Quote:
Originally Posted by browna
Easy counterpoint to that is that if you can’t beat clubs and countries not even sanctioned with FIFA, you probably don’t belong in FIFA’s top championship tournament. And the dreadful result to Haiti isn’t far behind, given their FIFA accreditation has to be hanging on by a thread.
The Gold Cup seems to need other teams to fill out numbers for groupings, and that goes both ways. Probably some minnows just can’t afford to go, while others can.
Recall when Canada won in 2000 they beat Columbia in the tournament final game, though they were already Concacaf champions after beating T and T in Semis.
And Canada only got through the second round thanks to winning a coin flip over S Korea.
|
My point is that our defeat of non-FIFA member Martinique in the last Gold Cup did not provide us with any ranking points, whereas a victory over a FIFA member would have. So, those teams who draw non-FIFA members in the Gold Cup kind of get punished in that there aren't the same number of possible points available to them to earn just by the luck of the draw compared to other CONCACAF teams who draw only FIFA members in their group. It's not a question of whether or not we can or can't beat non-FIFA members, it's the matter of not getting the opportunity to earn points.
Also, non-FIFA members are not excluded from FIFA because of their competitiveness, or lack thereof. Martinique and Guadeloupe are overseas departments of France. That's why they're not considered FIFA members. Although some non-independent nations are FIFA members (i.e. Palestine).
The Gold Cup has had guest teams before but Martinique and Guadeloupe are not guest teams. They are full members of CONCACAF and qualify for the Gold Cup against other CONCACAF nations. They're not just thrown in there to make up the numbers.
Also, in your 2000 Gold Cup scenario, we would have hypothetically earned points for beating Colombia as they are a FIFA nation, regardless of not being a CONCACAF nation. By today's rankings, we would have earned big points. But if we had faced a non-FIFA nation in that final, there would be no potential points at stake. That's my point.