Suggested Changes to 2014 World Cup Qualifiers

FIFA drew recently teams for the 2010 World Cup qualification. Ironically, England and Croatia will go at it again. With the exciting battle in the Euro 2008 qualifiers passed, FIFA feels it is only fitting to require the same qualification process again for World Cup 2010. And not just on a UEFA level, but on a global level. It has always been this way, so why change a thing, right? Wrong.

Think about the past few World Cups. Qualified teams assemble the best teams they possibly can. Some players will have nagging injuries and will fight through those. Others may not make it at all due to injuries. And, there are some who are so burned out from club play that they are just showing up to keep the sponsors happy. Regrettably, it presents exhausted or uninterested players who go through the motions for almost half of their games in the World Cup, and then crank it up when it matters most. The World Cup showcases the most talented teams and determines who the best is for that period of time. My opinion is that players are played too much prior to the start of the World Cup and this has affected the quality of play. I suggest the qualification process be shortened for the best teams and taken to a global level for the fringe teams. The result would provide healthier teams for the World Cup and higher level of interest in the game by the world and the players.

For the best teams, FIFA should apply the regional tournament results for qualification. Teams that win or place in these tournaments should be granted World Cup qualification. From the regional tournaments and the host nation, the first 16 World Cup qualifiers would be filled as the following:

UEFA (6): 1st through 6th Place in the Euro Cup.
CONMEBOL (3): 1st through 3rd Place in Copa America.
AFC (2): 1st & 2nd Places in Asian Nations Cup.
CAF (2): 1st & 2nd Places in African Nations Cup.
CONCACAF (2): 1st & 2nd Places in Gold Cup.
Host Nation (1)

For the fringe teams, a second chance would be given. There would be 48 fringe teams battling for the remaining 16 slots. The suggested scenarios for the fringe teams to qualify are the following:

1. Two rounds of home and away series for teams that advanced in their regional tournaments, but lost before gaining qualification placement. FIFA would either rank teams to determine who plays who or arrange for an auto-playoff, such as the 7th place team from Euro 2008 will play the 8th place team from the Gold Cup. Round One would be comprised of lower ranking teams battling to advance against the higher ranked fringed team in Round Two. So, the higher ranked teams would have a Round One bye. I prefer the ranking situation since it leads to random match-ups. Imagine a Round One match up of Republic of Ireland vs. Bolivia and the winner taking on a team the likes of an England or a Nigeria. Has Bolivia ever played any of these teams?

2. Cross regional group qualification for the 48 fringe teams that advanced in their regional tournaments, but lost before gaining qualification placement. These teams would be arranged in 8 groups of 6 teams. Each team would play the other countries in home and away and the top two teams from each group would advance to the World Cup. This would resemble a UEFA qualification for World Cup. Imagine a qualifying group of Austria, Costa Rica, Iran, Paraguay, New Zealand and Senegal. How often does someone from Senegal travel to New Zealand?

Both scenarios provide more exposure for countries that do not get regularly a chance to compete with countries outside of its region. For scenario #1, it reduces the number of qualifiers and would not be as costly. For scenario #2, it would be more expensive and may be an equal number of qualifiers for some countries in today’s set-up. But, scenario #2 would bring qualification to a global scale and the revenues should surpass the costs.

The soonest FIFA could improve qualification would be in 2011 after the Euro 2012 qualifiers. These amendments could then be applied for the 2014 World Cup, but don’t hold your breath. Obviously for this to work, some changes would have to be made, such as increasing the number of countries in regional championships and the scheduling of regional tournaments. My suggestion is not to change the World Cup format of 32 teams, but to reroute the World Cup to a more enjoyable passage, which requires fewer repairs upon arrival.

2007 MLS Season in Review

Happy Thanksgiving, Soccer-Point readers!

As much as it pains me to admit, the main question to be asked about the MLS & Soccer in America remains: "If a goal is scored in the sports wilderness, does it make a sound?" Last Sunday's MLS Cup is a case in point. It was a great game between two perennial MLS powers in the New England Revolution & the Houston Dynamo. It was a rematch of last year's championship game. There was Placido Domingo singing the national anthem. There was a military jet flyover. It was even televised live on ABC.

Yet the most remarkable feature of the game was the half empty RFK Stadium where MLS Cup 2007 was held. Casual observers note that perhaps the league front office was planning for an LA Galaxy presence in that game with a certain David Beckham selling out the 57,000 seats. Don't worry, the decision for where next year's MLS Cup has already been made. And, yes, it's going to be held in a more modest facility: the Home Depot Center - a 27,000 seat capacity Soccer Specific Stadium that is home to two MLS teams: David Beckham's Los Angeles Galaxy & Preki's Chivas USA.

