Okay, this came from out of nowhere.
Club America somehow qualified for Copa Sudamericana. I was researching to see how exactly they got in and it seems that a third spot was given to Mexico somehow. Pachuca and Chivas qualified for the tourney as defending champs and CONCACAF runners-up, respectively. The third spot apparently went to America because they had the most points between the Apertura 2006 and Clausura 2007. That's according to this story (that's in Spanish).
The story then says that a fourth CONCACAF spot will go to an MLS team and it is between DC United and Houston. Huh? When did that happen? Did I miss something somewhere?
Anyway, that's what it said so unless this story is garbage (it's a pretty reliable outlet) it seems that an MLS team will be the Sudamericana this year. Maybe. I'm not holding my breath but it would be cool.
6 comments:
I don't know if I'd trust that.
Just a few weeks ago on Medio Tiempo, Pachuca's president said that they hadn't even been notified that they'd be in it, despite being defending champs.
Well, when DC was in Sudamericana a couple of years ago it just kinda came out of the blue as well. It looks like the SA confederation doesn't have a set way to invite guest teams and they make it up as they go every year.
Since Pachuca won it all last year, it's likely that we may see 4 CONCACAF clubs in the competition, and in that case, why not invite an MLS club?
I hope MLS gets a team in the Copa this year. I was fortunate enough to attend DC's match vs. Catolica in Santiago in 2005, and it was (despite the rather crushing nature of DC's loss) a really fantastic experience.
I always thought they they invited 3 teams from CONCACAF (2 from Mexico, with one "other"). DC got in in 05 as a CONCACAF semifinalist, as did Alajualense in 06.
My guess is Pachuca gets in automatically as holders (I think they did the same thing with Boca and Argentina's berths in 06). Chivas and America are the Mexican reps, and they decide between DC and Houston for the 3rd CONCACAF rep.
Confused yet? I am...
Every so often, a new thread about this pops up on BigSoccer (I've mainly noticed in the Mexico and DC United forums). If Conmebol stays true to the Sudamericana format, Mexico gets 2 invites (Chivas, America), Concacaf gets an additional invite (who??), and the defending champ gets an invite (Pachuca). So we could very well see an MLS team in the mix. The new question is- if this happens, would they all qualify directly to the round of 16?
I don't see a reason why not to include an MLS team in the Sudamericana.
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