Star-starved Copa is far more important than it seems

	Kaká won't appear at the Copa América because of club duties at Milan, but Brazil's quest to defend its title runs much deeper. Simon Bruty/SI
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So Kaká and Ronaldinho have become the first of the big name European-based stars to opt out of the Copa América. They're not likely to be the last.

Others will come under pressure from their clubs, who would rather have them recharging their batteries in June and July than running around the fields of Venezuela. And the cry is bound to go up that the Copa América is being devalued.

It is, of course. But this is inevitable and has been so ever since one of the turning points in the history of international soccer in South America a little more than a decade ago.

A sea change came just after Brazil's triumph at the 1994 World Cup in the U.S. Under the rules that then applied, the defending champions qualified automatically for the next World Cup.

So when the South American Federation (CONMEBOL) sat down to prepare its France '98 qualifiers, it had a problem: no Brazil, which meant a massive reduction in TV revenues.

So CONMEBOL changed the format in order to have more "product" to offer. The remaining nine South American countries were placed in one big group, and would meet each other home and away. The new marathon format was such a success that it was retained even when Brazil came back into the pool after failing to defend its title in France.

Conceived for financial reasons, the new qualification format was nothing less than a revolution on the field. Previously, all international football in the continent had been organized on a tournament-style basis -- intensive bursts of a month when the Copa América was played or World Cup qualification took place.

In between, there were gaps of years with no competitive fixtures. It was relatively easy for Brazil or Argentina to organize lucrative friendlies in these intervals. But it was another question entirely for the likes of Ecuador and Venezuela.

But now, with the new marathon format, the South American countries at last had the kind of structure that European national teams take for granted -- regular, competitive matches, with the chance to build a team and watch it grow in confidence and experience.

Before the introduction of the new marathon format, Ecuador was pushed aside with dismissive ease. It had only won five World Cup qualifiers. But in that France '98 campaign, it won six, and was on its way. The next time around, Ecuador won nine and made its World Cup debut, and then last year in Germany, it earned the right to be considered one of the top 16 nations in the world.

It's a small wonder, then, that when the European clubs have balked about the marathon qualifying format, the South Americans have fought tooth and nail to preserve it. In effect, the World Cup qualifiers, with the best players appearing in front of packed crowds, are the genuine South American championship.