USA 2 – 0 Mexico; Americans Continue Decade of Dominance

February 8th, 2007 | by: Connor Fabiano |

Under a sold-out attendance of 62,462, the US-Mexico friendly kicked-off in the presence of a heavily pro-Mexican crowd. Despite the difference in supporters, the Americans prevailed 2-0.

The US started out timidly and it was apparent that the US squad was the younger of the two. The Americans had trouble creating big plays and moving the ball succinctly throughout the pitch. They began on the defensive, only firing off 2 shots in the first half. They game began looking like it would turn into a draw, if the Americans were lucky.

The second half turned around, however, as Jimmy Conrad headed in a corner from Landon Donovan in the 52nd minute to put the US ahead. Conrad delivered an outstanding performance throughout the game, proving to be a very versatile player both up front and in the back.

Donovan seemed to play in a style of talent with a hint of complacency. I have been very hesitant to jump on the anti-Donovan band-wagon, however, he doesn’t seem to possess the drive that some of the younger players like Albright possess. There were numerous occasions, on both the offensive and while defending, in which Donovan simply “ball-watched.”

He did, however, net the insurance goal off a pass from Ricardo Clark in the 90th minute. Whether or not it was a gift from the referee (I didn’t have good visibility from my angle in the stadium), it insured the American victory and dealt the Mexican fans a devastating blow.

Interim Coach Bob Bradley is now 2-0 with US MNT, and while USSF President Sunil Gulati stated that the match result “is not going to lead to a direct decision as to who the national team coach will be,” a victory on the big international stage isn’t going to do anything but help Bradley’s case.

While getting off to a rocky start (with a dangerous bobbled ball in front of the goal) Tim Howard was extremely solid for the rest of the match. He decisively earned the clean sheet awarded to him, as the Mexicans fired off over twice as many shots as the Americans did. The overall match play was rather “choppy,” with a lot of crowding and players hurdling around the ball. Tim Howard was strong though, and gobbled up balls in numerous hairy situations removing the possibility of a late equalizer.

Clint Dempsey also played an important supportive role, and Chris Albright impressed in the back.

The victory is a win to be proud of, as Mexican Manager Hugo Sanchez assembled the best from his country to take on the Yanks. Unlike that of the US and Denmark last month, Sanchez’s intent was not to try out the youngsters. He came to win.

The defeat was unbearable for the Mexican players, which was evident in their post-match behavior. The team immediately left the field following the final whistle. They did not shake hands and they did not exchange jerseys. Mexican Captain Rafael Marques said, “it hurts.”

Donovan expressed his discontent with the behavior of the Mexican team by saying, “the sportsmanship [is] really poor…it’s kind of disappointing.”

The last time the two teams met was in September of 2005. The Americans won with the same score: 2-0, which was also the magic number that knocked out Mexico in Korea/Japan 5 years ago.

The US is now 8-2-1 against Mexico since 2000, and 7-0-1 on home soil. They continue their streak of never conceding a goal in their country in this decade.

USA World Cup Team Blog RSS Feed

tjlyerly

OK, Let’s hear from the European fans who always belittle the state of American soccer.

I don’t know if we’re ready to win any tournaments in Europe, but I know these facts are true:
- The US certainly has one of the best keepers in the world – and a history of world class keepers
- The US has proven itself a better team than Mexico this decade, which the Euros seem to respect for some reason.

To be fair, the US was lucky to gain a vicory. Tim Howard always seemed to be in the right place to stifle the Mexican opportunities. I have to say the US midfield and back line gave alot more than they should have.
G

Great match overall, very entertaining. A perspective from a tv watcher (with tivo, ahh, tivo). Albright had his highs, and definitely his lows throughout the game. Obviously Conrad was player of the match, more for his defensive work in the back. Bornstein definitely impressed me a lot. Young new player really held his own in the back. Blackmouth was also solid, however there were just a few miscues in the middle of the second half that lead to some huge, easy mexico chances. this game easily could have been 3-2 or 4-3 for mexico.
rolfe was awful. donovan had some definite good thoughts and sprints, but yes, was somewhat tentative. dempsey had some great plays and continues to draw solid fouls around the box. pablo was an anchor throughout the game as was clark, who also impressed me. convey picked it up by the second half and really should have had that open opportunity. like you said, howard was solid after that first miscue and had some big big saves off of the headers. but yes, the back 9 were tremendous, front 2 needed some more. EJ provided a little spark, and gros and carroll were washes I felt, not enough action to determine. Good overall win for Bradley. PLEASE, NAME A COACH. Also, loved having Bruce in the booth. 100x better than celo. And wynalda continues to be very “honest”. At least having both of those guys limited the word time that ob had.
http://arsenal.theoffside.com/ Trent

