...why does CONCACAF and CONMEBOL feel the need to invite non-member nations to their tournaments? The UEFA Championships are for UEFA members only, the African Nations Cup are for the Africans only, the Asian Cup is only for teams in the AFC... Why not, just have the Gold Cup for all of CONCACAF's members, 12 or so teams in the final round, 3 groups of four, teams like the USA and Mexico don't have to go through qualifying... Let CONMEBOL have their Copa America for their 10 nations....
I understand that for past events, but you don't think the growth of US soccer and the rivalry with those people south of the border is enough? I agree in the past we needed help to build soccer here in the States, we still do, but I think it's about time CONCACAF goes on it's own. Have friendlies with Brazil etc here in the states, but our Confederation Championship, should be between our members. Mod's Note: Edited to remove offensive language. Please refrain from insulting classes of people when posting on BigSoccer.
I agree with the Gold Cup. With Copa America, it really is so they can fill out a 12 team field. Sachin
ya, forgot about the 10 team thing... but we have 26 (i think off the top of my head) nations. could easily do it on our own.
Keep it the way it is.... I like the current format and invitation strategy. I mean, how many Haiti/Dominican Republic vs. US/Mexico games should we have to see. If a Brazil, Colombia, or even South Korea is invited to the Gold Cup then it will make the confederation teams better. These are the teams afterall that we will be playing against in the World Cup. Also, it makes our teams play with pride...we don't want our trophy going over to Asia or South America now do we? I mean, the format made Canada play their best for youknowwho's sakes.
A tournament like that wouldn't be bad, but call it the CONCACAF Invitational Tournament, not the CONCACAF Gold Cup, we used to determine our confederations champion! I don't want our trophy anywhere outside the States, but no I don't want it in South America or Asia. You don't see UEFA inviting Brazil, instead you get France vs Cyprus in qualifying... The fact is, we need a tournament of our OWN. Only CONCACAF members!
The Gold Cup should be just for CONCACAF nations. Last time around, Jamaica and Honduras were left out, and those are two solid CONCACAF nations. There are enough good teams in CONCACAF to make the tournament interesting. USA, MEX, CRC, SLV, HON, TRI, JAM, GUA, PAN, CAN... that would be a good start. Add in Cuba, Haiti or some other teams through qualifying and it can be done. This region has improved significantly over the past 10-12 years. Other nations should not be allowed in, even if they bring money and such. Most of the time, the visiting nations treat the Gold Cup like a chance to test out youngsters and don't really care about winning. If Brazil's third-string team won the tournament, do you think they would really care? On the other hand, if Guatemala or Honduras won the Gold Cup, that would be significant accomplishment for that country.