RSL to CONCACAF Finals!

[Schmoe]

Wouldn't it be funny if we played vs Real Madrid, the team we decided to copy?

[Mingjai]

I came across this Grant Wahl article from before the first leg--a good read in general, I might add--but there was a great quote in the article:

To say that [RSL Coach Jason] Kreis is single-minded about soccer might be an understatement. "I don't think he watches other sports," says [team captain Kyle] Beckerman. "He just met [BYU basketball star] Jimmer Fredette the other day, and he didn't know who he was. All the rest of the guys are like, 'Jimmer!'"

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/w ... index.html

[Schmoe]

So funny that a bunch of professional athletes were stoked to meet Jimmer, love it!

[kiwibacon]

Bummed there was not a good outcome tonight for RSL and MLS soccer.

[SpiffCoug]

Yeah, it was probably a fair outcome. Monterrey was the better team.

[stuckinbig10country]

RSL had their chances. They gave up a weak goal at the end of the first half and didn't capitalize on some really good chances. Their best players didn't play their best on Wednesday, and I guess some of the credit for that goes to Monterrey.

[tmoney35]

For someone uneducated in international soccer tournaments outside of the World Cup, could someone explain exactly what RSL accomplished and what they did to get there?

I'm intrigued but totally ignorant.

[Mingjai]

For someone uneducated in international soccer tournaments outside of the World Cup, could someone explain exactly what RSL accomplished and what they did to get there?

I'm intrigued but totally ignorant.

FIFA, the international body governing soccer, is divided into 6 continental governing bodies--Europe, Asia, Africa, North/Central America, South America, Oceania. For the World Cup, each continent is allocated a certain number of slots and the continental body determines how the slots will be divvied amongst their member national teams--this is referred to as World Cup Qualification.

Separately, the continental body also holds a continental championship tournament for national teams during a World Cup off year (once every 2-4 years depending on the continent)--the most popular is the quadrennial European or Euro championship because the overall level of soccer played there is generally higher than the World Cup as there are no losers like North Korea that make it. The winners of the continental championship go on to play in the Confederations Cup (held the year before the World Cup) along with the defending World Cup champion and the upcoming host of the World Cup.

All of the above is at the national team level.

In addition, each continental body hosts an annual continental club championship for the best club teams from each national league, with the winners of each continent going on the FIFA Club World Cup. Again, the most popular continental club tournament is Europe's UEFA Champions League because of its high quality of play.

Basically, RSL did was made it to the finals of the continental club championship, which is impressive since no other U.S. soccer team had made the semi-finals since the tournament became a serious tournament. Had they won, they would have gone on to represent the whole continent in the international club tournament.

What's really confusing is that in addition to all of these international tournaments, teams continue to play in their domestic leagues, so players might be playing lots of soccer.

For example, let's pick Lionel Messi an Argentine national team player who plays for FC Barcelona in Spain. On Saturday, he might play a Spanish league match for Barcelona against Valencia. Then on Wednesday, he might play a national team match for Argentina in a World Cup qualifier against Brazil. The next Saturday, he'll have another Spanish league match for Barcelona against Real Madrid. Then on Wednesday, he might play a European club championship tournament match for Barcelona against Manchester United. Depending on the locations of the matches, he could be playing a match in Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Madrid, and Manchester all in a 1 1/2 week period.

[tmoney35]

thank you! that is incredibly helpful