By Paul Nicholson
June 22 – Argentina swept USA aside 4-0 in Houston last night to progress to the finals of the Copa America Centenario, and setting up an all-CONMEBOL final with the winners of Chile or Colombia who play this evening in Chicago.
The match was one-way traffic as the US failed to manage a single on goal, either on or off target.
At the centre of the Argentine dominance was Lionel Messi who again scored to take over the mantle from Gabriel Batustita as Argentina’s highest scorer with 55 goals for his country.
The US did enough in the tournament to justify optimism but there was not enough to indicate that their huge youth system is as yet producing players that can compete at the world’s highest level. A worry for head coach Jurgen Klinsmann as he looks for players to mount a significant challenge in the heart of the political enemy Russia at the World Cup in 2018.
For CONCACAF the tournament on the field of play has generally disappointed with Mexico being hammered by Chile in their quarter final ending hopes that the confederation could show they were coming out of the dark ages on as well as off the pitch – both are somewhat debateable still.
What the Copa America Centenario has proved – if any real proof was really needed – is that the US (apart from playing the wrong national anthems on a few occasions) can organise a major football tournament and, for the most part, fill its big stadia.
That theoretically should support the US ambition to hold a World Cup in 2026 (if not earlier…). That hosting decision will be taken by FIFA’s Congress rather than its previous gang of 24 executive committee members. FIFA’s membership might not prove as compliant on this one as the US Justice Department has found its executive and host cost country Switzerland.
The US will also have a challenge from fellow CONCACAF members Mexico and Canada who have both expressed World Cup hosting ambition. A more likely scenario is that with the World Cup, likely expanding to 40 teams (FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s preferred number so with the control he has now given himself that will more than likely happen), Mexico and Canada will be thrown a couple of groups each to administer while big brother USA will be the man host.
For the South Americans the Copa America is now turning into the tournament they had expected, though few had anticipated the departure of Brazil at the group stage – further humiliation heaped on a nation that once took the moral high ground in the ‘beautiful game’ on the pitch, if never off it.
The second semi-final pitches reigning Copa America champions Chile against a Colombian team who are at last coming back into form. The winners will face a rampant Argentina looking for their first major trophy in 23 years in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Sunday.
The day before on the other side of the country at the University of Phoenix stadium in Glendale, California, the USA will play off for third place. The USA doesn’t like coming third in anything, though a win would mark a good tournament for the team on paper. Whether that is enough for a country whose politicians and general public expect to come first in everything remains to be seen.
And what does it mean for a CONCACAF that is struggling to show the world that it is has transformed into a non-corrupt, transparent and inclusive modern organisation. That is a description few would agree with – just ask around the Caribbean member associations. But the cash from the tournament should solve a few problems, if it makes it down to the member associations and not into the pockets of the highly paid and non-transparent battalions of professional advisors making the decisions in the organisation. Everyone will be looking for transparency on what happens here.
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