There are any number of excuses the Americans could use to explain today's defeat. The sun was too hot, the crowd was too hostile, the officials were jaded towards Mexico, the list continues. What we do know today however was that a USA soccer team cannot play well in Mexico - ever.
The USA team has never won in Mexico City. The closest they have even come is a tie, and that happened before any of the players who now play for the American Selection were on the team. Mexico City has been a difficult place to play, and now American soccer fans are learning to chalk a trip to the south as a loss.
What irritates me personally about this game is that although the US had a lead after ten minutes of the game, they surrendered that lead only twenty minutes later. This following the pattern of the last major international loss to be taken by the US - USA v Brazil. As any American soccer fan can remember, the Brazilians were not down 1-0, they were down 2-0, but the ball rolled their way and right through the semi-outstretched legs of the American defense only 1.5 minutes into the second half.
Going into the second half of the latest chapter of the Duel, the USA seemed more than content to allow for a draw, but didn't play like it. They were unable to match a more desperate Mexican squad, man for man and will for will. Wouldn't you know it, Mexico scored in the last ten minutes to put themselves ahead for good and were more than content to take their sweet time and irritate the Americans to death.
That second Mexican goal was quite cheap. The Mexican forward blew by Landon Donovan like he wasn't even standing there, drawing attention to Donovan's big comments before the game. Because of the slow defensive recovery, the fullback who normally wouldn't have had to drop back to play help defense had to drop back to play help defense to seal off the scoring opportunity. That he did, but was unable to control the deflection, which dropped to the Mexican trailing player who quickly put it past a diving Tim Howard. One hundred thousand Mexican fans cheered their brains out, and it was easy to see who was emotionally in control of the match at that point.
When USA soccer defeated the number 1 team in the world, it was with solid, impenetrable defense highlighted occasionally by a dynamic and speedy offensive burst that paid off. In the first half of that Spanish game, the USA had two shots on goal, and two goals, while Spain missed on more than 10 shots at the hardwood...
The good news for USA soccer is that this match was not absolutely crucial in order for the US to qualify for the world cup next year, but the race did just get a whole lot tighter.
The other good news is that the next qualifying match for the US to qualify for the trip to South Africa will take place in Sandy at Rio Tinto Stadium. I must say that I am impressed with the respect that Rio Tinto and the entire state of Utah have gathered in the soccer world. It's great for Utah.
Here is a good article that I think adequately assessed the real winners and losers of this match.
Coming soon - the continuation of my analysis of the 2009 season for USU football. Keep it right here.
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