🏆 Is this the year for MLS in Concacaf Champions League?
Plus: An interview with a player affected by visa difficulties
“Is this the year?” MLS teams ask for the 14th-straight year.
That, apart from adding one to the year, is what I used as the subheadline for the newsletter previewing the 2021 Concacaf Champions League.
It wasn’t.
The Philadelphia Union made it the semifinals, but we settled in for another all-Liga MX final with Monterrey and América
Hope springs eternal, however.
Is this the year for a non-Mexican team?
The question isn’t as absurd as maybe it typically is.
For one, the group of MLS teams seem to be taking the competition seriously, with perhaps only the New England Revolution undergoing a serious overhaul from their 2021 roster but adding a serious of veterans in forward Jozy Altidore, midfielder Sebastian Lletget and center back Omar Gonzalez.
The Seattle Sounders brought back most of their key parts and added Albert Rusnak, making them the MLS Cup favorite for many analysts.
The Colorado Rapids also kept their core together, replacing Kellyn Acosta with Bryan Acosta. They could use a forward but could put together a run. They’d need to get past New York City FC, which so far has held on to MLS Golden Boot winner Taty Castellanos, though we thought it was more likely he’d be playing in Copa Libertadores or the UEFA Champions League with suitors around the world.
In Mexico, however, many clubs are dealing with some transitional pains. Santos Laguna is yet to win after bidding farewell to manager Guillermo Almada, sitting last and still looking for its first win under former boss Pedro Caixinha.
León may find their form but also have stumbled out of the gates, with five points from five matches, missing injured Angel Mena and struggling in front of goal, scoring multiple goals just once since the first leg of last season’s title.
Cruz Azul looks the strongest of the bunch but is at risk of institutional turmoil spilling onto the field, with fans praying Juan Reynoso stays as manager after a sporting director he reportedly has clashed with returned to the post.
More than hope, MLS teams should feel an obligation to win this year before the CCL format switches and Mexico can point to 15 years of dominance even as MLS was in ascendency.
MLS can continue making noise about being a growing league, but if it can’t win a series of CCL titles, much less get even one, it can’t claim to be the region’s best league, much less among the world’s best.
The excuse of playing early in the season is mostly out the door with the 2022 World Cup pushing MLS’ season start earlier than ever. By the time an MLS team kicks off a quarterfinal series, it will have a pair of regular season weeks under its belt.
If this is MLS’ time, a team must step up and seize the opportunity. It looks like a strong group of MLS teams with time together with their teammates and their managers, while several of the Liga MX teams qualifying this time around are in flux. MLS teams must take advantage of any gaps they can find and exploit them to get into the record books.
Document difficulties make things even tougher for non-North Americans
Everything points to Caribbean champion AS Cavaly having to forfeit their first-round tie against the New England Revolution after players once again were unsuccessful Monday in securing their U.S. visas.
The U.S. consulate in Haiti is all but closed and despite intervention from agencies ranging from Concacaf to Haiti’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the delegation has been unsuccessful and barring a last-minute breakthrough the Wednesday deadline will pass without players heading to Boston.
Other teams are running into issues too for various reasons
Santos de Guápiles and Saprissa will be without many of their foreign players because of a strange situation in Costa Rica we covered in yesterday’s Conca-catch-up.
A report in La Nacion this weekend brought to light what amounted to a quiet truce between Costa Rican soccer officials and the government’s migration department. Foreign players have been allowed to play without their work permits as the migration authority works through a backlogged caused by the pandemic with processing times slowed to a crawl because of government workers staying at home and not working in the office where paperwork comes in.
With the players’ status now public, clubs must sit their players who haven’t finished the formal work permit process or risk running afoul of the law - and, potentially, public opinion.
In addition to the foreign player situation, U.S. document delays also have affected Santos. Jamaican forward Javon East and Mexican defender Everardo Rubio are set to feature against NYCFC in Los Angeles, but Cuban forward Luis Paradela had his U.S. visa denied. The Cuba international previously played with Reno in the USL Championship.
“It’s a really frustrating situation. Things changed from one day to the next,” Paradela told me Monday afternoon. “All Santos foreign players are in the same situation, and us foreign players all play very important roles in the club. Suddenly, this decision gets made.”
Paradela said he had a hard time understanding why the authorities who have allowed this to go on for more than a year can’t extend a grace period of a month or so - his appointment is set for March 23.
With foreign players unable to play in the home leg and Paradela out for the away leg, he not only will be unable to help his teammates and current club but also will miss out on the potential to shine against an MLS team and prove he’s ready to play at that level or with an even bigger club.
“It’s so frustrating, and even more so when you have these games that are very important. All eyes are on these games, and as a professional you always want to keep advancing, getting better in your career and, well…ni modo” he said, using a Spanish slang term akin to ‘What can ya do?’
A source involved in Costa Rican soccer administration said the situation was frustrating for everyone involved, putting the blame on migration officials for their slow processing times and dismissing the characterization of the situation in the initial report.
Now, Costa Rican soccer leaders at the team level, the league level and the federation level are working to try to get the documents processed as quickly as possible to get the players back to making their livelihood.
Guatemalan giants Comunicaciones also ran into a bit of trouble that many Latin Americans trying to visit the U.S. have encountered since the fall. Several players are vaccinated but with the Russian-developed Sputnik vaccine, which the U.S. does not recognize recognize.
Another two players, forwards Oscar Santis and Lynner Garcia, tested positive for Covid-19 and will miss Thursday’s home leg.
The club’s directors are working to find some solution for the players who got the Sputnik shot, the first available in Guatemala, but it’s not clear what that solution might be. It all adds up to a weaker side than expected in Commerce City to face the Rapids for what already may be a tough trip.
Already this is a tournament in which teams - like Comunicaciones’ compatriots Guastatoya - often must play more than an hour from home in their countries’ national stadiums (Guastatoya is providing free transportation for fans for the 90-minute trip). These document issues only make it tougher for teams that already have plenty stacked against them.
Are they avoidable? Probably. Concacaf has tried to step up its communication efforts in the pandemic era, when things often change from one day to the next and regulations differ from country to country. Yet, that hasn’t always led to teams paying heed, and some who have put in their best efforts still have been able to overcome the administrative hurdles.
Hey, what else are you doing, Jon?!
I hung out with the ExtraTime Radio guys for some CCL preview talk earlier this week:
I’m on the Canadian Premier League’s prematch show tonight ahead of Forge FC vs. Cruz Azul on Wednesday.
Later tonight, I’ll be hablando sobre la MLS en español con unos amigos y con el propio Diego Chara.
Hope you’ll tune in to whatever you understand and are interested in!
Tomorrow AND Thursday I’ll have a new edition of the newsletter in your inbox with features ahead of the Concacaf W Qualifiers.
If you’re not already subscribed…what are you doing?