Mexico and CONMEBOL have officially kissed and made up, with confirmation coming through today's announcement that El Tri has been invited to participate in the 2011 Copa America tournament and their clubs in the next edition of the Copa Libertadores.

I mentioned the coming reconciliation last week, when news broke that representatives from CONMEBOL would meet with the FMF leadership at the FIFA conferences taking place in the Bahamas.

The implication that a Mexican "defection" from all things South American futbol might benefit CONCACAF is now just a fleeting memory. The pull to compete with the best the hemisphere was obviously simply too much for the FMF, and the South Americans clearly made it worth their while to return to the fold. This includes placing the Mexican clubs that pulled out of the Copa Libertadores this year directly into the round of sixteen for next year's tournament, the aforementioned Copa America invite, and a the potential of hosting the 2015 installment of that competition.

I've run out of insight on this issue, other than to say that things may not always be stable in CONCACAF when it comes to Mexico; I'm unsure on how FIFA would view a request on their part to become full members of CONMEBOL, so I'll refrain from making comments in that "what if" direction.

Mexico continues to look south, rather than north, for any significant club competition. It's hard to blame them for that attitude at the moment, and it won't be until MLS clubs are able to more properly compete financially with FMF sides that the focus will change.

Even then, the situation may remain as it is.

The sidebar to this story is that the United States was not invited to play in the next Copa America. Unfortunately, the young side Bob Bradley took with him to that tournament in 2007 did the US no favors; CONMEBOL was reportedly none too happy to see an American "B" team (or "C" perhaps), and that surely factored into the lack of an invite this time around. Instead, Japan will return to the field.