Warner wanted a confederation every 2 year to develope and grow interest in Soccer in the region. The Gold Cup has been held every 2 years since 1991. Also the USA has hosted or co-hosted every tourney. There is a little problem that has developed in 2009. First off the USA will be playing in the Confederations Cup from June 14th to June 28th in 2009 and that was the month the 2007 Gold Cup was held. Also 12 teams in CONCACAF are still playing WCQ matched throughout 2009.
The Caribbean is starting its qualifying for Gold Cup 2009 soon. Only 6 CONCACAF countries have WCQs in 2009, not 12. Last cycle there was a Gold Cup 2005 and Mexico participated in both it and the Confederations Cup. Two years ago the United States participated in the Gold Cup and Copa America.
I hope that the CONCACAF powers that be realize that it would be a great idea to not put the Gold Cup and the Copa America in the same year. I would love to see a Copa America tournament where the US and Mexico could send full squads to the Copa being that it looks like they will participate going forward.
Yes I agree the UNCAF places the top 5 in the Gold Cup but the point will be mute if there is no Gold Cup 2009. thank you for correcting me with only 6 teams will still be in it in 09 the year of the Gold Cup. My point was that club teams decide to release players for national duty. Asking Premiership Clubs (who pay millions to players) will be very reluctant to release players for all 3 competions in one year (Confederations Cup, WCQ play and the Gold Cup). You make an excellent counter point with Mexico playing in all 3. I am hoping they have a 2009 Gold Cup. I am also hoping they rotate the host and expand it to 16 nations. Thanks for your points and reply. Cheers
Most would like to see the US and Mex send top teams to Copa America tournament however that seems very unlikly. "looks like they will participate going forward" Actually looks the opposite. After CONCACAF decided to field and entire Gold Cup w/ CONCACAF teams, the agreement was broken w/ CONMEBOL about teams exchanges for each others tournament. Hopefully CONMEBOL will continue to take CONCACAF teams to fill out their 12 teams field. http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/news/newsid=112815.html
Thanks for the clarification. That's a shame. You always want the US to play against some better competition than what is available in the region so that they are better prepared to play in the World Cup. I read on other thread that the US and Mexico were even possibly going to be hosts for the 2011 tournament? This contradicts that idea completely.
I also agree with the idea of rotating the host site every tournament. As long as the Gold Cup is always played in the US there will be people who say that the only reason that the US wins is because they play in the US. Are there other countries that are able to host the tournament other than Mexico? I think that would add another dimension to the tournament to switch it around.
Not to mention the fact that fans in other countries deserve to have a chance at seeing the games live, too. This was discussed at some length in another thread. You really only need three decent stadiums to host the tournament. Canada could certainly do it alone. Quite possibly countries like Costa Rica or Honduras. If a joint bid went forward you could even have three smaller countries contribute one stadium each.
The Confederations Cup and Gold Cup are during the Premier League offseason and the WCQs are on international matchdays albeit some on friendly matchdays. Although the average United States National Team player playing in England may be better and higher paid than the average United States National Team player playing in MLS, you could say it is more of an issue for the Americans playing in MLS because MLS plays in the summer and doesn't pause for international matchdays.
The US and Mexico shouldn't be in Copa America - a lot of people take it for granted that they belong there. They are in North America, not South America, and therefore are only guests of CONMEBOL. In what other continental confederation are guest teams needed? As far as I am aware, only CONCACAF and CONMEBOL have needed to do this. US and Mexico would have less of a problem in terms of number of games if they just didn't enter the Copa America. If the standard of CONCACAF improves, then US and Mexico have no need to look for better teams to play elsewhere. The standard of CONCACAF will improve if US and Mexico put out their best squads, and other countries then try to match that level. If they send their best sides to Copa America, and susbstandard sides to the Gold Cup, then they are doing nothing for CONCACAF.
It would be nice to see Jamaica host it, or T&T host it. Canada I would like to see host 2009. Still I've always said I don't mind the Gold Cup here in the States, but I don't mind it somewhere else in CONCACAF outside the USA & Mexico & have it once every four years instead of once every two years.
I feel it would be a lot better for the region if the Gold Cup was allowed to be moved. Even a co-hosting (like Jamaica and T&T) would make it possible for other countries to develop their stadiums and infrastructure if they have a financial reason to. Selfishly, a trip to Kingston sounds nicer than a bus ride to L.A. or Chicago.
