On Monday, Japan announced that they would be giving up their place in the 2011 Copa America, to be hosted in Argentina, because they needed to focus on domestic rebuilding efforts following the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck the country. That left an open spot in South America's continental championship tournament, one some have called for the United States to take. However, it is unlikely that the U.S. is invited to the tournament and they would be wise to decline anyways.
USMNT Unlikely To Get Copa America Invite & Would Be Wise To Decline Anyways
CONMEBOL, the confederation that represents South America, is made up of 10 teams, but they play Copa America with 12 and have invited two teams from outside the continent to fill the final spots. Traditionally, Mexico has been one of those teams and they will be in the tournament again this summer. Costa Rica has also been invited several times, Japan was invited once before 2011 and the United States has participated three times, in 1993, 1995 and 2007.
There is obviously precedent for the U.S. participating in Copa America and they participated in the most recent tournament. That most recent tournament is also why it is unlikely the Americans will not receive an invitation to fill Japan’s spot for this summer.
When the U.S. participated in the 2007 Copa America, it came right after they played in the 2007 Gold Cup, a tournament that determines the champion of the United States’ own confederations, CONCACAF. The U.S. prioritized the Gold Cup over Copa America because they were intent on getting a berth in the 2009 Confederations Cup, something they would clinch by winning the Gold Cup. Well, they won the Gold Cup and got their Confederations Cup berth by using a team filled with their best players.
Asking the U.S. players to play a full tournament, the Gold Cup, and then another full tournament, Copa America, is physically taxing and would leave them with no offseason to recover after and before a long club season. The U.S. let their top players go after the Gold Cup and instead took a team of talented, but young and inexperienced players, most of whom couldn’t make the Americans’ top team at the time, to Copa America. Unsurprisingly, the U.S. lost all of their matches in Copa America and CONMEBOL was furious after, saying the U.S. would not be invited back because they did not take the tournament seriously.
Now, if the U.S. promised CONMEBOL that they would prioritize Copa America and take their best team, they could probably get an invitation. The U.S. isn’t going to do that though. Once again, the Gold Cup is their priority because if they win this summer’s Gold Cup they will get a berth in the 2013 Confederations Cup. Would CONMEBOL ask the U.S. to bring their reserves and young players down to Argentina and take Japan’s spot in this summer’s Copa America? It’s unlikely.
Even if the U.S. did get an offer, what would be the point in taking it? Some of the Americans’ best young players are already committed to participating in the U-20 World Cup (assuming they qualify, which they will if they win their next match in the CONCACAF Championships). The team would be comprised of players not good enough for the top team right now and would likely be soundly beaten as well. On top of all that, because Copa America is not the United States’ own confederation championship, clubs would not be required to let their players play in it so wrestling enough halfway decent players away from their clubs could be a struggle. The hassle of Copa America would just not be worth going down there to get knocked around.
That isn’t to say that Copa America is not an incredible tournament and one the U.S. would not benefit from participating in. It is a fantastic tournament and if the Americans ever took part in it they would be challenged, tested and learn a lot from it. That would only be the case if the U.S. took their best team to the tournament though, which would mean sending a weak team to the Gold Cup and that just isn’t something the U.S. is going to do right now. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t do it, but whether the Americans should pass on the Gold Cup to focus on Copa America is a whole other conversation.
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