Tournament is planned for Venezuela next year. Hopefully, the answer is yes. It just has to be this time.
Hope all you want to, but I would put the odds at 100-1 against (our A-team going). If we ever hire a U23/Olympic team coach, that team (or some B-team variant) might go. But I doubt it, sorry. Of course you're right that we should always go (if invited).
Given the political climate between our two nations, I have a hard time believing we'll be sending any team to Venezuela anytime soon.
You think that Bush is gonna pull a Carter? I don't think it's come to that just yet, and this is the wrong forum for that type of discussion.
Haven't we already addressed the fact that we weren't invited? Granted.. Conmebol and Concacaf proclamations aren't written in stone. Hell they aren't even written in sand.
I think he is saying that it won't come to that -- COMEBOL won't offer and the USSF won't accept to avoid this type of situation.
You know, for some reason, I completely forgot about that. But I still think the offer will be made to USA, anyway, because they always do. And what better way for us to get show some respectability after this past summer?
Sunil said, post-World Cup, in a Washington Post interview that he was working to get us an invite. I hope he pulls it off-- we have enough talent to split between the GC and CA and let us all see some new blood.
go to venezuela... rabid, hostile anti-usa crowds all over the place .... let the players deal with this sort of adversity.... however, usa won't get a bid, and ussf won't have to make a choice... still, I know people who travel all the time to venezuela and it's a great visit...
Hey, if soccer can get 2 opposing Armies to play in the middle of a battlefield, I think Chavez can put his views aside for a regional tournament. Besides, Venezuela came here before the cup and nothing was made of it. We should definitely go, B-team or not. Let need to get back on the horse.
If US Soccer is serious about 'moving the ball forward,' we've GOT to go to Copa America if given the opportunity.
This tournament would be exactly what we need . Get some players some experience in some very hostile territories against difficult opponents . I hope Sunil gets us in...
several months before the world cup. I don't remember who the invited teams were... costa rica and canada maybe? but the field was set before the world cup.
1. Last time I checked, Bush doesn't run the USSF, and Chavez has little to no influence over COMNEBOL (sp?). If anything, Chavez would want our team there, to celebrate our defeat. 2. The State Department hasn't issued any travel warnings for Venezuela, so traveling there is probably like traveling to Mexico, same risks, hazards etc. 3. If we can somehow snag an invite, it would be a great opportunity for the new U.S. coach to get a batch of players some playing time under a new system, in a tournament.
i know the field had been set, but i remember someone coming on here and saying there'd be some sort of lotto between costa rica and US for the last spot, even though costa rica had been in. Maybe that guy was full o' crap, but j/w.
1. I thought there was still an option of us going--ie: the field isn't finalized. I do know that post-WC, Gulati was asked and said that he was working to get us an invite and that the USA participating was a possibility but there were major scheduling issues. 2. I think it's unlikely we'll go. We NEED to be in the Gold Cup. Win it and we go to the Confed Cup which would be better experience than anything other than the WC. We need to send a credible team to the Gold Cup. But going to the Copa and sending our "C" team practically eliminates the value of going--you don't give experience to guys who will likely start for us in the next WC, you substantially decrease the chances of us doing well (ie: 3 games and a ticket home) and if it's a complete turnover from the Gold Cup team, you put a real challenge on the most likely coaching options (ie: non-MLS guys) who would basically hold a camp and compete in the gold cup with a team new to them and then do the same for the Copa--very tough circumstances and ones that many new coaches might seek to avoid. I can't see MLS (especially since LA would lose Donovan) agreeing to let the better MLS players do both tournaments. I can't see most of the European-based players be willing to play in 2 tournaments like this back-to-back. So you're stuck basically having two USA squads (minus some Euros who will request a break or will be recovering from injuries). 3. I think it's up to the new NT coach. If it's Klinsmann, I suspect he'll say "no--we shouldn't go" in part b/c he won't be interested in spending 2-3 months (what with camp and the two tournaments) on the road. If it's one of the MLS coaches (who knows the domestic talent well), I suspect he'd be willing to go for both tournaments. Maybe a Houllier or someone else with recent international or major club experience would also prefer both b/c the Gold Cup can't be skipped but he might view the Copa as a better test b/c he (the new coach) would have a better feel for what a result against Paraguay would mean rather than a result against Jamaica or Guatemala.
Didn't the 2003 Gold Cup determine the berth for the 2005 Confed Cup? Otherwise we'd have played in the Confed Cup.
venezuela is very safe to travel to.... my preference would be to use the u-23 in a copa america, if possible, and use the usmnt A squad in a gold cup.. being able to assimilate the next coach system in a gold cup environment, group play followed by elimination matches will tell us a lot about players and the coach... assuming usa could get into copa, u-23 experience abroad against a high caliber of play will develop those guys for the wcq cycle... even if usa fails to advance, the goal of getting 3 or 4 u-23s ready for the wcq process is important... 2009 confed cup is in south africa... there's a 2007 gold cup... is there a 2008 gold cup?? no 2008 gold cup, clearly means 2007 gold cup qualifies you... if 2008 gold cup exists, then i'd find it very odd for 2007 gold cup to qualify you
There is a 2009 Gold Cup, but the'07 winner qualifies for the confed cup. Also, maybe it's just me, but wouldn't CONMEBOL kinda be offended if they were to compromise their initial invitiations to let us in, we accepted, and then all we sent was a U-23 team that would get it's a$$ kicked? C'mon have some respect for the South Americans here.
1993 copa america, bora took a B squad, to find out who could play... 1995, sampson took the best available squad.... any one have the time schedules for 2007 gold cup and copa america... i'd think june and july of 2007, do they overlap??? if the mls guys are in season, missing another 4-6 weeks playing in BOTH tourneys doesn't sound too appealing.... i just prefer larger numbers of usmnt potentials get to perform in top level tourneys... question is mute, given the invite isn't there....but it's south america, a few bribes here, can get things done... 40 million in the coffers of ussf, a few hundred thousand in the right hands gets all you want....
ah, right.. it was the 2005 Gold Cup that led on the road to nowhere ... literally and figuratively ...
So as a somewhat superstitious fan then... we should never go to Copa America again. I'll bet there are Colombians right now saying the very same thing about Chicago, Washington DC, or anyplace else on the planet. Shame on you for maligning the nice backwards third world banana republics.