Beckham's arrival on these shores has caused dissent in both Europe & America. "Beckham's washed up. Now that he's playing in America, he's not good enough for Europe." And, "Who's the pretty boy on the bench? What's he trying to do anyway? We don't watch soccer!" Seems as if to believe that Beckham in America matters at all you have to either be LA Galaxy GM Alexi Lalas or believe in the Tooth Fairy.

But before the Soccer Muggles start again with the put-downs & the insults about The Beautiful Game, let's recap what ended up being a landmark year for the game in this country. 2007 has been the most important year in Major League Soccer history since its inception in 1996.

• The signing & arrival of David Beckham, arguably one of the most recognized faces on the planet, brought unprecedented attention and fanfare in a non-World Cup-year. The media elite have been slagging off the arrival of Beckham because of the injuries & lack of game time. But they're missing the ball. In one fell swoop, the league acquired a media presence it never before had. This goes beyond raising the level of play. It is raising the profile of the league in ways that marketers will no longer ignore.

The Beckham factor has helped boost the MLS's bottom line in virtually every area, even though ankle and knee injuries restricted the former England skipper to just five appearances after he joined Los Angeles in July. Crowd averages (16,770) were the highest since the inaugural season. Television ratings were up 25 per cent. Shirt sales were up 800 per cent, largely on the back of Galaxy's [Beckham's] No.23. Even the MLS website's traffic jumped 80 per cent.

• Soccer Specific Stadiums in Colorado, Toronto & Los Angeles debuted to much acclaim. And this Lamar Hunt-proposed MLS "SSS" initiative continues with the Real Salt Lake stadium to open next year and proposals underway in D.C., K.C., San Jose, New England, Philadelphia & St. Louis. Houston has become MLS "Title Town". So it would be hard to believe that they wouldn't get their act together for a downtown "SSS" stadium.
  
• Club Tournaments: SuperLiga 2007 launched an important international initiative for the MLS & U.S. Soccer. Thanks to David Beckham's inclusion in the festivities, the SuperLiga tournament was a terrific success. Beckham scored his first Galaxy goal during the semifinal match against DC United and Home Depot Center went wild on national television. More importantly, MLS clubs & US players will have regular exposure to Mexican league teams. Congratulations go to Pachuca for winning the $1,000,000 final.
• Big Games: Aside from the fun SuperLiga games, LA Galaxy at Giants Stadium vs. the New York Red Bulls will be regarded as a watershed moment for soccer in this country. 66,ooo fans witnessed this regular season game at Giants Stadium. I regret not having subscribed to the ten year old Fox Soccer Channel that night. I did subscribe the following week though. That gave me the chance to see Germany trounce England at Wembley Stadium - in a part of the world where an international friendly brings together their two countries' leaders. It also brought the Fox Football Fone-In into our home on Tuesday nights. On Bastille Day, Juan Toja & FC Dallas came back from 3 goals down in DC to tie Juan Moreno, Emilio & the rest of the 2007 Supporters' Shield winners D.C. United. In the last game of the Western Conference Semifinals, FC Dallas lost to the mighty Houston Dynamo in a come from behind win in front of 30,000 rabid Heat Mizers in Houston. The Hoops can soothe their defeat somewhat knowing that they lost to the 2007 MLS Cup winners.
  
• Ticket Sales in Toronto & Announcement of new franchises: San José Earthquakes & Seattle. Toronto FC is an MLS ticket-selling phenomenon. The Seattle franchise will be a huge hit in a town that is about to lose its first professional franchise in the Seattle Supersonics. Seattle's MLS team will play in one of the best stadiums in the country: Qwest Field. Given that they've already sold 5,000 season ticket packages and that they won't start until 2009, I think it's a safe bet that they'll be strongly embraced by the Seattle crowds. OK Supersonics? Please.
  

Suggestions for 2008:

Major League Soccer: Embrace the Social Web! Twellman's spectacular playoff bicycle kick was nowhere to be found on YouTube after the Eastern Conference Finals. (Two weeks later I was able to find one) The MLS should encourage this kind of interaction. The MLS website looks like crap on Firefox. Soccer fans are tech savvy. Get with it.

FC Dallas: Play the SuperLiga Mexican team games at the Cotton Bowl. You're guaranteed a stadium full of Pachuca or Chivas fans. That looks great on TV. As much as I enjoy the games at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, I sure miss the Dallas Burn games at the Cotton Bowl. The Toronto FC games at BMO Field look great on TV for a couple of reasons: they're packed full of young, urban, rabid fans with lots of disposable income. And they're buying lots of Molson Goldens and Toronto FC scarves. Also, the beautiful Toronto skyline looks great on TV. It gives that event a much more momentous feel than a game played out closer to the Oklahoma border than to downtown Dallas.