Bornstein definitely impressed me as well. He was caught out of position a few times (usually while overlapping into attack), but I was surprised at his speed. Or rather, I didn’t know he was that pacy.
bfos7215

I think you confused Albright with Bornstein.

The Mexicans did whatever they wanted on Albright’s side, while Bornstein was a force from endline to endline.
Chuck

I agree, bfos — Albright looked mostly awful.

I also enjoyed the announcing “team” of Wynalda & Arena…

I liked the fact that Donovan seemed to take a few people on over the course of the game. That’s something that he seemed hesitant to do in WC’06.

Eddie Johnson jumped the shark a long time ago. To me, he did not add very much at all.

And Mexico deserved an equalizer — our defense seemed to really get disorganized after our first goal.
Adam

Yeah, Albright stunk. Most disappointing player for the US. Clark wasn’t all that good either, but decent. If Dempsey was fit, I think he would have had a much more dangerous game. He’s so strong on the ball! And one of the only players who has flair and creativity whereas it seemed every Mexican attacking player made nifty moves and passes with regularity. Convey also pretty weak. His service was piss poor and I’ve seen it close to Beckham quality in the past, so that was odd. He wasn’t very dangerous taking people on either. But, Mexico, to their credit, played amazing team defense. They were always doubling up the guy with the ball on the attacking end and usually had numerous other players in the vicinity. Need to see more games!
tjlyerly

What do you guys think about the lack of respect from the Mexican side? It was clear from the post game quotes they thought they were the better team, odd considering a 0-2 scoreline for the game and an 2-8-1 recent record against the US. Not to mention the attempted hacking by the Mexican keeper Sanchez. I hope a fine by FIFA is coming for that one. … and the refusal to shake hands or exchange jerseys.

Here are some choice quotes:

OSWALDO SANCHEZ
Mexico goalkeeper

On how to beat the United States and tonight’s result:
“We can beat the U.S. playing exactly like we did today. If we play like we did today, we will win a number of games. Tonight we had a number of opportunities that we couldn’t convert and their goalkeeper was lucky on a number of occasions in which the ball landed right into his hands. We couldn’t score and had a couple of defensive lapses that killed us. But that’s soccer; if you don’t score, you don’t win.”

RAFAEL MARQUEZ
Mexico defender

On the team’s performance and how it feels to lose against the U.S.:
“I think the way the team functioned, the way it looked on the field, left us satisfied. If you consider that the team has only two days working together, the team showed a lot of character and order. All the same, it hurts because of the rivalry between the two teams and the importance of the match. However, we have to take the positive from the match.”
Gilbert

I loved the heart and character our team showed.

It’s exciting to see Bornstein develop.

But Donovan was far from complacent. He worked hard all game and after we went up 1-0, he did excellent defensive work to help preserve the victory. He also, when he got the ball, went at people, which has been sorely missing from him. It’s good to see him getting his confidence back.
http://pandasthatwontscrewtosavetheirspecies.blogspot.com whb

It is always hard to tell who is hustling when you’re at a bar watching with the sound off (isn’t it un-American to have to listen to Lenny Kravitz instead of the idiotic droning of Bruce Arena and Eric Wynalda?), so I can’t say whether or not Donovan hustled… but his corner which went to Conrad and then his goal later were spectacular. It was nice to see him come through (as opposed to this summer). I agree, Bornstein was great and Convey had great moments.
http://france.theoffside.com Sam

Didn’t see it, but I’ll take your word for it– good job USA! When are people going to take them seriously? Post highlights when you can. Thanks.
Joe

In response to why Europe takes Mexico seriously:

Despite the USA-Mexico record over the last decade (8 of 11 in which Americans had home advantage, mind you), Mexico is seen as fielding a far more consistent football team. They have reached the Round of 16 every World Cup since 1990 (IIRC) and they have actually had success (nationally and at the club level) at taking on CONMEBOL.

