very smart to throw out opportunity to display US stars' best... all teams in SA plan to bring full-strength squads in the midst of the Euro 2004 tournament...while USSF has both thumbs up their a$$e$, trying to arrange a friendly with belize.
they have a bunch of sites in SA commenting that PERU federation invited COSTA RICA to replace USA can't get link, however
I saw the link on another thread... http://fedefutbol.com/files/noticias.asp ...but by no means does it mean that it's official that either (a) Costa Rica has accepted, or (b) that U.S. Soccer has officially rejected anything. By the way, the Babelfish translation of the text from the above link reads as follows... In the Extraordinary Congress of FIFA conducted in Qatar, the attending members on the part of the Costa Rican Federation of Futbol, received a formal and written supply, on the part of Nicholas Leoz, President of the CONMEBOL so that Costa Rica attends the America Glass of the 2004. This way the general manager of the Federation, Jorge confirmed I gave Palm, that a note on the part of the president of the FEDEFUTBOL received, Navarrese Hermes, communicating the invitation to him that extended to him to Costa Rica and assuring that the Costa Ricans are like first option, over countries like Korea and Japan, as well as some representations of CONCACAF. "the invitation is enough temptress, so that in this Glass all the countries of the CONMEBOL will participate, including Brazil and Argentina, which would give excellent blanks us", assures in the note, Navarrese Hermes, that simultaneously indicates that arriving at Costa Rica the conversations will begin, with the UNAFUT, the Clubs and Steve Sampson, to see as they organize the preseason and the eliminatory parties of the Greater Selection, so that it is not affected none of the parts.
http://fedefutbol.com/files/noticias.asp I'm still hoping this is not true..... This would in my mind be the most convincing evidence that the USSF is run by absolute idiots...Not to mention here that Arena would be making a big mistake not taking adavantage of thi tournament by at the very least sending a mixture of youth and experience...
Article in Spanish http://www.peru.com/futbol/AutoNoticias/DetalleNoticia32403.asp " La Federación de Fútbol de Costa Rica (FEDEFUTBOL) analiza la conveniencia o no de aceptar una invitación para que este país participe en la próxima edición de la Copa América 2004 que se disputará en nuestro país." "Además, los medios locales indican que su selección ha sido invitada al torneo, luego de que Estados Unidos declinó asistir" In summary: "the CR Fed. studies the convinience of accepting the invitation to participate in Copa America 2004... Furthermore, local media state that their NT has been invited to the tournament, after the US declined the invite"
OK, that seems official enough. Will wait until I see something more official, such as a statement from U.S. Soccer, and some other analysis. But if it's true, it's a grave mistake by U.S. Soccer. Many opportunities lost, really-- tune-ups in the midst of World Cup qualifying, a pre-Olympic warm-up, a chance to blood more players into the USMNT pool... I'm sorry, but if the excuse of, "We'd like to take part, but it's in the middle of the MLS season, and we'd hate to take the team's stars away," that doesn't cut it with me this time.
I'm very angry and disappointed all of a sudden. I would have loved to either attended or watched us play against South American teams.
Best news I've heard in a while. We have 10 qualifying matches each of the next two years. No need to put further strain on our players. Screw trying to "gain respect" or whatever in South America in 2004. Let's worry about doing that in Germany in 2006.
i agree with this decision. the copa america would fall in the middle of world cup qualifying. i don't think it's worth risking injuries to our players in another confederation's championship.
Part of me wanted to play, just so we would be playing quality sides. The other part of me realizes that we would be gearing up for the Olympics (well the u23s, but there are u23s who are big parts of the senior team) and probably preping for a WCQ. Either way, I want to see a quote from Bruce on why we declined the invite.
Right, because the first half of qualifying will be against mighty island nations that we must focus a hell of a lot for It's not simply about gaining respect, unless you feel the US is a lowly soccer nation...It's about competing with the best this hemisphere has to offer, precisely at a time in which CONMEBOL actually bothered to line up their calendars so that they could present their strongest teams...If you consider the only highlight of the sport you like to be only the WC, good for you....Sure, there are qualifiers and i follow them, but to think that in 2004 we'll be facing truly challenging opposition is not realistic... And if you happen hold the Gold Cup so highly, well Mexico has won it a few times, so it really cannot be that big an accomplishment, right? (that last part was all sarcastic, but really, you can't compare the two)
I hope you are kidding Actually it'd be funnier if you are serious because according to a previous poster, it's all about not bothering "about gaining respect" and you seem to imply we'd get embarrassed by Brazil like in Confederations Cup....Damn, i'm curious now
One tournament plays a role in determining whether we go to the World Cup. The other doesn't. Talk all you want about quality of opponents. Focus should first of all go on the world cup qualifiers. It's not just about gaining respect, but the cries about Copa America often center on that theme. I'd love to compete against the best in a tournament like this, but not if it potentially hurts our World Cup qualifying campaign. You do realize that were it not for McBride's goal against Guatamala in 2000, we likely would not have qualified for the WC. The semifinal round can be very difficult. It starts a month after this tournament. I can in the fact that they are continental championships and should not be treated like invitational tournaments to please television organizers. This is a great tournament. Our guys could gain valuable experience from it. But they could also get hurt and/or worn down, which could jeopardize our chances of getting through the semifinal round of the World Cup. In the end, it's all about the World Cup. You think Honduras feels good about being third in the Copa America and not going to the World Cup? I don't want to be in that situation.
This sums it up pretty well for me too. I wanted to see us go and get the experience for some of our younger players. But Monster spelled out the other priorities/consequences real well and I can't find anything to disagree with. I think we could've managed to work in players around the Olympics and MLS without jeopardizing WCQ, but then I would'nt put much emphasis on the Olympic team. It appears Bruce and/or USSF disagrees and they're the ones calling the shots. I'd like to see an explanation from them, but both have been pretty tight lipped in the past so I don't expect much from them.
Ortega I dont think they were invited. The CSF never made any official inviatations to the USSF at least none that im aware of. If you read the Ticos article it says that CONMEBOL's president Leoz personally invited Costa Rica.
I agree with you. I hate that we allow teams like Brazil and Columbia into the Gold Cup, and I think that its just as dumb that they invite us to their shindigs.
haha, too bad that will never happen, its all about the money, you know CONMEBOL and CONCACAF will continue inviting other nations.
What do you think our players are going to be doing before their next WCQ game? I'd much rather have the team together playing meaningful games to get ready for the next round. All those players have just as much chances of getting hurt playing in MLS games as they do in the Copa. And the more they play together, all the better.