As Dwayne De Rosario said on Tuesday night's Fox Football Fone-In in regards to a potential SSS in Houston: "If you want to compete with the major sports in America, Football, Basketball & Baseball, you have to compete wherever they're at. And that's downtown. That's the prime location." So, while I know we have a terrific soccer facility up in Frisco, I daydream about a day when pro soccer returns to downtown Dallas...perhaps off the banks of the Trinity, maybe someday in a resurgent Cotton Bowl. What? A guy's gotta dream.

Twellman Thrills 'Em, ESPN Crawls

What a goal!

A chilly night in New England witnessed the bicycle kick goal of the year. In the 38th minute, Taylor Twellman followed a blooper up in the air all the way down to his tippie-toes. What a beaut!

Whenever FC Dallas faces New England, Taylor Twellman always has his way with our Hoops. So it's a relief to be able to root for him against the Chicago Fire. And what U.S. Soccer fan doesn't love to root against the Chicago Fire's Designated Player Cuauhtemoc Blanco? It's an instinctual response. And in that sense, it's great to have the Club America legend in our league.

Now that I have the Fox Soccer Channel, I have a basis of comparison for the different networks' soccer coverage. The Fox Soccer Channel is a premium station on any cable or satellite service. So perhaps it's unfair to expect too much from Basic Subscription ESPN.

Here's my gripe: Do we need to have the sports crawler on during almost the entire broadcast? Whatever happened the the 58/28 updates? That would be acceptable. But what is the point of cluttering up the beautiful pitch with the latest NBA scores? As a soccer viewer, is it really that important that I have up-to-the-minute news from the folks in Bristol? Spare me.

If anything, show us some frickin' soccer scores from around the world. We're SOCCER viewers, you numskulls. Get a clue. It's as if they feel embarrassed that they're broadcasting fútbol. So to compensate, they put the crawler on the screen for most of the game. "Earth to Bristol: It's on the Deuce! No one else is watching anyhow!"

That's my Friday rant. Dave O'Brien doesn't really bother me all that much. (I think he bothers Wynalda some, though.) Sure, Glenn Davis would be a better play-by-play guy. But, O'Brien doesn't offend me. But lose the crawler, Bristol.

It Was 8 Years Ago - May It End Tonight

I truly thought it would not take this long. I was sure the pieces were in place for future advancement. It was 1999 when the Dallas Burn, now FC Dallas, last won a playoff series. Many of my Soccer-Point Teammates were there for this series. It is still considered one of the greatest MLS series, the infamous Chicago Fire-Dallas Burn series of 1999. All those who were there say, "aye!"

The series had plenty of drama being that these two teams hated each other already. This series became one of the founding pieces for the Brimstone Cup. In those days, teams had to win two games to advance, so some series played the full three games. The first two games went as follows:


October 16, 1999 @ Cotton Bowl
Dallas Burn 2–1 Chicago Fire
Ariel Graziani 52' John Ball 79'
Mark Santel 75'

October 23, 1999 @ Soldier Field
Chicago Fire 4–0 Dallas Burn
Peter Nowak 18'
Roman Kosecki 36'
Ante Razov 42'
Dema Kovalenko 47'

Game 2 was a crusher for Dallas, but optimism still remained. The Burn were coming home and nobody beats the Big Red Wall at home (or, so we thought). The Game 3 scene started with the Country-Western singer Brian Houser "The Beer Man" singing the national anthem. He is a friend of our family (Isabella is a big fan of his). From that intro, I had a great feeling to the game. Lloyd "the Polish Beer Slinger" was selling in the stands and wanted to talk polkas and about "Weird" Al Yankovich's father. The drums were tight, Inferno was kicking, and so was La Mara Loca. Life was good. But within 5 minutes, that all changed. And, our season was soon to be over. I am not sure which beer was the one that changed our luck that night, but all I remember is that the last one I launched for joy thanks to Graziani brilliant junk. Those two hours would go down as one of the most exciting sporting events ever viewed. Remember these?

• Chad Deering's screaming while on TV as he throws in the ball, "Get in the f***ing box!"
• Jorge "Zarco" Rodriguez
• John Jairo Trellez = "Reggae Boy"

Open a beer and check out the article from 1999 on the following link:

http://web.mlsnet.com/history/archive_game.jsp?year=99&content=1027chidal

Tonight may be a changing of the guard, a new sheriff in Texas. The opportunity is there for FC Dallas to advance. The rains of this year have replenished the reservoirs. Hopefully, our 8 year drought is over too.

The match is on TV somewhere at 7:30 PM CST. Come on Dallas!