It should never be held in USA or Mexico again or atleast for a long time Because then there will always be crap about....oh USA just one because it was in usa Or mexico just won because it was in mexico and no body can beat them in Estadio Azteca I would really enjoy watching a carribean country host it I like your idea of a Co-host
The problem is that no one will go to the games in another country. The double headers at the last Gold Cup are the perfect example of why it wouldn't work in another nation. The Orange Bowl didn't have that many people at the first game, but when Haiti took the field a lot more people showed up. People weren't interested in watching other countries play. Americans don't even go to watch their own national team in their own county, so there is no way 20,000 Americans would fly to a place like Costa Rica to see the USA vs Panama, or some other crappy match up. As for the every 4 years argument, I am against that because the current system gives the small nations of CONCACAF a reason to have a team. The Bahamas for example were destroyed by Jamaica in a two game series and they will not try to qualify for another World Cup for 4 years. If the Gold Cup was only every 4 years then they would have to attempt to qualify for that and get eliminated very quickly and sit there for another year, or 2 without doing anything.
I'm all for having it every two years. Like the poster above said, it gives teams like the Bahamas a reason to exist. I'd like to see another country besides the US or Mexico host it, but I think its unlikely. I'm pretty sure having it in the US = money because of the large immigrant population. Mexico could obviously host a successful tournament as well. Still, it would be cool to see a joint T&T / Jamaica bid or something like that.
The problem with it being in Mexico is that they would have trouble drawing crowds for any game that didn't involve Mexico. If they did the double header format then it would be like last year where no one showed up until the second game when Haiti played at the Orange Bowl.
Just to highlight this point of contention, during Group B play in the CFU Gold Cup playoffs in Guyana, the host nation beat Dominica 3-0 in front of 3000 fans. Against Suriname (a 1-1 draw), attendance was listed at 10,000 according to CONCACAF. The middle game of the group, Suriname vs. Dominica (a 3-1 Suriname win), drew a paltry 175 people.
The question is, does this really matter? Sure, we'd all love to see packed houses for all the games. The US offers the best chance to draw big crowds regardless of who is playing (although Canada, with its similarly large immigrant populations, would probably also do well). However, I don't think we should simply hand the tournament to the US every time just because they would draw the biggest crowds. By analogy, the World Juniors in hockey have their tournament every year. When it's held in Canada every game is sold out (usually more than a year in advance). When it's held in other countries some games are sold out and others draw paltry attendance. That doesn't mean the IIHF simply gives Canada the tournament every year because it is an international tournament. Same thing with the Gold Cup. I'm not saying Haiti should be hosting the event. Things like proper venues, security, media access, and decent crowds are necessary. Sellouts or huge crowds for every game are not.
I think that the tournament should not be held in the US for a while. The US has had the tournament for too long. I also hope that there isn't a Gold Cup until 2012. Next year we have the Confederations Cup 2009, 2010 we have the World Cup, and in 2011 we have the Copa America. I hope this federation does the right thing and allows our best squad to attend these great tournaments. Not sure what having the Gold Cup without our best team would do for soccer in this country to be honest. That being said, I think a team full of MLS players would make the finals of this tournament anyway. The star of the last tournament was Benny Feilhaber. The man can't get playing time at Derby County.
Feilhaber may have been star of the final but the star of the whole tourney (and MVP) was Julian de Guzman. I like the idea of waiting 3-5 years for the next one. 2 years could work, but if the Confederations Cup is moving to a 4-year rotation, will we need a playoff between the last two Gold Cup winners to determine our entry in that tournament?
Tuesday night on FSC's broadcast of Joe Public / NE Revolution, Mark Rogondino said Khano Smith was with Bermuda for Gold Cup qualifying. I'm assuming that is for 2009.
Not sure if Concacaf has every officially announced a Gold Cup 2009, but the FIFA calendar lists the Confederations Cup from June 14-19, and the Gold Cup from July 3-26 http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/wor...lmc-fifa-dates-2008-2014-updatemay2008-en.pdf http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/calendar/events.html
I'd say we shouldn't be in it. What's the point? It's not our continent, we don't care about it. CONMEBOL should either invite Suriname and Guyana (two countries that are IN South America) or they should just play a tournament with the teams they have. They could have two groups of 5 with the top 2 teams advancing to the knockout round. Or, if they want to have more knockout games, they could have the top 3 from the groups of 5 advance. The first place teams get a BYE and the teams who finished 2nd and 3rd play each other. For example: Quarterfinals: QF1: Group A #2 vs Group B #3 QF2: Group A #3 vs Group B #2 BYE: Group A #1, Group B #1 Semifinals: Group A #1 vs Winner QF1 Group B #1 vs Winner QF2 Winners of these games go to Championship, Losers go to Third Place Game Either way, that would actually be BETTER than the current format.