The Gold Cup has never been thought great of a tournament, but it was starting to improve. The region has improved enough that we were able to do away with guest teams (automatically giving it more credibility) and still have a strong field of teams. This year the Gold Cup comes right in the middle of world cup qualifying. With nothing at stake for the winner (ie no confederations cup bid) there isn't any motivation to field your top squad for this competition. I'm willing to be that all the teams in the hex will field reserve squads. A very water down tournament. The timing of this couldn't be worse. This tournament needs to only be every 4 years.
I think this is the real Mickey Mouse tournament. I´ll be really happy if Costa Rica rejects the invitation. this tournament is only made to have an US vs Mexico final, they always get all the possible help. I dont think there is a person that actually thinks that the draw is honest. Referees, team allocations, game allocations (they make some teams fly 3 times a week and others (mex and US) play their 3 games on the same field. This is a joke. We should send the U20 team instead of the NT, and i hope we do it, that would be the best idea
It's going to a glorified training exercise for the USA with Confederation Cup and WC qualifying. Expect to see a mix of C team and youth players for the stars and stripes.
By continuing this scheduling fiasco of having the tournament every two years, which means every other Gold Cup is in the middle of WCQ (plus, for one team, right after the Confederations Cup), proves CONCACAF only cares about money and not the integrity of the game. The Gold Cup should be once every four years, on the same schedule as the Euros, which would make that month absolute heaven for a soccer fan (Euros in the early afternoon, Gold Cup in the evening). Plus, with a Confed Cup bid on the line and no WCQs or anything else in the way, every country would send its best squad. Putting it in that time frame would give ample opportunity for proper qualifiers as well. It's so damn obvious, so why doesn't CONCACAF do it?
Plus were in a bad economy many people don't have alot of money to spend to see B and C teams. Let's wait and see how much the tickets go for, also slap a guaranteed $20 parking charge. I don't know why every federation complain about this to FIFA. Expect to see alot of empty stadiums except for the Mexico games and maybe a USA game but other than that you can tell CONCACRAP rides on the Mexican national teams nuts for all the money they can squeeze out of any mexican national team fan.They(CONCACRAP) purposley put the MNT in a easy group to make the quarterfinals so they(Jack Warner and CONCACRAP) could get all wet and have the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium 75% or more full saying to themselves look at all these idiots who paid a ticket to make us bank Ha Ha Ha.
Mexico makes SUM, which is the marketing arm of MLS, a crap load of money. Thank you for supporting MLS Mexican supporters. We salute you
Because one of their expressed reasons for running the tournament every two years instead of four is that the minnows get more games played. For example if the UNCAF Cup of NAtions (qualifier to GOld Cup) was only played every four years then Belize would play 3 games every four years, plus the games they lose in WCQ. Having Gold Cup every two years adds games to their schedule. Same can be said for smaller Caribean nations that rarely play if not for official tournaments such as the CFU Cup (gold cup qualifier). Also, Canada would probably never play if it weren't for the Gold Cup. All these suggestions to go to a format similar to UEFA's, would they be coupled with suggestions for a similar qualifying campaign for the Gold Cup as they use for the European Cup which the smaller nations in CONCACAF wouldn't be able to afford?
So, it's quantity over quality then? Why should I, as a soccer fan, be interested in that? I am not saying we need UEFA style qualifiers exactly. And if the Caribbean and Central America want to have their tournaments more often, then let them. But it's ridiculous to have a schedule that guarantees that every other tournament won't be taken seriously by the big teams.
Send the U-20 squad to get some minutes. Winner is already set for this anyway. I will be traveling to Miami for the Costa Rica v Canada game. If anyone is the area, what are some good places to stay?
While I agree with most of your post, the US and Mexico do not play all of their group games on the same field. The US's first game is on the west coast, and for their second they have to go literally to the east coast. The third is a shorter trip to Boston, but still that is a good amount of travel for one week. But both the US and Mexico have pretty easy groups, so I do see your point there.
Yeah. One more reason to say this "tournament" is a carnival act. The only thing it's missing is a fat bearded woman.
CONCACAF has made strides but the main things they still need to do to make this a legit tournament are: -expand to 16 teams -rotate host country -hold a seeded draw to determine groups
1 and 2 won't work together. They won't make enough money off of it to support the addition of more teams if they rotate it. Because the teams that will be added will be the ones that need even more monetary support than the ones that are currently in it. We don't need a legit tournament, we need a legit confederation. Until CONCACAF itself is legit then none of it's tournaments will be.
Miami Beach - FOuntainblue Hilton ( not spelled correctly), or a Days inn right next door ( cheaper), I met the Rosario Central team there.
Last Gold Cup was by far the best one ever. This year's won't be as good because of no Confederations Cup berth and crappier teams qualifying, but any tournament with no guest teams and 3 groups instead of 4 is going to be better than the way it used to be.
Not true! The USA played 2 games in Seatle and then one in Boston in the group phase last time. I think most teams played games in the same place, but there are more stadiums, so I am sure there will be more travel. Anyway, the whole purpose is to improve CONCACAF and give the smaller nations more games.
I think there's a decent chance of this tournament giving us a surprise winner. (Panama? Canada? Jamaica?)
I'm not clairvoyant, so I'm not going to vote in the poll. After July 26th, we can determine whether or not this Gold Cup was any good. I agree with Chesco United who thought a surprise winner could be in the offing. USA will be very bizzay with Confederations Cup duties in June and a WCQ with Costa Rica before they head to South Africa. Seven of the 12 participating teams are not in the final World Cup hex, so I expect them to bring their best players available. In a perfect world, this competition should be held every four years and be open to 16 finalists with rotation of host countries. Perhaps CONCACAF will consider this, starting in 2012. The main problem our confederation has is the big disparity among its member nations in terms of facilities and opportunities for player development. If the Gold Cup is the primary way for CONCACAF to raise money to allocate to its members to achieve a higher status in the circles of world soccer, then how do you correct the situation or supplement what you have? I will watch matches for this year's competition, even if the USA and Mexico aren't in the final. By all accounts, the 2005 final and the 2007 final were very exciting matches.
You've already been pointed to the fact that both the US and Mexico are traveling as much as anyone else. The draw... What do you want? there has to be a "head" for each group, and until the rest of CONCACAF starts showing some results two of those are going to be MEX and US. I will grant you this, Mexico's group is a joke, but then again if we get Canada and Panama at the same time, not only do I have too many freaking a's and no other vowels but I would have a Canada crying about how they were put in a "group of death"...I will venture out and say that Canada prefers things as they are now than to end up against Mexico and Panama... Would anyone want C.R./USA/MEX/HON in one group? Might as well have that single group and call IT the tournament. But where do you leave the other teams? When do you let them play? There just isn't enough "meat" to come up with three balanced groups, not this time around anyway. So please stop victimizing yourself. The tournament sucks, YES. Would I want this to be hosted elsewhere, YES (search my posts, first suggestion is actually C.R.). As many have said this should be every 4 years, with rotation (limited to a few countries since some realistically can't host). Unlikely for the teams still in WQCs to suit their A teams, also has it's bright side, you get to see potential players. peace /p
well it has always been crap and it will continue to be crap untill the end of time, beacuse its run by CONCACAF and its always hosted in the same country(thats why it has no CREDIBILITY),but since FMFs decision, i will give it a shot,its been a long time since i actually watched the tourney even though i read the results of previous editions, lets see how crappy has become since the last time i watched it.