Monday, May 21, 2007

D.C. in Sudamericana

Thanks to our reader Gene for pointing this in my direction:

Seems that D.C. United will participate in Copa Sudamericana after all. Congratulations to them. It is always a good thing for MLS clubs to participate in Sudamericana and any similar international tournaments and a good showing will only help the league.

I am kind of kicking myself, though. I interviewed DC United CEO Kevin Payne last week for a SuperLiga story for the premier issue of MLS Magazine last week but failed to ask him about anything but SuperLiga.

Anyway, I'm not completely up to speed with the rules regarding entry in Sudamericana but it is similar to the UEFA Cup. If Libertadores is the Champions League, consider the Sudamericana the UEFA Cup. Not all teams compete in both but some do, such as Mexico's Club America.

It's a good and respectable tournament, that's for sure.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

There's going to be an MLS Magazine? Sweet!

Anonymous said...

Wait, again who are the teams in the SuperLiga...I know the Galaxy..Isnt dallas in it too?...houston?

Anonymous said...

Yeah, can you tell us more about this MLS Magazine?

L.B. said...

SuperLiga groups:

Galaxy
FC Dallas
Chivas de Guadalajara
Pachuca

D.C. United
Houston
America
Morelia

L.B. said...

As far as MLS Magazine goes, it's supposedly the official league magazine. I was asked to write about SuperLiga. I'm writing a 1200-1400 word story on the tournament as well as 150-200 word capsules on the Mexican teams involved.

Andrea also has a story but I am not sure what her topic is.

I'm looking forward to reading it myself, but I dont' know when it will come out. My story is not due until 2-3 weeks from now.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the explanation, Luis.

Some time in the future, I hope that either an MLS Cup winner, a Superliga winner, or both, could play for a spot either in Sudamericana or Copa Libertadores. Such an arrangement should make the regular season meaningful and the playoff format can finally be abandoned. I think we are a couple years away from that, but I think that's the goal to which the league should be working.