CONCACAF has once again spared fans throughout North and Central America and the Caribbean the "drama" of a live draw and instead has released the finalized pairings for the second edition of its Champions League tournament. The confederation's website features a photo of a soap opera actress standing behind a bowl with some balls in it, implying there was some kind of randomness to the process, but you never really know with an organization that's always behaved as if it makes up the rules as it goes along.Still, for a group that failed to organize a club championship as recently as 2001 -- astonishing when you think about it -- launching a reasonably coherent competition with relatively understandable qualifying criteria is quite an accomplishment. So, we'll give everyone the benefit of the doubt and look forward to a tournament that should help continue the development of professional soccer in the region and that awards the most hideous trophy in world sports. On to the "draw"....
In the preliminary round, 16 teams will face each other in two-leg ties scheduled for July 28-30 and Aug. 4-6:
D.C. United v. Chalatenango (El Salvador)
New York Red Bulls v. W Connection (Trinidad & Tobago)
Cruz Azul (Mexico) v. Herediano (Costa Rica)
Pachuca (Mexico) v. Comunicaciones or Jalapa (Guatemala)
Vancouver Whitecaps or Toronto FC v. Puerto Rico Islanders
Arabe Unido or San Francisco (Panama) vs. San Juan Jabloteh (Trinidad & Tobago)
Olimpia (Honduras) vs. Arabe Unido or Chorrillo (Panama)
Liberia (Costa Rica) vs. Real Espana (Honduras)
The winners enter the 16-team group stage, set to kick off Aug. 18-20 and conclude Oct. 20-22.
Group A
Houston Dynamo
Metapan (El Salvador)
Pachuca/Comunicaciones/Jalapa
Olimpia/Arabe Unido/Chorrillo
Group B
Toluca (Mexico)
Marathon (Honduras)
D.C. United/Chalatenango
Arabe Unido/San Francisco/San Juan Jabloteh
Group C
Columbus Crew
Saprissa (Costa Rica)
Cruz Azul/Herediano
Vancouver Whitecaps/Toronto FC/Puerto Rico Islanders
Group D
UNAM Pumas (Mexico)
Comunicaciones/Municipal (Guatemala)
New York Red Bulls/W Connection
Liberia/Real Espana
Obviously there remain a few particulars to be decided, most notably the winner of the Canadian Championship (likely Vancouver, unless Toronto beats Montreal by four goals next week). Qualification criteria has remained relatively consistent, although the picture is muddled by the insistence of so many Latin American countries to conduct their ludicrous split seasons, ensuring several bizarre championship and qualification permutations.
The more serious problem this season has been in the expulsion of clubs from Belize and Nicaragua because CONCACAF determined that their facilities "did not meet the stadium standards required under the tournament regulations." Their berths were awarded to Honduras and Costa Rica based on "performance co-efficients" which, naturally, the confederation hasn't published. Actually, the Costa Rica berth was originally offered to Panama, but that country apparently was lacking the proper stadium infrastructure to merit a third team. So it went to Costa Rica "based on its teams' better historical performance in international competition." If you say so.
It's all rather silly and incomprehensible, and you can get your fill of CONCACAF's machinations here.
So, even though we're not exactly sure how or why everyone who's in the tournament is in the tournament, and even though the draw could have been entirely rigged for one reason or another, it's the best we have. Sadly, it's also a dramatic improvement for a competition that has been a farce for most of its history (Can you imagine UEFA or CONMEBOL declaring co-champions because its clubs can't decide when to play the final? It's happened in CONCACAF more than once.)
The 2008-09 edition will be remembered for MLS's embarrassing performance, the shocking success of the "minor league" USL sides from Montreal and Puerto Rico, and Atlante's triumph. "With a core group of returning teams, the addition of more than 50% of new clubs will guarantee many surprises and a lot of excitement," CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer said in a statement written by a public relations employee.