This is all as opposed to the United States, which has usually been hit or (mostly) miss with international competitions.

Still, kudos to the U.S. national team, which still manages to dominate its local rival.
http://lagalaxy.theoffside.com Laurie

I thought Mexico played a much more technically skilled match. (I can’t count the number of times when the US had the ball and I ended up thinking, “Okay, you were passing that to WHO, exactly?”) But the US scored two goals. Guess which matters more?
http://www.connorfabiano.com Connor

I don’t know if it is tacky to comment my own post, but I wanted to respond to some of the previous comments. Haha.

Laurie. I agree completely. Mexico was more technically skilled and the US appeared much less experienced. The fact that Mexico had a more “veteran” roster clearly showed. The Americans were definitely younger.

Joe I agree with everything you said however I want to point out that even though the majority of the games have been played in US stadiums, the fan base is still over 80% pro-Mexican. So US has in essence played more away games.

Sam I will try to post highlights in a few, when I can get my hands on them.
Rikardo

My favorite players of the match:

USA: Bornstein and Conrad
Mexico: Medina and Guardado
Chuck

Connor,

For what it’s worth, I don’t think it is tacky to leave comments in items that you post.
USCG

It was a very entertaining game. Mexico did look more in tact but the US capitalized. I think the Mexico team was classless. When Wynalda made the comment about Oswaldo Sanchez in the World Cup I actually gained respect for him. But, after Donavan scored and Sanchez tried to cheap shot EJ I lost all respect. I just hope our team never stoops to their level. I don’t think we ever will. I read in La Opinion (a spanish news site) that said that Borgeties header on goal was milimeters from the post. To me it looked like it was two or three feet off. It reminded me of the last time we played and they said, when talking about the U.S. first goal, that the Mexican defender covering Onweyu headed the ball on goal rather than Gooch. It was clearly obvious that Gooch hit the ball because it changed direction dramatically towards goal. They never want to give credit to the U.S. I don’t think that will ever change with the Mexican media.
CASS

Sorry to say but, USA is one good team but not good enough to be in the big stage, we need a better leage for starters, and a much better talent scouting, soccer like we call it, is not like basket ball or football its more like hockey in that way, there are a lot of good prospects in the barrios or hoods, and very few get to college where we are getting them so lets open our eyes, just think about it, who of these guys went to college:
Ronaldinho,
Beckham,
Zidane,
Rooney,
Cristiano Ronaldo,
Gatuso,
Deco,
Kaka,
Samuel Eto’o
Didier Drogba
Lampard,
Saviola
Maxi Rodriguez
Carles Pujol
And I can go on and on, the answer None. Most of these players have been playing profesinal Soccer since they where under 18 years of age, hired by big teams like Real madrid, Barcelona, Boca Jrs., River Plate, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and others in ther B team when they where just kids, I am not saying we need ignorant players, but they went to school and did soccer at the same time, but not one of our players can compare to the ones I just mentioned because they are profesional players who haver double or more profesional games in their carreir than any american player has, not to mention the competitive level of their leags. Because lets not fool our selvs MLS is one of the lest competitive leages in the world, to say the very least our leage is a 5 from a 1 to ten level. so to finish my coment if we want to be big:
1st. Need a Better leage,
2nd. Better scouting
3rd. Coaches neen training
4th. Better competition
5th. Start exporting players
Sebastain Grimaldi

The United States wants to dominate the world and Mexico as well. Hopefully a brave Hugo Sanchez will have no fear of the US and in the future Mexico will dominate the US once again. Sadly, the US dominates Mexico in every way but not in football, what the US calls ’soccer’. In this decade Mexico for some reason had fear in confronting the US. Every time Mexico played vs the US they had fear. Now with Hugo Sanchez, it looks like in the future Mexico will once again dominate the US. About the game, Saint Oswaldo Sanchez should had hit the US player. GO Mexico!!!
http://usa.worldcupblog.org/ Connor

Sebastain:

I have to point out that your comment is the only one on this blog that suggests and encourages violence against another player.

Furthermore, you claim that Mexico is currently dominating the US and will continue their domination.

Let me remind you that your team has yet to score a goal in our country in this decade, let alone win a game.

And for Oswaldo Sanchez, he should receive a suspension.