Backing down

Mexico tones down criticism of CONCACAF qualifiers

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -- Mexico coach Ricardo Lavolpe eased his criticism of planned changes to the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers on Monday, saying the new format would help the region's smaller countries help develop the sport.

The planned changes, which were approved at a CONCACAF meeting earlier this month in New York and must still be approved by FIFA, could involve Mexico playing part-time teams from some of the smallest Caribbean nations in a marathon 20-match campaign.

"It will be more difficult for us because we will have to play on pitches which are not ideal," he told reporters as Mexico began a three-day training camp.

"But, on the other hand, FIFA wants to give a chance to certain islands, to certain countries, who previously only played two or three qualifiers before being knocked out.

"It's a benefit for them."

Earlier this month, the Argentine-born coach had said he was worried about the state of the pitches in some of the smaller CONCACAF nations and that matches could be very physical.

Mexicans still remember that key striker Cuauhtemoc Blanco was sidelined for nearly a year with a serious knee injury he suffered during a 7-0 win over Trinidad at the Azteca stadium in the qualifying competition for the 2002 World Cup.

Under the new format proposed by CONCACAF, all 35 of the region's national teams would enter at the first stage where they would be drawn into 12 groups -- eleven of three and one of two -- which would be played on a home-and-away basis.

The twelve winners would go into the second stage where they would be divided into three groups of four. The top two in each of these groups would then go into the six-team final stage which would again be played on a home-and-away league basis.

Steamrollered

Until now, the region's more powerful nations such as Mexico and the United States have entered the fray at the second stage once the smallest nations have been eliminated.

Even so, they have steamrollered some relatively big fish with Mexico slamming seven goals past both Panama and Trinidad on their way to Japan and South Korea.

St Vincent, considered good enough to be seeded for the new-look contest by CONCACAF, have habitually shipped six or seven goals on visits to Central America and were once hit for 11 by Honduras.

Lavolpe, reserve goalkeeper in Argentina's 1978 World Cup squad, said that he would only pick Mexican-born players this year but that players who were born in other countries and have since obtained Mexican nationality -- such as Brazilian-born midfielders Zinha and Julio Cesar Pinheiro -- could still get a chance later.

Lavolpe's predecessor Javier Aguirre caused a national controversy when he included Argentine-born midfielder Gabriel Caballero in his squad for the World Cup last year.

He also defended his policy of demanding a heavy schedule of friendlies for the national team with regular training camps, something that has been criticized by some club presidents.

"I want to see if the players who have done well with their clubs have what it takes to play for their country and I want to get closer to them," said Lavolpe.

 

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