Is Expansion the Answer?
Is there a way to recruit another quality nation to join CONCACAF. CONCACAF is like the Big East in football. They are one of the weaker confederations. The Big 10 has added Nebraska to boost their image. The PAC 10 has added Colarado and Utah to boost their image. The ACC took 3 top teams from the Big East (BC, Virginia Tech and Miami) to boost their image.
I was wondering if CONCACAF could recruit a nation like Australia. Australia use to be the king of the Oceanic Confederation. They left for a better conference in the Asian CONFEDERATION. I was wondering if CONCACAF could recruit Australia to play in CONCACAF. This would provide another quality team. Just like the football conferences having a better Championship in football. Australia would make it possible to expand the Gold Cup to 16 nations. The Gold Cup could have USA, Mexico, Canada and Australia anchor each group. Back them up with 5 quality teams each from the Central America and 7 nations from the Caribbean. Finally CONCACAF could have the highly important group stage games.
If not Australia what about Greenland. Greenland is a North American nation.Greenland could
provide the Denmark B team. Almost every European B side is much better that every Caribbean nation. Greenland could boost the image of CONCACAF and the Gold Cup. This would also give the Gold Cup some European exposure.
I think since the USA lost it’s bid to host the World Cup 2014, 2018 and 2022 they have to do something to improve the Gold Cup. How about inviting 2 European nations to participate. How about European powers like Ireland and Poland. These nations are very competitive and would have a huge fan base in the States. These European powers would strengthen a 16 nation Gold Cup. Place these nations in a group with Mexico and USA. These nations would provide badly need competition for the top CONCACAF nations. It would allow the Gold Cup to expand to 16 nations. It would create a buzz. It would give a World Cup feel to the Gold Cup since the World Cup is based on corruption the USA may never get it again.. It would have international stars like Robbie Keane and quality international coaches like Giovanni Trapattoni participate.
How about just combining with CONMEBOL and take the big step…..a
Is there a way to recruit another quality nation to join CONCACAF. CONCACAF is like the Big East in football. They are one of the weaker confederations. The Big 10 has added Nebraska to boost their image. The PAC 10 has added Colarado and Utah to boost their image. The ACC took 3 top teams from the Big East (BC, Virginia Tech and Miami) to boost their image.
I was wondering if CONCACAF could recruit a nation like Australia. Australia use to be the king of the Oceanic Confederation. They left for a better conference in the Asian CONFEDERATION. I was wondering if CONCACAF could recruit Australia to play in CONCACAF. This would provide another quality team. Just like the football conferences having a better Championship in football. Australia would make it possible to expand the Gold Cup to 16 nations. The Gold Cup could have USA, Mexico, Canada and Australia anchor each group. Back them up with 5 quality teams each from the Central America and 7 nations from the Caribbean. Finally CONCACAF could have the highly important group stage games.
If not Australia what about Greenland. Greenland is a North American nation.Greenland could
provide the Denmark B team. Almost every European B side is much better that every Caribbean nation. Greenland could boost the image of CONCACAF and the Gold Cup. This would also give the Gold Cup some European exposure.I think since the USA lost it’s bid to host the World Cup 2014, 2018 and 2022 they have to do something to improve the Gold Cup. How about inviting 2 European nations to participate. How about European powers like Ireland and Poland. These nations are very competitive and would have a huge fan base in the States. These European powers would strengthen a 16 nation Gold Cup. Place these nations in a group with Mexico and USA. These nations would provide badly need competition for the top CONCACAF nations. It would allow the Gold Cup to expand to 16 nations. It would create a buzz. It would give a World Cup feel to the Gold Cup since the World Cup is based on corruption the USA may never get it again.. It would have international stars like Robbie Keane and quality international coaches like Giovanni Trapattoni participate.
How about just combining with CONMEBOL and take the big step…..a
2 comments:
Hi again.
Won't happen. There is no logical reason for Australia to move. They have integrated into Asia, learned to play the Asian teams, and are hosting the 2015 Asian Cup. In addition, I think it will be easier for Australia to qualify out of Asia than have to fight with Costa Rica and Honduras. Australia have quickly become a dominant force in their new home.
I don't like the idea of inviting guest teams. It is an embarrassment if a guest team wins the cup. CONCACAF were only spared that fate by Canada in their winning year. I much pefer the decision to cut off guest teams from the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which itself resulted in an expansion of CONCACAF teams to the tournament.
Right now the region is simply not strong enough for the Gold Cup to expand. However, the new CONCACAF qualifying system has the potential to show that maybe that is not the case when everyone will end up playing everyone else, such questions of strength can be guaged. However, I think for the most part, it will just be a long series of beatdowns by the strong on the weak, further emphasising the gulf more than anything.
But I still think the new qualifying system will be a step in the right direction. CONCACAF needs to look within if it wants to gain in strength rather than looking for a sticking plaster solution in inviting non-CONCACAF teams to the Gold Cup to provide a temporary artificial boost in quality.
Combining CONCACAF with CONMEBOL however is something I'd like to see. But I'm sure it won't happen.
Expanding the CONCACAF Gold Cup is a good idea since the current format of 12 teams is confusing and odd. I think an expansion to 16 teams makes more sense as it would be more consistent with the other continental championships like the UEFA Euro, AFC Nations Cup, and the CAF Africa Cup of Nations. This would make the Gold Cup more attractive on the world stage and provide boost interest and income. Another less supportive proposal would be to reduce it to 8 teams and create a more condense tournament with the best teams from the region similar to the UEFA Euro prior to its expansion to 16 teams in 1996.
My idea would be to have the US, Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica anchor the four groups followed by four other central american teams, and eight teams from the Caribbean. This Caribbean zone could also include a combination of sovereign nations and dependencies. This may dilute the quality of play in the short term but may be very beneficial to the Caribbean zone of CONCACAF in the long run. Additionally an expanded tournament would bring in increased income for CONCACAF to support its numerous development programs.
Possible teams and groups:
Group A
United States
Guatemala
Trinidad & Tobago
Puerto Rico
Group B
Mexico
El Salvador
Haiti
Martinique
Group C
Canada
Honduras
Jamaica
Guadalupe
Group D
Costa Rica
Panama
Cuba
Suriname
My second idea would be to reduce the Gold Cup to eight teams. This idea may not look and sound great at first but an eight team tournament would provide a nice and compact tournament with the powerhouses of each of the three CONCACAF subregions. This format would involve the US and Mexico anchoring the two groups supported by three teams from the Caribbean and three teams from Central America. This format could also involve a full qualification tournament therefore providing no guarantees of qualification to the US, Mexico, and Canada.
Possible teams and groups:
Group A
United States
Honduras
El Salvador
Trinidad
Group B
Mexico
Costa Rica
Jamaica
Cuba
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