3.5 from Caribbean 6.5 from South America Don't want to miss out on the opportunity for more games and possible revenue with an additional H/A series to finalize the qualification.
I'd say CONMEBOL 8 and CONCACAF 7. CONMEBOL has 10 teams in their region, Let's not forget the host country. UNCAF and CFU have qualifiers for the Gold Cup and had one for this Copa. I think CONMEBOL could use the previous WCQ to determine their top 8. CONCACAF could have 2 from NAFU, 2.5 from UNCAF, 2.5 from CFU, each with qualifying processes similar to what they have now. As a cash grab, Canada, Mexico and USA could play home-and-homes against each other in front of large crowds. Lost in all this is that CONMEBOL has already scheduled 2019 and 2023 Copa America tournaments in Brazil and Ecuador, respectively, while CONCACAF hasn't announced anything for 2017 or 2019.
I know...sad that all these fans of Mexico and Colombia who buy these tickets have no loyalty to their home country and not the country in which they live.
"Secondary" loyalty does not equal "no loyalty." A lot of immigrants (or the children and grandchildren of immigrants) love the USMNT when they're not playing "their team."
I like the current 6 CONCACAF/10 CONMEBOL format. There are 2 Caribbean countries in the tournament, currently, which is a lot. Can someone name a 4th Caribbean nation that could hope to serve as anything but roadkill? Using the most recent Gold Cup as qualifying makes the most sense to me.
Keep the Gold Cup, but make it a quadrennial tournament to determine CONCACAF's Confederations Cup and Copa America representatives. Plus move the Copa America to non-World Cup even years like the Euros. Repeat the cycle every four years. 2019: Gold Cup 2020: Copa America 2021: Confederations Cup 2022: World Cup If a CONCACAF team wins Copa America, the best-finishing South American team would get CONMEBOL's Confederations Cup spot. Assuming the U.S. and Mexico get automatic entry to Copa America, the four remaining CONCACAF spots can go to the winners of Copa Centroamericana , the Caribbean Cup , plus the two play-off ties between the four best-finishing Gold Cup teams not already qualified. (Admittedly, I'd prefer Copa America rotate between North and South America every four years to give the U.S. a chance to play in front of hostile crowds away from home)
I was at US-Colombia and Brazil-Ecuador and my impression was most of the fans were first or second generation Americans. At the final whistle of Brazil-Ecuador there was a unanimous "booooo" from the whole crowd, not whistling, and I heard English from just about everybody in between their Spanish and Portuguese. I think for a lot of people the US is their second team, and would gain a lot more support if they improved. Equipo para todos, etc.
IMO this is going to be the birth of a new tournament. Copa Panamericana if you will. Both federations will have their championships in year 1 of a new cycle, the new tournament in year 2 opposite the Euro
That makes everything "smooth" confed cup qualification is clear, copa america is not altered beyond tradition, and it allows the combined tourney to effectively be what it is, a combined money grab for both confeds held in the US at least until it comes into its own an outstrips the prestige of CA. Concacaf wont need to have money grab gold cups every 2 years so everyone but the GC champ will likely get year 3 summer off.
Interesting idea. But CONMEBOL WC qualifying is long and brutal. All of CONMEBOL has to be in. I'd love to ditch one Gold Cup. But both federations have practice with having two continental tournaments every cycle anyway. We still do, and it hasn't been too long since 2 Copa's per cycle. I like the idea tab had for the schedule: Year 1: Copa America (South) and Gold Cup (North) Year 2: Combined Copa of the Americas Year 3: Confederations Cup (berths go to Year 1 winners, not the combined) Year 4: World Cup Have Canada qualify for Gold Cup via Caribbean Cup or Copa CentroAmerica. Which will still be played every 2 years in the fall/winter. One gets used for Gold Cup qualifying (year 3/4 or year 4/1), one gets used for Combined Copa qualifying (year 1/year 2). Probably in fall/winter. Frankly, if Canada is in Copacentroamerica, then you'd have 8 teams (Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Belize, Canada), which makes it a lot easier, tournament wise, anyway. Two Groups of four, top 2 in each qualify for GC automatically. 3rd place teams playoff for the 5th CA/Can spot. You could give the Caribbean 5 spots as well, with the same format. Or have the 5th placed Caribbean team play the 3rd place loser from CA for the last spot (since CA are potentially losing a 'spot' to Canada. It might get tricky with the non-FIFA nations potentially qualifying for the combined copa, but they could either be excluded from participating (take the highest ranked Caribbean non-qualifier) or not be allowed to participate in that edition of the Caribbean cup (least preferred option). We need to grow the game as much as possible in CONCACAF.
Seriously. I mean, c'mon people, put yourself in their shoes. If I moved to any other country, and they played the US, I would root for the US first. I would root for my new home country every other time, though.
I'd be interested to see who Mexico fans would cheer for if USA played Argentina or Brazil played in the final...
The answer is obvious: Argentina or Brazil. Why would Mexicans root for a country that they believe oppresses them?
There's a pretty wide spectrum of opinions on the matter, even among the BSMXers here, which are not exactly representative of all the fans of Mexico (certainly not IN Mexico).
My idea was if the USA played Brazil or Argentina in a Copa America final...a game to which many Mexican fans would have purchased tickets.
I also heard something about the players having to wait a year to get paid from the last one in Chile and it wasn't the entire payment in full. Plus there's a lot of bad stadiums in South America. But I do think they should move it around.. USA, Mexico, Brazil, etc
The answer is obvious: Argentina or Brazil. Why would Mexicans root for a country that they believe oppresses them? What they need is a star to get behind someone who apply's their trade in a bigger market and then returns home to put on the Red, white, and blue. Someone who has the same background and considers themselves a dual national but thinks, talks, and acts like an american. Heres to hoping that it is either Luis Gil, Rubio Rubin, and Mario Rodriguez or all three if it happens.
Interesting how the majority expects the minority to be loyal when a large chunk of the majority treat the minorities like second class citizens. No small wonder Mexico and other good footballing nations down south get the lions share of passion and support from our immigrant population and their kids. Maybe if we cut the pay to play shit and build professional academies that accepted students on skill and talent ONLY and not money, we could get a better player pool and therefore a better domestic league and national team. Just a thought.
Wouldn't cover enough kids. Need a bunch of people to donate labor in exchange for pride and a sense of accomplishment.