Mexico overwhelms USA 4-2
Listening to the Scott Van Pelt show on ESPN this week, the host asked listeners to send e-mails about why USA-Mexico in the Gold Cup Final was so important, why it was worthy of taking center stage in this program over other sports news such as the NBA draft, baseball, the football lockout, Wimbledon, the Dodgers impending bankruptcy, or golf. It occurred to me that Van Pelt was appealing to those of who love soccer to do what has become a central tenet of this blog, which is to defend the sport we love, to validate it as real and newsworthy to the American fan base.
When it comes the topic of USA-Mexico, there is an abundance of reasons of why this has become a soccer world world classic. For years past, the analysis of this rivalry was mired in cultural and sociological aspects and delved into the rich and tense history between the two largest countries in North America. But today, despite the fact that there continue to be intriguing socio-economic and political dynamics in the relationships of both countries, the discussion of this rivalry is now as rich in footballing tactics and styles as in everything else.
The immigration issue, which one can safely say is the leading cause of political tension between Mexico and the US, provides what is arguably the one anomalous dynamic in world football. When the US national team plays on American soil, they are not, as in other countries, supported by the majority of the fans in the stadium. That is to say, the US team no longer enjoys home-field advantage. This is of course due to the fact that there is a huge Mexican immigration population in the United States and the fact that soccer continues to be a 2nd tier sport in the US sporting scene. So while there are still a lot of fair-weathered US soccer fans, in Mexico, futbol is still the dominant sport, and Mexicans continue to gobble up tickets to games in troves. Of the 93,000 plus fans in the stands, it seemd like only a handful were rooting for the US.
Within this social and political framework, the US and Mexico met in the third consecutive Gold Cup Final. For many years, Mexico was the dominant power in the CONCACAF region but that changed in the 1990's as USA soccer finally reached world class levels. Once the laughing stock of the region, the US is now Mexico's equal in the region, and the US and Mexico now dominate CONCACAF much the same way that Argentina and Brazil dominate South American soccer. Indeed, other CONCACAF countries are now crying foul claiming that CONCACAF actually sets up the tournament so Mexico and the USA can only meet in the Final game.
This edition of the Gold Cup Final was the most enjoyable I've ever seen between the two teams. The US charged to an early 2-0 lead, only to see Mexico storm back with 4 unanswered goals. Before the US scored the first two goals of the game, Mexico were the better team and had generated three clear scoring chances before Bradley scored on a flick from a corner kick. Donovan made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute after a nice combination play on the right flank found Donovan wide open against Mexico's goalie Talavera.
Mexico erased what is often called the most insecure lead in the game by continuing to attack a weakened American defense. Steve Cherundulo left the game in the 12th minute after being injured by a reckless challenge early in the game from Jermaine Jones on Giovanni do Santos. Eric Lichaj was moved from left back to right back to take Cherundulo's spot and Bornstein was inserted in his place. Bornstein, who had played well in WC 2010 had been out of the lineup for a while, and didn't look comfortable once back in. In fact, it was Bornstein who was beat by a long diagonal ball to the right flank. Pablo Barrera outraced Bornstein and fired a low hard shot that Howard couldn't do anything about to begin Mexico's comeback.
In the 35th minute, Guardado beat Howard to a rebound and sent the ball spinning into the left post, as Chicharito was barely able to avoid touching the ball (in a play in which he would most likely would have been ruled offside). With the score tied, the Mexicans had erased the early momentum and reestablished their control.
Five minutes after halftime, the USA defense collapsed again as Barrera scored on another deft low shot that beat Howard to his left. Down 3-2 Clint Dempsey clanged off a shot against the crossbar that would have tied the game. That would be the last good chance that the US would have. Freddy Adu, a surprise starter, had fueled the Americans strong start, but his contributions started to sputter in the second half (I would argue due to fitness issues since he hasn't been a regular on this team for years now). The other two American stars, Donovan and Bradley looked overmatched against the faster dos Santos and Guardado, two of Mexico's rising stars.
By the time of Mexico scored the final goal, they had completely taken over the game. Mexico's fourth goal, scored by Giovanni dos Santos, was one of the most mesmerizing goals I've ever seen, a dazzling display of sophisticated footwork, vision, and a superb finishing chip.
Dos Santos goal was a product of a strength play by Chicharito (who ironically didn't figure in the scoring but had a good overall game) and a poor play by Carlos Bocanegra. Chicharito held a ball played into the corner against a charging Bocanegra. The latter did well in eventually taking the ball away, but then cleared the ball back into the middle where Mexico’s Torrado picked it up, and then sent a pass to dos Santos deep in the right hand side of the penalty area. Howard rushed dos Santos, who then began dribbling to his left past away from Howard, who by then had no resource but to lunge desperately at Giovanni’s feet and missed the ball. Dos Santos, realizing that the keeper was now in no mans land, took two more brilliant touches to elude two more American defenders before finally chipping the ball magically into the upper left hand corner, barely eluding the head of a jumping Eric Lichaj.
Univision's color commentator Jesus Bracamontes beat Pablo Ramirez to the punch as he yelled out "Golazo" as the ball worked its way into the goal. The Spanish word is reserved for only the finest of goals, for works of art, and this goal certainl
The goal illustrated the difference between the current state of Mexican and US soccer. A fan of USA soccer just doesn't expect an American player to score a goal like this. The US goals are a by-product of hard-work, teamwork, determination, and a never die attitude. They are never works of art. Yet Mexico has at least four current players (Chicharito, dos Santos, and Guardado, and Barrera) capable of improvising a play to produce something special.
The US, save for Donovan, doesn't have a player capable of such magic with the ball at his feet. Additionally the US team is an aging squad. It's a team whose stars are all approaching that forbidden 30 year old barrier, after which a soccer player's efficiency declines spectacularly at the international level. And its younger players who possess talent with the ball at their feet, such as Freddy Adu, have been shunned from the squad in favor of the more workmanlike player, such as Bradley’s own son Michael.
Even more frightening, the average age of the current Mexican squad is less than 25 and poised to make some real noise in the next World Cup. And with a even younger infusion of talent in the pipeline stemming from Mexico's second U-17 World Championship in 8 years, the Mexican national team will be competitive at a world stage for years to come.
