This morning I was thinking about what football would be like in North America if the Confederate States of America still existed, and the Union still existed as well.

I would have enjoyed seeing the Union play against the Confederacy at some point in the knockout stages of World Cup 2002 in Korea. Landon Donovan would have played for the Union, because California was never a Confederate state. Clint Mathis, however, would have played for the Confederacy, because he was born in the State of Georgia, which was a member state of the Confederacy (when it existed).

Claudio Reyna would have still been the captain of the U.S. National team, because New Jersey (his home state), like California, never joined the Confederacy.

I am well aware of the futility of examining what-ifs in sports. At the end of the day, the past is set in stone and there is nothing that you can do to change it. Examining what-ifs does nothing but provide you with entertainment and something to think about.

This is the most absurd idea ever, but I'll still try it. The starting lineup for the Confederate States would be:



Bench: Joe Lapira, Alex Yi, Brian Carroll, Michael Harrington, Clarence Goodson

This is assuming that people from Missouri, Texas, Flordia, and Maryland/Washington DC don't count.

I want this conversation to stay clean and not get political.

There was an article (somewhere) a while back that made the case that a team from California could qualify for the World Cup. I know this is off-topic but the starting XI would be:

In 2002, Bruce Arena would still have been the head coach of the Union during the World Cup, because he was born in Brooklyn, New York. Bob Bradley is from Montclair, New Jersey, so he would still have taken over as the Union head coach.

After doing a small amount of research, I have yet to figure out who would have coached the Confederate States National Team, either in 2002 or in 2006.


Texas and Florida were both Confederate States. Maryland was a border state that threatened to join the Confederacy, but instead remained part of the Union. The District of Columbia was never a state to begin with.


Amen.

Then my roster is completely messed up. The whole thing should just be players from Texas and Florida.

I brought up Washington DC because if the South had won the war, I wasn't sure if Marlyand would have seceded. I would doubt that DC would remain in the Union if both Virginia and Maryland were part of confederacy.

If Maryland had seceded then the Union would have had its capital smack dab in the middle of a foreign country, which would be like Germany having its capital in the middle of France, or something equally ridiculous. This is why Abraham Lincoln did everything he could not to alienate the border states into leaving the Union.

If Maryland had ever seceded, then the Union probably would have been forced to move its capital to another city such as Philadelphia, in which case the Nation's capital (Philadelphia) would be in the running for a M.L.S. expansion franchise.

I would have loved to see N.Y.C. become the Union's Capital, as it would give small amount of leverage to Fred Wilpon if he ever attempted to bring a M.L.S. expansion franchise to Queens (creating a New York derby with the MetroStars).

Had Maryland seceded, forcing the Union to surrender its Capital District, it would have also added a whole new dimension to the MetroStars/D.C. United rivalry, as the two clubs would be representing two separate countries. La Barra Brava and the Screaming Eagles would be waving Confederate flags, while the Empire Supporters Club and MetroNation would be waving the Stars and Stripes. Every road trip would require the supporters clubs to carry smoke bombs, drums, and other football paraphanalia past border security at the Mason-Dixon Line.

Actually, there would be no point in the D.C. supporters carrying smoke bombs north of the border to Giants Stadium. The N.J.S.E.A. would most likely not allow it.

Also thinking back on it, I doubt that Oguchi Onyewu and Freddy Adu's family would be living in Washington DC. That would probably scratch Ricardo Clark off the list as well.

There are too many what-ifs in this scenario.

And the Confederate States would have to hire from outside, because I can't seem to find a coach from down there.

After the 2001 M.L.S. season, Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion would have folded. Instead of having 3-4 M.L.S. teams, the Confederacy would have been left with with one team (Dallas). Or, the contraction may have left the Confederacy with two M.L.S. teams (Dallas and D.C. United), depending on whether or not Maryland and the District of Columbia remained with the Union in the aftermath of the Southern victory in the War of Northern Aggression.

After the 2005 season, San Jose Earthquakes moved to Houston, leaving the Confederacy with either two teams or three teams (again, depending on whether D.C. United are in the Union or not). This is also the first time that a M.L.S. team has relocated to a foreign country.

In 2007, M.L.S. expanded to Toronto, becoming one of the few leagues in world football to have clubs playing in three separate countries (Canada, the U.S.A., and the C.S.A).

It is not known whether or not Kansas City Wizards play in a Confederate state or a Northern state, due to the complex issues surrounding the Missouri secession.

If you're going to go back and change the small matter of who won the civil war, surely you can allow for them to have bred one, single, lonely coach in that time.

Very strange topic lol.Kind of intriguing, however.

im sorry but two american teams wouldnt make the world cup, if they did that shows how big of crap our qualifying group is haha...yes im from the U.S. im not just dissing our system. i hope we improve