On the Importance of Copa America

This week US Soccer officially announced that its first friendly of 2011 will be against Chile in January and the rumors that they will also be facing Argentina in March were strengthened by FIFA listing that fixture on their official site.  Normally I would be ecstatic over this news, but this week was also the draw for Copa America and the combination of the two really drove home the point of what we'll be missing out on this summer. 

In order to get better, you need to be playing against opposition that really challenges you and pushes you.  In CONCACAF, the US is at a disadvantage.  For our qualifiers, we either destroy small countries that never really had a shot at qualifying, or we slog through horrible, chippy matches against teams fighting for the 3rd and 4th spots.  These games are difficult, but not for the reasons that help the team grow and improve.  Our only real match that pushes us is against Mexico (and thanks to politics within CONMEBOL, 2014 will be the last time we see them in qualifiers).  Compare that to CONMEBOL qualifying where teams are constantly going up against some of the best teams in the world.  Each and every match is difficult (just ask Argentina about their last trip to Bolivia...wasn't pretty).  This is why I love CONMEBOL qualifiers and why I love Copa America.  Copa America is all the tension and excitement of the World Cup, but you get to fast forward through the elimination of all the minnow teams like North Korea, New Zealand and Honduras.  Sure, it's fun to root for the underdogs and hope they can pull off an upset, but honestly, I just want to watch the best teams play the best football.  Copa America gives you that.