Concacaf

Probably the most disappointing moment for Alexi Lalas on Sunday evening was not when he made a mistake in midfield and allowed Salvador Carmona to steal the ball. Nor was it the moment seconds later when he failed to spot Luis Hernandez sprinting past him to head in Mexico's championship-winning goal. No, the worst moment came after the final whistle.

Jack Warner, the Trinidadian president of CONCACAF, said Monday that soccer's North and Central American and Caribbean region deserves an extra berth at the next World Cup in Germany four years from now. "I have let it be known, at all the levels that count, that we shall make every possible effort to obtain a fourth place for CONCACAF in the World Cup in 2006," said Warner, a FIFA vice president.

CONCACAF announced Friday that it intends to change World Cup qualifying to a format that forces the top teams in North and Central America to play up to 20 matches before advancing to the 2006 tournament in Germany. The plan has to be approved by FIFA, the world governing body. It moves up starting dates and could cut the amount of preparation time between matches.

CONFUSED? YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE One reason the World Cup succeeded on these shores is because the average American sports fan can appreciate a championship fight. In 1994, the World Cup was an easy sell--whichever team wins this tournament is the best soccer team in the world. Americans who didn't know a corner kick from a cornerback could understand that much, and the World Cup became one sellout after another. Not so the Gold Cup.

So, the United States has managed to bully CONCACAF into again bending the rules in its favor. How else to explain the deplorable decision by soccer's regional governing body, which last week ruled that Chicago Fire midfielder Chris Armas is eligible to play for the U.S. national team, even though he already had played five times for Puerto Rico? Puerto Rico is a U.S.

The world has grown used to -- not to mention tired of -- inane remarks being made by Trinidad and Tobago's Jack Warner, who through sheer luck or politics is president of CONCACAF and a FIFA vice president. But when U.S. Coach Bruce Arena makes the same ill-founded claims as Warner, the time has come to set the record straight and prevent the pair from continuing to delude themselves and others.

Major League Soccer's participation in the 2006 CONCACAF Champions Cup came to an abrupt end Wednesday night when the Galaxy and the New England Revolution were ousted from the regional championship. The Galaxy let a two-goal halftime lead evaporate at San Jose, Costa Rica, losing, 3-2, in overtime to Deportivo Saprissa, the annual tournament's defending champion.

If the United States is to retain its title this summer as champion of soccer's North and Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF) region, it will have to do so in the daunting confines of Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. Chuck Blazer, the confederation's general secretary, announced Monday that the seventh edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup will be played July 12-27 in Foxboro, Mass.; Miami and Mexico City, with the final scheduled for the Mexican capital. The U.S.