As I tuned into Fox Sports World last night, the segment on Canada's inability to qualify for the World Cup sparked an otherwise absent-minded evening... If, in fact, the United States is separating themselves from the rest of the region (save Mexico perhaps), will it stunt the USMT's potential to develop into one of the elite soccer nations? Playing against weak competition can't be too helpful for the US going forward, can it? Further, will the region ever establish itself to be more than thrid or fourth rate in the World's eyes? And, what is wrong with Canada?!? Will they qualify in 2010 with Yallop? Also, an interesting note that Owen Hargreaves went to England to play though he's just as much Canadian... never knew. One other area that I'm looking for a knowledgeable view on is (I just can't remember what's been said)... Is MLS considering incorporating Canada into the league pool? If not, why not? Shouldn't an area like Vancouver be able to be profitable and successful in MLS? What about Montreal?
Toronto has shown the most interest (and possible$$$$$) so far; Vancouver seems content to stay in the A-League. From what I've read, the owners think MLS is just too expensive. MLS would probably be interested in any city in Canada with investors and plans for a stadium.
The one thing for sure is that the US is getting better. Meanwhile, Mexico has hit a plateau. As for the rest of COCACAF, it's matter of opinion if they're getting worse or if they've always sucked this bad. We'll all have to wait and see if countries like Canada and Costa Rica rise to challenge or are content to be easy marks for the US and Mexico from now on. And as for MLS in Canada, there's been a whole lot of hot debate in the Expansion boards about it. Seems pointless to start another thread.
I think MLS will become the destination league for players from CONCACAF. So MLS will help small CONCACAF countries like T&T, Guat, Hondo, Jamaica. MLS will be a big step above domestic CONCACAF leagues and be the place where CONCACAF internationals not good enough to play in Europe develop. This will help MLS level of play and it will help small CONCACAF countries. The US and Mexico will still be head and shoulders above the rest of CONCACAF, save maybe Costa Rica, but these MLS CONCACAF players will provide enough competition for the US to not totally stunt our growth. In effect MLS helping CONCACAF internationals play at a fairly high level will help the US by providing decent competition.
I suppose Canadians would have a better chance to get involved, thus promoting a quote on quote Canadian League, even if it was only one or two teams... As for MLS Canada, I'll check the expansion boards - thanks for the info.
I don't get the feeling that Canada will be a force in our lifetimes. Who knows though. What we have to do is make European powers want to play us in meaningful friendlies. Make the Beckham's want to come here, make the competition want to play tough here to make an impression on Americans. We need to use our buying power to our benefit, maybe? It helps us in qualifying when we have friendlies against Haiti and Honduras, but to get to the next level we have to forget about CONCACAF.
I agree, however, what do you mean by "meaningful friendlies"? Sounds oxymoronic. If MLS didn't run through the summer, we could start accepting those invitations to play in in the Copa America. That would be useful. Confederations Cup was a good opportunity for us, but few teams brought their strongest sides (including the US).
To those who think USA's recent domination vs Mexico is going to last forever, I think you are being unrealistic. For years, Mexico has consistently made it out of the World Cup group stages. The fact that the USA made it to the quarters one time doesn't mean it's going to keep happening. USA and Mexico are going to be bitter rivals for many, many years. And the upperhand is going to shift based upon the tallent and leadership at any given time. Let's face it, the size of USA's tallent pool and development infrastructure is still behind Mexico. Mexico is a big country, and soccer is the number one game.
Costa Rica has never been an easy opponent and should not be lumped with Canada. Wherever MLS expansion goes, it should be really slow. Soccer just isn't that popular in the US or Canada.
Couldn't have said it better myself. I'm always amazed when fellow US fans seem convinced that henceforth the US will always dominate Mexico, as if we've crossed a line that will never have to be crossed again. In my recollection, we still have yet to put on a solid performance in Azteca whereby victory looked attainable.