Speaking to reporters Monday at RFK Stadium, the U.S. national team coach indicated opposition to Montagliani’s proposal that CONCACAF change the format so more nations stay alive deeper into qualifying.
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The semifinal stage of qualifying in CONCACAF concluded last month, trimming the 35-nation federation to the final six ahead of the yearlong final round — 21 months before the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
“Something needs to change because you can’t have 85 percent of your members who are on the outside looking in two years before the World Cup,” Montagliani said in quotes published by the Associated Press. “It doesn’t make sense.”
He added: “It’s great for those six teams over the next year and a bit, but how about the other ones? It’s hard.”
But Klinsmann, whose U.S. side will open the Hexagonal stage with matches against Mexico and Costa Rica next month, said such a change would be “pretty much the opposite” of what he wants to see.
“Our lesson from Copa America is that if we want to get our program better we have to play with the best,” Klinsmann said. “In youth soccer terms, you need to play up. If you have an 11-year-old super-talent, don’t play him with the 11-year-olds — play him with the 12-year-olds. So for us, it means if we want to get better we need to play with the best teams out there from South America and Europe.
“I’m not saying we need to join UEFA or we need to join CONMEBOL, but for us in general the topic is we need to get the best games in order to improve our players.”
Elaborating on the Americans’ run to the semifinals of the Copa America Centenario this past summer, Klinsmann reiterated his desire to see the U.S. take part in similar events going forward and added that “we need to let a Gold Cup go,” in reference to the biennial CONCACAF championship.
