HexagonalBlog

CONCACAF exits the Copa Sudamericana

CONCACAF have decided not to extend their participation in CONMEBOL's Copa Sudamericana.  They had originally agreed to participate in four editions of the tournament from 2005-2008.  With the advent of the CONCACAF Champions League, there are more matches and conflicting dates in the region, so participation in the Sudamericana no longer makes sense to CONCACAF. 

I'd say that participation in the Copa Libertadores -- which will continue -- doesn't make sense to CONCACAF, either.  Mexican clubs like it, of course, because of the increased exposure, advertising revenue, and level of play.  But there exist the same issues with conflicting dates, as well as the matter of why clubs from one confederation are playing in the club championship tournament of another.  Apparently the same question is going through CONCACAF's collective mind, as the Executive Committee will discuss the confederation's participation in Copa Libertadores in November. 

Monterrey and Puebla are the clubs who will suffer most by CONCACAF's action; Puebla haven't been in international competition in 16 years and their coach was not at all pleased by the news.

I may have to blog about this merger thing sooner

I was reading Tim Vickery's most recent weekly column on South American football, and found the following question/answer exchange:

Q) There are various rumours around the internet that clubs from Major League Soccer in America will be the next league outside of Conmebol (the South American Federation) to be granted invites to the Copa Libertadores in the near future. Regardless of whether the rumours have any legs, what is your opinion of MLS teams entering the Copa Libertadores?
John Pettit

A) I've no inside track on this one, but I'm not particularly keen on them coming into South America's premier club competition. I know Mexico are invited - though that's hit a problem, with the Mexicans now pulling out not just of this year's Libertadores, but of all South American competitions.

For me there are obvious problems with MLS clubs in the Libertadores. One is travelling time and distance. South America is vast enough as it is without heading further north. Another is the effect on the Concacaf region - with the US and Mexico (assuming the row smoothes over) both in, clubs from the likes of Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Jamaica and so are getting squeezed out, and that doesn't seem right to me.

[...]

It is an awkward thing to organise between two conferences - but, perhaps anticipating the next question down the line, I can't see that Conmebol has anything to gain from a formal merger with Concacaf.

There are two topics raised that merit further discussion -- one, should MLS teams participate in the Copa Libertadores? and two, will a merger between CONCACAF and CONMEBOL likely or workable?  I was actually going to devote a series of posts toward the second question after World Cup qualifying is over, but I may have to start that series sooner than I thought.  And as for the first question, it is difficult to argue that MLS sides would raise their play or be sufficiently motivated for the Copa Libertadores when they barely seem to do either in CONCACAF competition.

Answers to both questions need to be fleshed out further, which I hope to do at a later date.

Four for Egypt

CONCACAF's U-20 qualifying tournament for the World Cup in Egypt concluded today.  With four qualifying slots on offer, the real action was in the group stages.  The semifinals and final were only for bragging rights, so here are the top four teams:

1. Costa Rica
2. USA
3. Honduras
4. Trinidad & Tobago

So the USA qualify for yet another U-20 World Cup (twelve in all), but have yet to win the CONCACAF U-20 title.  The Americans allowed only three goals in the tournament -- all of them in the final! -- but suffered from a serious lapse of discipline as three players were sent off during the competition.  Costa Rica, in contrast,  had scored only three goals during their road to qualification, and doubled their scoring count in a single match!  It's their first U-20 title in over 20 years. 

Joining the USA and Costa Rica in Egypt will be Honduras and the host nation Trinidad & Tobago.  The Hondurans scored the most goals in the tournament and were led by Olimpia's Roger Rojas, who finished as top scorer.  T&T took full advantage of their host status and rode two hard-fought draws to the U-20 World Cup finals.

See you all in Egypt in the fall.  

Mexico out of U-20s

Disaster for yet another Mexican youth side as the U-20 team lost to Canada 2-0 tonight to find themselves eliminated from the CONCACAF qualifying tournament.  Both goals were scored in the closing 15 minutes by Randy Edwini-Bonsu, who plays in the Vancouver Whitecaps system.

After the U-17 triumph at the 2005 World Championships and the quarterfinal run at the 2007 U-20 World Cup in Canada, Mexico's youth sides have failed to advance from their region to their respective world championships.  First the U-17s in 2007, then the U-23s for the Beijing Olympics, and now the U-20s.  The youth national teams are supposed to serve as a means to an end, and it's still possible that there will be some players who contribute to the senior national team.  But the recent string of negative results from the current crop of Mexican youth players can't be encouraging to the FMF.

