USMNT declining Copa America invite is the right move

The United States and Mexico will be staying north of the equator next summer. In news that was reported Saturday, CONMEBOL announced the field for the 2019 Copa America, and the USMNT and El Tri opted to decline an invitation to join the 12-team tournament. Instead, Japan and Qatar will round out the field that will compete in Brazil next summer.

With the CONCACAF Gold Cup scheduled to take place next summer at the same time as Copa America, the USMNT and Mexico decided to focus their efforts on that biennial tournament and not employ split squads between the Gold Cup and Copa. The Gold Cup is undergoing an expansion next summer to 16 teams, with the 6 teams from the last Hexagonal (USA,…