For The United States, The Gold Cup Is More Than Just A Tournament, It Is A Chance To Get Into The Confederations Cup

On June 24, 2007, the United States beat Mexico in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final 2-1. This victory qualified the United States for the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa. The Confederations Cup, a huge tournament held every four years in the year prior to the World Cup by the host nation of the upcoming World Cup, greatly helped the United States in their preparation for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The U.S. players and coaches felt that a big reason behind their success in the 2010 World Cup was due to the experience of playing in the Confederations Cup the year before. Landon Donovan said, "Winning the Gold Cup put us in the Confederations Cup, which we all feel was a really big help, not only from a confidence standpoint in beating the teams we beat in the Confederations Cup, but also just being in South Africa and seeing the way it works. Getting used to the climate, the travel, that kind of stuff, helped us a lot."

The importance of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup for the United States will be once again to get a shot at playing in the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil the year before the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The United States is in a Group C of the Gold Cup with Panama, Guadeloupe, and Canada. Most people view Mexico and United States as the co-favorites of the tournament and see them facing off in the Gold Cup finals. Clint Dempsey said, "The main goal this year has been looking forward to this Gold Cup, and making sure we win. We want to be in the Confederations Cup." United States manager Bob Bradley said, "In addition to being the best  team in CONCACAF, there's that extra part of representing CONCACAF in the Confederations Cup and what that means in terms of experience and how your prepare for a World Cup." There are tons of advantages in participating in the Confederations Cup, but this can only happen if the United States wins the Gold Cup this summer.

To begin, the competition of the Confederations Cup is on a whole different level than the Gold Cup. In the current FIFA world rankings, Mexico is the only team other than the United States ranked inside the top 30, as they are number 28 overall. Honduras is the only other team from CONCACAF in the top 50 at number 43. 

However, the Confederations Cup is going to feature the top teams in the world. Since Brazil is the host of the World Cup in 2014 and Spain is the last World Cup winner, both teams will appear in the Confederations Cup. Spain is ranked 1 in the world, while Brazil is number 3. Japan, who is also ranked inside the top 15 at number 14, qualified for the tournament as the winner of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup when they beat Australia in the final 1-0. The Copa America winner will also appear in the Confederations Cup, but if Brazil wins that tournament, the runner-up team it will have beaten will qualify. Most likely, Argentina, who is ranked 5 in the world, Uruguay, who is ranked 7 in the world, Chile, who is ranked 13 in the world, or Paraguay, who is ranked 23 in the world, will win that tournament or finish as the runner-up to Brazil and make the Confederations Cup. The Euro 2012 winner will also appear in the Confederations Cup, and if Spain wins that tournament, once again the runner-up will qualify as well. Whoever wins Euro 2012 will be a very high quality team. Nineteen of the top 30 teams in the world are located in Europe, and one of these teams will likely join Spain in representing Europe. The most likely contenders are Netherlands, who is ranked 2 in the world, Germany, who is ranked 4 in the world, England, who is ranked 6 in the world, Portugal, who is ranked 8 in the world, and Italy, who is ranked 9 in the world. The other participants will be the 2013 African Cup of Nations winner and the 2012 OFC Nations Cup winner. To get the experience of playing great teams like these would be valuable to a United States team that is looking for their deepest run ever in a World Cup in 2014. They could possibly see Brazil, Spain, Japan, Argentina, Netherlands, Ghana, and New Zealand in the tournament. If you want to play some quality opponents to prepare for what the World Cup will be like, the Confederations Cup is your opportunity. In the 2009 Confederations Cup, the United States got to play Italy, Spain, and Brazil twice. In the World Cup a year later, they were able to build off their experiences of playing those top teams and were able to tie England 1-1 in the group stage, and took Ghana to extra time in the round of 16 before they were knocked out by a score of 2-1.

The Confederations Cup allows the teams in the tournament to get used to the stadiums and venues that the World Cup will use the following year. For example, in 2009 the United States played against Egypt in Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenberg, South Africa during the Confederations Cup, and then pulled off a huge surprise when they tied England on that same field 1-1 in the 2010 World Cup. The US played on Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria twice in the Confederations Cup, and beat Algeria 1-0 on that same field in a pivotal 2010 World Cup game. These experiences provided the U.S. with the atmosphere and playing field  that they would be playing on in a year.

The stats show that when the U.S. plays in the Confederations Cup, they fare much better in the World Cup the next year. In 1992, the United States finished 3rd in the Confederations Cup, and went on to reach the round of 16 in the World Cup in 1994. In 1999, the U.S. finished 3rd in the Confederations Cup and went on to reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup in 2002, which was their farthest run in the tournament ever. In order to reach the Confederations Cup and increase their hope for gold in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the US must win the Gold Cup this summer first.