File this under things I shouldn’t mention, but I don’t always thoroughly read all the items to which I link. Shocking, I know. And it’s possible you may have noticed this….hopefully not, though.
Personal issues notwithstanding, I finally read the announcement on the upcoming CONCACAF Champions League closely enough to catch an interesting detail:
“The CONCACAF Champions League will feature four teams from Mexico and USA; three Caribbean sides; two clubs each from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama; and one representative coming from Canada, Belize, and Nicaragua.”
Now, I don’t know enough about the professional game in Belize or Nicaragua (or even amateur game, for that matter), but I know enough about Canadian soccer for the bit in bold to have me scratch my head a little. My first thought went along the lines of, “Toronto FC gets an annual automatic bid? WTF?”
That would be silly, of course, and the Canadian(?) powers-that-be appreciated this. Canada’s spot will go to either Toronto FC or one of the Big Canadian Guns from the United Soccer Leagues Division 1, the Vancouver Whitecaps or the Montreal Impact (or L’Impact de Montreal…or is it du Montreal?). The precise format for qualification hasn’t yet been finalized, but this is a cool idea generally. Cool enough that I almost want to be Canadian. I mean, imagine the number of MLS clubs the Portland Timbers would have climb over to reach the same exhilarating pinnacle.
One last thing: they better get as much of this Champions League business on TV as they can…dammit.
Filed under: CONCACAF Champions League, MLS, Major League Soccer, Toronto FC | Tagged: Montreal Impact, Vancouver Whitecaps
