File this under "not a coincidence." Maybe the Hex isn't dead after all.
After being rebuffed in their bid for a fourth spot in the World Cup, CONCACAF has reversed course on changes to the qualifying process they just presented to FIFA in November.
From the AP:
FIFA's decision Thursday caused CONCACAF to say it will reconsider a proposed change to qualifying that would have prevented regional powerhouses United States and Mexico from meeting.
Chuck Blazer, the American on FIFA's executive committee and CONCACAF's No. 2 official, said there would not be enough available dates on the FIFA calendar for the formula CONCACAF had proposed, which would have had two groups of four in a final round of qualifying. For the past four World Cups, CONCACAF had a six-nation group in the finals.
All of that hand-wringing we did over the loss of USA-Mexico appears to have been for naught.
Two groups of four, as the revised plan called for in the final round, would have required an extra game for the runners-up in each group to decide who would qualify for CONCACAF's third World Cup spot and who would play in the inter-continental playoffs. It makes sense now, admittedly in hindsight, that that could be a problem. The new system was sold as a way to get more games for the minnows, but it look like it was mostly meant to show FIFA how a 4-berth CONCACAF qualifying tournament would work.
Until a switch back to a single group final round is official, I wouldn't get too excited about anything. There's always a chance Warner, Blazer and company come up with something that's neither the Hex nor the new two-group system.
We need to come up with a system that works," he said. "At this point we'll put everything on the table."
There's some hope, however, that things might go back to the way they were - not only could that mean the rebirth of USA-Mexico in qualifying, it might mean MLS doesn't have to deal with qualifiers in the middle of this year's MLS Cup playoffs.
--
