Alex Posted November 15, 2004 Share Posted November 15, 2004 http://www.concacaf.com/view_article.asp?id=2823 CONCACAF announced today that South Africa, host of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, has accepted an invitation to participate in the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup™ as one of two guest teams. South Africa will join Canada, Mexico and USA, along with three qualifying nations from the Caribbean and four countries advancing from Central America, in CONCACAF’s showpiece event to take place in the USA from 6-24 July 2005. A second guest team, to be announced, will complete the field of twelve competing nations. CONCACAF President, Jack Warner, issued the invitation to South African Football Association (SAFA) President, Molephi Oliphant, who has confirmed that South Africa would like to be part of the event. Commenting, President Warner said, “For many years now the CONCACAF Gold Cup has attracted high standard guest teams that have only enhanced the quality of our showpiece event and the 2005 edition will be no different. We are honored that South Africa will be joining us in 2005 and look forward with great anticipation to what promises to be the finest Gold Cup ever.” SAFA Chief Executive Officer, Danny Jordaan, said that, “The CONCACAF Gold Cup is one of the world’s top tournaments for national teams and the chance to participate will be an invaluable experience for the South African team. We are grateful for the chance to gain further tournament experience ahead of the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and to pit ourselves against the best teams in CONCACAF. I know that our players, coaches and our fans will be excited by the prospect.” Since 1996 a number of teams from outside the CONCACAF region have accepted invitations to participate in the Gold Cup and previous guests have included Brazil (1996, 1998, 2003), Colombia (2000, 2003), Peru (2000) and Ecuador (2002). In both 2000 and 2002 Korea Republic also participated as they were preparing to co-host 2002 FIFA World Cup™. Although previous guest teams have reached the Gold Cup Final on three occasions, Brazil in 1996 and 2003 and Colombia in 2000, no guest team has ever claimed the CONCACAF Gold Cup™ title by winning the event. South Africa will be the first African team to participate in the CONCACAF Gold Cup™ but 2005 will not be the first time South African players have had an impact on the game in this region. In 2003, Patrick "Ace" Ntsolengoe, became the first African inducted into the US National Soccer Hall of Fame. Ace, one of many South Africans who graced the NASL (including current major league club owners Kaizer Motaung and Jomo Sono), played for the Minnesota Kicks and the Toronto Blizzard. A number of South African players have also represented Major League Soccer clubs in the USA. The CONCACAF Gold Cup™ tournament takes place in the USA from 6-24 July 2005 with host venues to be announced soon. The first round consists of three groups of four teams with the top two teams in each group, along with the best two third-placed teams, progressing to the quarterfinals. Therefore each participating team will play at least three games and up to six during the Gold Cup. The qualifying event for Caribbean nations, the Digicel Cup, is already underway and concludes in February 2005. Central American qualifying also takes place in February 2005. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted November 15, 2004 Author Share Posted November 15, 2004 note: the first round consists of 3 groups of 4 teams. None of this 4 groups of 3, that gives us one more game. Oh yeah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Keeper Posted November 15, 2004 Share Posted November 15, 2004 At last they have done away with this 4 groups of 3 stuff. I guess Canadian coin toss magic is done too then:D I wish they would do away with this guest team thing also. To be fair, these teams do give the tournament a bit more flavour, but they are costing the region developmentally. They are hampering actual Concacaf nations from advancing or winning the title or even qualifying. Central america gets 4 slots, the Carribean 3. Give one more slot to the Carribean and then have the fifth place Central American and Carribean teams play off for the last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted November 15, 2004 Share Posted November 15, 2004 Canada vs. South Africa. I hope this comes to fruition, as it will be a major event in my family (parents are South African immigrants). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettermirror Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 it will. we always get the tough draw! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Joe Keeper At last they have done away with this 4 groups of 3 stuff. I guess Canadian coin toss magic is done too then:D I wish they would do away with this guest team thing also. To be fair, these teams do give the tournament a bit more flavour, but they are costing the region developmentally. They are hampering actual Concacaf nations from advancing or winning the title or even qualifying. Central america gets 4 slots, the Carribean 3. Give one more slot to the Carribean and then have the fifth place Central American and Carribean teams play off for the last. I was also a fan of abandoning guest teams but realised we'd end up with pretty much the semis minus the 2 Carib. minnows, plus Haiti and Cuba. There is a HUGE dropoff after that. This makes qualifying somewhat competitive. One decent CA team doesn't make it and one decent Carib team neither. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bxl Boy Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 If South Africa can be champion of North and Central America Why couldn't Canada ask to play in UEFA ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 Canada can always ask, just don't think they'll get a positive answer. And SAf can't be champions of CONCACAF, they can be Gold Cup champions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 The guest teams are better for us and the other teams in the competition as they raise the level more than Nicaragua or El Salvador would. However, for teams like Nicaragua and El Salvador to improve it would certainly be better to have more of a chance to play in the competition. This format is thus better for the top teams in CONCACAF but poorer for the region as a whole. As the lesser teams have no power I don't think this will change until a guest team wins the tournament. That might prove so embarassing that CONCACAF brass would be forced to eliminate the guests. This might also be a reason for a team such as South Africa to be invited. They are a good enough team to do well in the tournament and provide high competition but it would be a major surprise if they managed to win. On the other hand we won it so I guess it wouldn't be that huge of a surprise either. I think we do have enough decent teams in the region that we could have 12 teams without having an embarassingly bad one qualify though that might occasionally happen through freak results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SABuffalo786 Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 What a Mickey Mouse tourney. Warner is such a corrupt ****er. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Grizzly ... This might also be a reason for a team such as South Africa to be invited. They are a good enough team to do well in the tournament and provide high competition but it would be a major surprise if they managed to win. On the other hand we won it so I guess it wouldn't be that huge of a surprise either. Brazil have been a guest a few times. I think they fielded U-23 teams, but I think their Olympic side could still win a CONCACAF tournament without it being a shock. I have the feeling that, were a guest nation to win, it wouldn't bother Warner et. al. one bit, so long as they made money at the gate (and in the boardroom). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 I didn't say that it would have been a shock if Brazil had won with their U-23 team. It wouldn't have been but they didn't win so it didn't create any problems. It would be a surprise if South Africa won but I don't think it would be a shock either as they will probably have the fourth or fifth best team depending on the other guest and if they bring their complete A team. There have been a few close calls with guest teams possibly winning the tournament. Warner might not care but it would be a major embarrassment for the tournament and federation. Believe me there is only very small coverage of who wins the tournment in Europe. However, if a guest team wins and particularly not a super power like Brazil, this will get 3 or 4 times more coverage than if a CONCACAF side wins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natesta Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 Are the same people complaining about non CONCAFCAF teams competing in the Gold Cup, the same ones who have no problem with Canada playing in the Copa America? It's not like our region is the only one to invite outside nations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Natesta Are the same people complaining about non CONCAFCAF teams competing in the Gold Cup, the same ones who have no problem with Canada playing in the Copa America? It's not like our region is the only one to invite outside nations. The criticism of invitees to the Gold Cup is one of principle. If it is indeed a true Championship of our Confederation (which it is not in practice), then no invitees should be invited no more than Brazil or Argentina should have been invited to Euro 2004 in Portugal, as much as it would improve the competition (and given the indifferent state of most of the teams this year, it would have improved it substantially). Having said that, given all the countless imperfections of the whole corrupt Gold Cup setup and the fact that it is a tertiary tournament (most of us consider that the WCQ hex is in fact the practical championship of our region in our minds), the Gold Cup is there, and as long as it remains at its low status, even the people that hold to the principle have to be inwardly glad of having South Africa, a team of some prominence appear, if for nothing else than giving our team the practicality of widening its experience. The Gold Cup should be viewed with limitation as a mere tool in this regard. It's utility would have been questionable had we qualified for the hex, but now with our WCQ disqualification it is a much more important tool. It may be our only opportunity for tournament practice until the next WCQ commences sometime in mid-2008. The issue of Canada having accepted or accepting an invitation to the Copa America is another issue, as we are not responsible for a tournament purporting to be another region's championship (and as many South Americans have asserted, the Copa America is now a sideshow to it's incredible WCQ tournament). Of course we should accept invitations to the Copa America on a case-by-case basis, if it helps the preparation of our team. Although CONCACAF is an autocratic and corrupt organization, we still are technically responsible for it as a member and the policy of matters such as the Gold Cup. Hopefully, we will be going to many more tournaments with varied teams around the globe for such practice. For instance, it would be great to go to the King's Cup in Thailand some winter soon, and I would view that as more important than the Gold Cup because we would get a more varied experience. We should also hold an invitational tournament here in Canada for our senior men's side, although with the WYC in the summer of 2007, there is not much opporutnity now. I would like to have an invitational friendly cup in Canada with 3 WC-bound teams in late May and early June, 2006. It would be a great draw for the prospective visitors preparing for the World Cup, especially for those who have not had much opportunity to play teams outside their own region (and especially for a club who is in a Group with the US) in a plce where they can avoid pressure. It would take some organization (we would have to provide great training facilities at some desirable resort-like area for each team), but it could also be a financial bonus for the CSA. As Voyageurs, we should now be prominently campaigning for such a tournament now. While we may legitimately rant and scowl about the whole Gold Cup mess, we can still approach it as the tool which it is. We should then greet the admission of world mid-powers like South Africa and whomever the second invitee is as positive gifts. As long as we don't lose sight of the sign which should be posted everywhere: "It's about the World Cup, stupid!". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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