can also get ahead of the curve by buying emerging talent before they make the jump to Europe, whereas European basketball leagues are probably more hard-pressed to sign good players out of NCAA who aren't yet NBA-ready, because of our insular nature in the US. Yes, I'll again beat this drum: those MLS sides did not win the CCL, but a version of the Champions Cup in which they got to host the entire tournament. IMO the Concacaf titles won by Alajuelense and Saprissa in the mid-2000s should be held in higher regard because they had to deal with home-and-away series all the way through.
I straight-up don't count those tournaments as actual continental titles. They're in the same class as SuperLiga for me. A trophy, sure, but not one of any value.
To be frank, the market is whatever price is offered. And the issue is not even that these players are leaving, they are also leaving very young and to many more markets. It's not just Portugal and Netherlands sucking up young talent. Just last year MLS bought two very good teenagers in Diego Rossi and Ezequiel Barco. I wouldn't be surprised that J-league, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Korea, and other smaller leagues are doing the same. Every year we say that they are taking players younger and younger. We've been saying this for how many years now? 25? Little by little the talent drain is a little worse.
An example to clarify what I mean: are you going to tell me that TFC offered a market-price contract (at the time) to Michael Bradley?
Sure, but anything that happened in the mid-2000s should be held in ANY regard with regards to setting up a tournament today. Things are changing fast enough in this region that even events of five years ago on the club scene are of questionable relevance.
True - the likes of David Guzmán, Ronald Matarrita and Ulises Segura would've have stayed in Costa Rica a decade ago.