As we wrap up the incredibly successful Copa America Centenario this weekend, there's been plenty of talk about making the combined Copa America an annual event. Or even taking it a step further and combining the Americas into a single region. I can see where that enthusiasm is coming from, although you'd have to imagine Mexico and the United States aren't completely on board with that idea, so FIFA going from two Americas to one doesn't seem that likely.
The CONMEBOL teams are better than the CONCACAF teams. I don't think anyone doubted that heading into the Copa America, and the South American teams have done nothing but reaffirm that belief during the tournament. Which is why I think the idea of them playing each other more frequently isn't necessarily a bad thing.
CONMEBOL has only 10 teams. They have to be pretty sick of playing each other all the time. The South American nations play a home-and-home with everyone else during World Cup qualifying, then they go into Copa America and play everybody again before the cycle repeats. Sure, Mexico and another invited team also take part in Copa America, but, for the most part, South American nations generally play the same nine opponents over and over again.
At least in CONCACAF, there's a little variety. Sure, the better teams (the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica) face each other regularly, but there are also plenty of games against the Central American and Caribbean nations in the Gold Cup and World Cup qualifying (case in point, the United States will travel to St. Vincent & the Grenadines next month). However, there's a small problem with that. These small nations aren't highly ranked, so there's really very little benefit to playing them.
This, of course, isn't the USA and Mexico's fault. These islands are part of CONCACAF, too, so playing them is part of the deal. But that doesn't mean the top teams in CONCACAF wouldn't benefit from better competition. Sure, wins wouldn't be as easy to come by, but I think that's a tradeoff they'd be willing to take. Because it would be better preparation for the global tournaments that the likes of Antigua & Barbuda and Belize are nowhere near good enough to qualify for.
And which confederation would be the easiest one to draw those better opponents from? How about the one directly to the south that has only 10 teams? (In fact, CONCACAF members Guyana and Suriname, which are geographically part of South America.) I bet the CONMEBOL teams would enjoy that opportunity as much as the CONCACAF teams would. It's not a radical idea, either. In fact, many other sports, most notably basketball, do combine North and South America.
But that doesn't mean the Americas should become one region. If FIFA needs to combine any regions, it's not the Americas. It's Asia and Oceania. (Seriously, there are 11 teams in Oceania, how hard would it be to absorb them into the Asian confederation and actually give New Zealand a fair chance at qualifying for the World Cup?)
There are many more reasons to unite Oceania with Asia than there would be to merge the Americas. For starters, CONCACAF is a much stronger federation than Oceania. That's one of the reasons Australia left to join Asia in the first place, and it does New Zealand no good to only face those small islands. CONCACAF, meanwhile, has enough quality teams to make the region worthwhile, and they've proven themselves to be capable of holding their own in global tournaments.
Whereas I don't really see anything other than the mutual benefit of combining Asia and Oceania, it would be counter-intuitive to eliminate CONCACAF as a region. Some of the teams in CONCACAF would undoubtedly get stronger, but it wouldn't be the best move for all. And if that's not the case, what would be the point in doing it?
Combining the Americas would involve plenty of logistical issues, too. For example, how would you figure out things like World Cup berths? While the games against the Caribbean islands may feel predetermined and somewhat unnecessary, you can be the USA and Mexico don't mind their virtually guaranteed trips to the World Cup and would not be happy about having to go through the likes of Colombia and Peru instead of Guatemala and Canada.
I think the idea of a semi-regular combined Copa America isn't a terrible one, though. I'm not saying that you get rid of the regular Copa America or the Gold Cup. Rather, you use them as some sort of qualifying events for the combined tournament. Maybe the eight quarterfinalists from Copa America and the eight quarterfinalists from the Gold Cup qualify, and you hold it every four years in the same year as the Euro (so the next one would be in 2020). That doesn't disrupt the two continental championships, but makes this combined tournament more than just a one-off event.
Whether this is a one-off event remains to be seen, but you'd be hard-pressed to find someone that doesn't think the Copa America Centenario wasn't a great idea. Or a resounding success. Hopefully it's the start of something that becomes a regular occurrence. Because the fans want it and deserve it. But that doesn't mean the Americas should suddenly go from two to one, either. That's NOT something the fans want.
No comments:
Post a Comment