A fake news about the inclusion of Concacaf teams in the Copa Conmebol Libertadores sparked a lot of reactions on social media on Friday night. Including journalists, several, believing this for who knows why. In this regard, I stick to the relevant message of Rodrigo Mattos (below).

A rage: much of the sports press has simply lost the habit of checking. Relevant news comes out in an unknown vehicle and vehicles or Brazilian journalists publish it without verifying it, everyone just worrying about giving an opinion in an empty debate. It’s very weird

–Rodrigo Mattos (@_rodrigomattos_) July 15, 2023

Leaving aside the reflection on our work, the work of the press, and the way in which (almost) everything that appears on the social network is believed, let’s do an exercise of imagination relevant in view of the rapprochement between the confederations, after all , this could become reality one day: what if teams from the northern hemisphere entered the Libertadores, what would the logistic equation x Brazilian calendar look like?

Let’s take the extreme example. Imagine Grêmio or Internacional facing the Seattle Sounders in the northern American West, Washington State. From Brazil, there is no direct flight to this city in the United States, ie the delegation would make two connections.

Let’s say the game was Wednesday night. Imagine the group leaving Porto Alegre on Monday for São Paulo in one hour and 45 minutes. After waiting to change planes, they would fly to an airport like Houston in nearly ten hours. Another plane change and four and forty more hours to the final destination.

A total of nearly 23 hours. If we count from the moment the delegation leaves the club by bus, registration at the hotel in Seattle, more than a day on the road. Viable? Yes. But what about the Brazilian calendar, which does not help and makes such an adventure practically impossible?

On the way back, it’s off again, left Thursday to arrive Friday afternoon and already thinking about Sunday’s game. Maybe Monday for a better recovery, if the standings help.

Do you think a game in Seattle would be unusual, too far away? Be aware that a start in New York, which is opposite the United States map to the east, would take as long for the Grenal duo as moving to Washington State.

A team from São Paulo would shorten the trip to Seattle, but it would still be a long trip, with a transfer and the whole thing taking nearly 17 hours. Even NYC would improve a lot as it wouldn’t even take 10 hours. But beware: we have arrived at a situation where spending half a day between airports, boarding, flying, landing and migrating is starting to seem acceptable.

In the longest recorded run in the Champions League, Benfica traveled 6,173 kilometers to beat Astana in Kazakhstan (2-0). A rare course, extremely rare, because teams from the Far East of Russia and countries that are part of the Soviet Union have not always featured in the competition, and currently none of them even compete in because of the war in Ukraine.

In time: there are 11,159 km between Seattle and Porto Alegre and 7,681 km between São Paulo and New York. If Canadian teams entered this imaginary version of the Libertadores, a delegation from Rio de Janeiro would face 11,219 km to face the Vancouver Whitecaps, for example.

For this to be viable, very specific adjustments would have to be made to the Brazilian football calendar, as the courses would be too long and, remember, we are talking about athletes! Yes, professionals who need to be rested, physically complete to do their job well.

After a day of travel, how long would it take to do it? Perhaps the delegation had to leave before Brazil and, on the way back, needed more time to re-enter the field. Complex. But we are only exercising our imagination here and thinking about it, because today this possibility does not exist, at least in the short term.

Follow Mauro Cezar on Twitter

Follow Mauro Cezar on Instagram

Follow Mauro Cezar on Facebook

Subscribe to the Mauro Cezar channel on YouTube