Hernan Medford to coach Leon

Hernán Medford continues to move around in the coaching world.  The former Costa Rican international managed Saprissa for three years, where he achieved his greatest success, and then his country's national team for two years, which didn't turn out so great.  Now he has been named the new coach of León, the Mexican side for which he played over three seasons.  León are now in the second division of Mexican football (Primera A -- weird nomenclature I know) and Medford has been tasked with bringing them back to the top flight.  To help with this effort, Medford is bringing at least four Costa Rican players to the club with him.  The rationale is that he is more familiar with these players than any other foreign players that might be available.  However, it was his bias toward Saprissa players that started his problems with the national team and federation, not to mention the inability of the national team to score over the course of a year.

Pardo comes back to América

After spending over two seasons at Stuttgart, Mexican midfielder Pável Pardo is going back to América in a three-year deal.  The deal, valued at 4 million euros, is proof that Mexican clubs have the financial muscle to sign players from the major European leagues, even in the current economic climate.  But why is Pardo returning home? 

After the 2006 World Cup, there was an increased awareness in Mexico that their best players needed to be in the top European leagues, and there was a line of top European clubs offering to pay  for their services.  Pardo made an immediate impact for Stuttgart, starting almost every game for them in midfield and proving instrumental in their championship run in 2007.  He hasn't played in every match this season because of injury or international duty, but even so he has been rated among the top players on the team.

Even though Pardo was still capable of playing at a high level in Europe, after considering his options a return to Mexico appeared to be in his best interest.  Pável Pardo turned 32 in July and was approaching the end of his current contract in six months, and Stuttgart has a policy of re-signing players over 30 to one-year contracts.  With more years behind his career than ahead of him, Pardo was seeking a deal that would offer both financial and job security.  América, for whom he had played for seven seasons, had the money, and coach Ramón Díaz needed a midfielder of his quality to compete for the Clausura title.  

Will Pardo's return stem the movement of Mexican players to Europe?  The trend in recent years has been for the top young players in the Mexican league to move to Europe, especially Spain, and while that trend could diminish in the wake of the global financial crisis, I don't see it totally disappearing.  The Mexican league is unique among non-European leagues in that it actually has the money to pay its local players competitive salaries.  The return of the more experienced Mexican players will be arranged on a case-by-case basis, but it shouldn't be done at the expense of the youth programs in the various clubs.

A look back at the Caribbean Championship

Wikipedia has a good summary of the just-completed Caribbean Championship.  I know that that competition had to be scheduled around World Cup qualifiers, but it is incredible that the tournament had been going on for five months.  It's the price paid when you have a region full of micro-states whose federations typically don't have the money to fund a qualification campaign. 

Jamaica wins Caribbean Championship

Jamaica are the champions of the Caribbean after defeating Grenada 2-0 in the final of the Caribbean Championship held in Kingston.  Both of the goals were scored by Luton Shelton from the penalty spot, the first after 17 minutes and the second after 71 minutes.  It's the fourth Caribbean title for Jamaica and the first since 2005.

In the third-place match, Guadeloupe defeated Cuba 5-4 on penalties after a 0-0 draw.

All four teams qualify for the Gold Cup in June 2009.

Central American playoffs, Part IV

** This post will be updated during the day on Sunday **

The finalists are being confirmed in Central America, and there are new champions in Honduras and Belize.  Here's an update:

Toluca hangs on to the trophy by a fingertip

In a tense and incredibly dramatic final leg, Toluca saw Cruz Azul score two unanswered goals to level the aggregate score, weathered sustained pressure (and put on some pressure of their own) during the extra time period, and sweated out a prolonged penalty kick shootout to win the 2008 Mexican Apertura.  Alejandro Vela, who scored the tying goal for Cruz Azul in the second half, saw his penalty saved by Hernán Cristante to give the Red Devils the title, 7-6 on penalties (2-2 aggregate).

It's the ninth title for Toluca, and the sixth under the short tournament format.  Meanwhile for Cruz Azul, the drought continues -- now 11 years since their last title.  But what a comeback from 0-2 down in their home leg!