In their continuing efforts to prove themselves the sorest losers in all of international soccer, the Mexicans acted like punks after the game. Mexican assistant Paco Ramirez slapped US defender Frankie Hejduk as the teams walked to their locker rooms after the match. Univision analyzed video tape from the incident as if it were the Zarpuder film from 1963:
My Spanish is a little rusty, but I think the commentators were saying:
"I'm actually embarrassed to be associated with the Mexican team."
"Yes, I am too. Maybe we can move to Argentina."
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Same as it ever was
World Cup Qualifier between US and Mexico? Check.
Played in Columbus, Ohio? Check.
Mexican players playing like punks? Check.
Mexico once again losing 2-0? Big ol' check.
Michael Bradley knocked in a rebound during a corner kick scrum, then scored the second goal after a break-away lead by Landon Donovan. Really the Mexican goalkeeper should have saved it to keep it to a 1-0 margin, but that's the way things go when Mexico plays the US.
It's kind of like when the Patriots had the Colts' number for so many years during the past decade. The Americans are totally in the heads of all the Mexican players, coaches and fans.
I should be more excited, but I fully expected the US to win. It's actually getting to the point where beating Mexico isn't such a big deal anymore. 10 years ago, no soccer fan would have believed we'd get to that pont.
Played in Columbus, Ohio? Check.
Mexican players playing like punks? Check.
Mexico once again losing 2-0? Big ol' check.
Michael Bradley knocked in a rebound during a corner kick scrum, then scored the second goal after a break-away lead by Landon Donovan. Really the Mexican goalkeeper should have saved it to keep it to a 1-0 margin, but that's the way things go when Mexico plays the US.
It's kind of like when the Patriots had the Colts' number for so many years during the past decade. The Americans are totally in the heads of all the Mexican players, coaches and fans.
I should be more excited, but I fully expected the US to win. It's actually getting to the point where beating Mexico isn't such a big deal anymore. 10 years ago, no soccer fan would have believed we'd get to that pont.
Monday, February 9, 2009
8 Years Ago
US Soccer has posted a video with highlights from the US/Mexico match of 2001. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this was a significant turning point in the history between these two teams.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
2-0
2-0. Or, in Spanish, "dos a cero." That has been the score of the last two US-Mexico qualifying matches played in Columbus, Ohio (the site of Wednesday's game). The US also defeated Mexico by that score in the 2002 World Cup, knocking "El Tri" out of the tournament.
For more on the recent history of US/Mexico games, as well as a primer on the US players to watch, read Ives Galacrep's column on ESPN.com.
The photo above is of Oguchi Onyewu, a US defender, staring down one Mexico's former star players, Jared Borgetti, in 2005. This image is a favorite of US fans as Onyewu completely owned Borgetti in that game.
For more on the recent history of US/Mexico games, as well as a primer on the US players to watch, read Ives Galacrep's column on ESPN.com.
The photo above is of Oguchi Onyewu, a US defender, staring down one Mexico's former star players, Jared Borgetti, in 2005. This image is a favorite of US fans as Onyewu completely owned Borgetti in that game.
Friday, February 6, 2009
"But there is no hate."
ESPN.com has a column with a little more background on the US/Mexico rivalry. The piece closes with a comment from U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati: "But there is no hate."
Having watched nearly every US/Mexico match from the last decade, either in person or on TV, I have to ask Sunil: Have you been hanging around with Michael Phelps?
The Mexicans were the top dog in North American soccer for decades and futbol is the most popular sport in Mexico. Throw in the very complicated cultural, historical, economic and political relationship between the US and Mexico and you've got a combustible mix.
Bottom line: The Mexican players hate losing to the US. And their fans hate it even more. And despite recent US dominance (there's no other way to describe the last 10 years) the Mexican players still think they are the superior team. But the US seems to have Mexico's number these days and that drives the Mexican players and their fans totally loco.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
The road to South Africa
During the 2006 World Cup, I created a blog for friends and family to read my commentary on the games, the US team, and other soccer related news. (I'm using a different blog program b/c I wasn't crazy about Yahoo's tool.)
As the US starts gearing up the final round of qualification for the 2010 World Cup, I've decided to start a new blog to follow the team along its journey.
The road to South Africa and World Cup 2010 starts next week as the US takes on Mexico in the final round of qualifying matches.
Now, some say Duke vs. UNC.
Others prefer Yankees vs. Red Sox.
Still others will offer Cowboys vs. Redskins.
But for my money, the single best rivalry in all of sport is in soccer: US vs. Mexico. There is palpable hatred present at all of these matches. And there are no butt slaps before the games, no hugging or praying afterward. Just two teams that openly despise each other.
And the latest battle is coming up in less than a week on Wednesday, February 11 at 7 pm ET on ESPN2. If you're a sports fan, there's not reason not to watch this. NFL season is over. Baseball hasn't started yet. The NBA is stuck in the middle if its Bataan-Death March of a regular season (which will be followed by a nearly-as-long post-season). March Madness is still weeks away.
For a little background, the US was the whipping boy of Mexico for decades. Then, things started to turn in the 1990s. Perhaps the most significant game came in 2001 as the US and Mexico played in a World Cup qualifying match in Columbus, Ohio.
Mexico entered the typically confident -- even arrogant. But the temperature at kick-off was in the 20s and the Mexican players didn't come out for pre-game warm ups.
Typically, the game was pretty rough and two US vets (Brian McBride and Claudio Reyna) went out with injuries in the first half. But the two subs, Josh Wolff and Clint Mathis, rallied the US 2-0 past a shocked Mexico team.
That game, of course, let do the US qualifying for the 2002 World Cup where they met Mexico again in the elimination round in S. Korea. More about that game later.
As the US starts gearing up the final round of qualification for the 2010 World Cup, I've decided to start a new blog to follow the team along its journey.
The road to South Africa and World Cup 2010 starts next week as the US takes on Mexico in the final round of qualifying matches.
Now, some say Duke vs. UNC.
Others prefer Yankees vs. Red Sox.
Still others will offer Cowboys vs. Redskins.
But for my money, the single best rivalry in all of sport is in soccer: US vs. Mexico. There is palpable hatred present at all of these matches. And there are no butt slaps before the games, no hugging or praying afterward. Just two teams that openly despise each other.
And the latest battle is coming up in less than a week on Wednesday, February 11 at 7 pm ET on ESPN2. If you're a sports fan, there's not reason not to watch this. NFL season is over. Baseball hasn't started yet. The NBA is stuck in the middle if its Bataan-Death March of a regular season (which will be followed by a nearly-as-long post-season). March Madness is still weeks away.
For a little background, the US was the whipping boy of Mexico for decades. Then, things started to turn in the 1990s. Perhaps the most significant game came in 2001 as the US and Mexico played in a World Cup qualifying match in Columbus, Ohio.
Mexico entered the typically confident -- even arrogant. But the temperature at kick-off was in the 20s and the Mexican players didn't come out for pre-game warm ups.
Typically, the game was pretty rough and two US vets (Brian McBride and Claudio Reyna) went out with injuries in the first half. But the two subs, Josh Wolff and Clint Mathis, rallied the US 2-0 past a shocked Mexico team.
That game, of course, let do the US qualifying for the 2002 World Cup where they met Mexico again in the elimination round in S. Korea. More about that game later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)