Conmebol & Uefa Farcical As Afc Leads By Example

We've just finished another international week. The players are all ready to ready to return for their clubs, well, almost everyone. Rafa Benitez has expressed frustration at an injury sustained to Fernando Torres whilst he was playing for Spain this week.

He has suggested there be a two-tiered qualification system to avoid so many international dates and potential injuries. I think he is right on the money, and I think UEFA and South America, the two biggest confederations, the ones with the majority of the world's superstars, need to rethink their qualification process.

UEFA and South America should have a good look at the AFC model. The AFC has five separate rounds to its qualifying, in which six seeded teams are given byes to the third round. The first and second round is made up of the lowest ranked teams. Eventually, forty something teams are brought down to twenty teams in the third round, and then down to ten teams in the final round where 4.5 places at the World Cup are awarded.

UEFA can easily follow this model. They can easily bring the number of teams down from fifty three to thirty or less and then have 13 qualifying. With all due respect, teams like the Faroe Islands, Liechtenstein, Andorra etc will never qualify for the World Cup, and should be knocked out early like in the AFC model.

These earlier rounds can be used for the unseeded teams and the minnows. The winners of these rounds could then join six to seven seeded teams in the final round. This will result in smaller groups and less match days and less burn out for players.

The South American system is also flawed. Many of the Brazilian teams who have won the World Cup have complained that qualifying for the World Cup is actually harder than winning the tournament itself. Again, South America should follow the AFC model. Currently, the AFC has 10 teams that can qualify with 4.5 places on offer. Does this ring a bell at all?

This is exactly what South America has! Why not divide the teams into two groups and play only 10 home and away matches instead of playing eighteen games which start three years before the actual World Cup. The worst part about the South American model is that there is no knock out whatsoever, so a team who cannot mathematically qualify still needs to suffer the indignity of completing all 18 matches, regardless.

Most of the best players in the world are from Europe and South America. Club coaches are always reluctant to let them go for international duty, and they are being put under unnecessary stress. The amount of qualifying needs to be reduced and a two-tiered system is a must for UEFA.