Friday, November 22, 2013

Pending USSF Plan, Sporting KC Not in CCL Next Year with Win

Previous years, a win tomorrow would see Sporting KC book their place in the 2014-2015 CONCACAF Champions League. But there had been rumors for the last few weeks that a change was coming to the way the CCL spots were designated by the USSF. Today the league finally confirmed that the changes had been submitted to CONCACAF.

The two MLS Cup finalists no longer get a spot in the CCL. Only the winner gets the spot. The spot that went to the MLS Cup runner up in the new USSF plan will instead go to the top team in the conference that does not have the Supporters' Shield winner. That means that under the new plan, Portland has qualified for the CCL.

What that means is that for Sporting KC to qualify for next year's Champions League one of two things needs to happen. Either Sporting KC or Portland need to win MLS Cup. If Sporting wins they grab the spot given to the winner. A Portland win would see their spot fall to the next highest finisher in the Supporters' Shield race, which is KC.

With Portland trailing by two goals heading home, they have the toughest job of the four teams. So Kansas City may just want to pull a Major League.


No comments: