Well, it is over. The marquee, grandstand, larger than life, the collage of awesomeness that is the CONCACAF Gold cup is done. I maybe a bit cynical but honestly all the group and knock out matches played was an absolute waste of time. Why? I would like to begin this sentence with because but I can't due to my formality to proper grammar but that aside all those matches from Grenada's besmirching at the hand's of Jamaica to Canada's poor attempt at a victory against Guadeloupe, we all can just really say we were just waiting on the Americans and Mexicans to show up in Pasadena on the 25th of June. They did meet it was quite the game. The men from Mexico City toppled their host 4-2 in California. It was no doubt the best game the federation can offer. That is why I will forever say I don't see the point of the Gold Cup. Point number one. As seen in some of the score lines in this installment of the competition CONCACAF has a serious problem. Its just not competitive enough. Jamaica 4 Grenada 0, Costa Rica 5 Cuba 0, Honduras 7 Grenada 1. I mean Grenada all respects to them are as good as my little brother when he gets drowsy of Robitussin when he comes down with a cold but the fact of the matter is Caribbean members of the federation outside Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago (who didn't even make the tournament) are flimsy all while the mainland contingents outside USA and Mexico are good amongst themselves but really aren't well equipped to take on the better teams of the world. Just look at Honduras at the 2010 World Cup. Three games played and not one single goal scored. This is a problem and what hurts the region is the lack of another or a few other strong nations. Canada may not have the populous but they surely have the finances and if Costa Rica or Honduras are able to ship more of their players abroad they really do have a chance to upset the order. Forget the quality of team but lets give look to the cup itself. Where can it actually be successfully held? United States, we have seen that this time around, but getting the Americans to embrace it, is difficult you just have to look at their attendance throughout the tournament and they were absolutely eclipsed by the Mexican support in the final. Mexico is very capable of hosting and Canada has wonderful infrastructure and would probably be the best but who else? You know the answer, no one else. They are 40 member states in CONCACAF and they are only three that I can see that can host this tournament. Now it has a lot to with finance and tradition and a hold bunch of things but only three countries? That gives an awful lot favor to the trio and let's be honest FIFA is shady and the North American market is where the bulk of revenue for the federation lies so who can blame them. As a fan even if another country or a duo like Costa Rica Guatemala tried to host, I wouldn't go anywhere near there. I just know the experience will be awful. Europe has multiple nations that can host grand football events as to the Asians and to a lesser extent the Africans. So in fact CONCACAF officials bank that their two largest cash cows USA and Mexico making it to the final but what do I know. What I do know something has to be done about it by FIFA and CONCACAF if they are not too busy siphoning off and conniving each other they need to bring some parity to the region. It is not easy, resources are spread so unevenly that one wonders if parity can ever be achieved but they have to try. They have to enrich the Gold Cup with teams worthy of lifting it but as it stands they are only two you can claim that right I don't have to mention them I think you have an idea who they are. With that I sign off the CONCACAF Goldfish... sorry Gold Cup can't wait for the next one. Congrats Mexico on hosting that massive trophy. I wonder if the cup is actually made of pure gold?
"Men love their country, not because it is great, but because it is their own." Seneca. I totally agree with the Greek on this one. They are approximately 195 countries on planet and lets be honest the bulk of them really are not that stellar. They are either poor, in a war time situation, the government pretty much run the citizenry lives or the worse of the lot, the country is hated by many. Seneca is right, if your country falls under any of those umbrellas one should always remember to love your country simply because it is yours. Even if there are ills, like social upheaval or economic instability it is your country and every citizen through birth or naturalization has the capacity to climb to the top or make resonating actions to make his or her nation prosper. It isn't easy they are obstacles but it can be done. With all the international football swirling around and the minor FIFA corruption scandal stagnating the air I thought I take the opportunity to promote one of the newer additions to the "FIFA Family," according to a certain recently unopposed FIFA president. I won't call names. Montenegro gained her sovereignty and stood alone for the first time in 2006 when they annex themselves from Serbia. I am not a political man so I won't dwell on their history in the world but their history in football looks like a swift ascension. I have to back track on my words and invite history in the conversation. I could had at least waited a full paragraph to do that. As I write this Montenegro enjoys the luxury of calling themselves the 24th best team in the world. How did they get there? Well for one they are good. The reasoning behind that is that they come from very good stock. Montenegro was part of what was might of Yugoslavia a country in world football produced wonderful players like Predrag Mijatovic from Montenegro, Dragan Dzajic from Serbia and Zlatko Vujovic the Bosnia Croat. There has always been talent in the region. Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia all have players of note. They owe what legacy the forge today to Yugoslavia. Montenegro is no different. They owe their style, tactics and shared verve for the game with its predecessors Yugoslavia and its Baltic neighbors. It is about the men from Podgorica. In the 2006 World Cup held in Germany Serbia & Montenegro fielded a unified team at the start of the tournament. However it didn't end to well the unit loss all of its games including a 6-0 hammering by Argentina. It meant the team didn't make it pass the group stages. Quickly after this disappointment Montenegro finally got their chance to do things on their own in 2007. Where they competed as a wholly sovereign state in their first game against Hungary where they won 2-1 at home. Since they are the newest team around that meant they started off with a rank the lowest rank 199th in the world so they really have to be credited as a success at this point it shows great hustle to reach the upper percentile of world football. As qualifying for a major tournament, the 2012 Euros held in Poland & Ukraine will be their first, they are giving a good account of themselves against like the likes of England and Switzerland. I hope they do well. On the player front, over the years Montenegro was quietly assimilated into the umbrellas of Serbia & Montenegro and Yugoslavia but now finally the microscope is fixed on their sons. Stevan Jovetic, Mirko Vucinic and Simon Vukcevic the ones that the "Brave Falcons," look to now before it was the likes of Predrag Mijatovic and Dejan Savicevic. They have real quality over there lets see how they carry on. My guess they will be soon staring down Serbia and Croatia for the accolade of best in the Balkans.
