Mexico vs. USA: “Todos Con México”

22-0-1

Learn to love this statistic. Stamp it in your mind, tattoo it on your forehead. It’s our record against the United States at home.

The ten year hex has already been broken last July from our victory in the Gold Cup final, and it took years of mispronounced “dos a cero” or “dos a uno” from the American fans to finally arrive to that glorious day of July 26th.

But this isn’t “USA vs. Mexico” at an annoying American stadium, this is “Mexico vs. USA”. This is “El Estadio Azteca vs. USA” or “Todo Mexico vs. USA”. It’s more than just a game or a derby. I’ve waited for this day for four years.

Not surprisingly, coverage for this game on English speaking sites has dwindled because it’s not taking place in the USA, so here’s the lowdown, my friends.

After the Gold Cup…

All the spazzos said the same exact thing: “that was our B team, this game was irrelevant, our A team will do better on August 12th”.

I don’t even have to argue that. Lets let Landon Donovan explain:

“I was sitting on my bed, not too happy,” Donovan said about how he felt while watching the Gold Cup defeat. “I think the frustrating part was the naivete to let it get away like that. Because there are implications beyond just losing that game. There are historical implications, confidence implications for them and for us, and it made it a little more difficult on everybody in U.S. soccer.” (Goal.com)

Pretty much what Jotovan is saying is that he still took the victory hard up the arse from his bed and that a demolition of the USA on home soil is nothing to push aside. B team or C team or D team or whatever (I’ve heard US fans go all the way to Z), the 0-5 is a historical demolition that will be the freshest thing on all players’ minds during the game. “Dos a cero”? How about “Cero a cinco, en tu propia tierra, putos”? That’s way more like it.

The Spazzos

Probably the lamest bandwagon all summer. They were demolished in the Confederations Cup group stages by Brazil and Italy, and got into the semi final because of a stupid tiebreaker. Then, there was that 2-0 over Spain (which I admit was well deserved). Then the “USA USA USA” bandwagon started, then they lost to Brazil, and now the fanbase has reverted to what it once was: MLS fans, fat Americanized Hispanics, and soccer moms.

Still, the USMNT hasn’t changed one bit. They don’t have the world’s best players, or even the CONCACAF’s best players, but work great as a unit. You all know this. Bob Bradley probably did his research before this game and the players will know what to expect. The USMNT is a solid team and are very well managed. They are capable of almost anything, except winning a cup final (or progressing past the group stage in the World Cup, hehe).

Is the USA capable of defeating us at the Azteca and performing their first ever Aztecazo?

Yes, they are. They defeated Spain for crying out loud. However, they were the hungrier team during that match and Spain greatly underestimated them. This isn’t the case with us: we want to crush them more than they want to crush us. We hate them (don’t take this literally). We know that we are better and we will go into this game believing we have more heart.

But careful… it’s been said that this is the best chance ever for them to finally defeat us, and it might be true. They will definitely play their usual game, basing their scoring on counter attacks and set pieces. This is where Landon Jotovan is key, as he has contributed something to the scoresheet the past few encounters (from a set piece, an assist, or a goal). The USMNT is very aware of how good they can be and if they think they can defeat Mexico at the Azteca, they won’t have a doubt in their minds.

The Nads had their fun with all those home victories in the past four years, but the fact remains: we are still undefeated to them at home. Now that, my friends, is something to brag about.

About Us

Overconfidence. The only thing that can bring us down in this game.

There is no way that the players can enter the pitch thinking that they are going to demolish the opposition with ease. Not a bad mentality to have, but this is the USA we’re talking about. A team that still knows us, will know what to expect, and currently have self confidence through the roof.

The support will be no problem for the team. A sold out Estadio Azteca, plus campaigns all throughout the country, are proof that we are all behind this team. There is no time to think about all the criticism that was thrown at the team in the past two years, because there is a lot that went wrong and I could write a book on this. It won’t matter once the clock strikes 2pm. It will be nothing but pure football and love for the shirt. I’ll be too into the game to care about anything else.

When Javier Aguirre was interviewed after the Gold Cup victory, he said “what we saw on the field were players that were hungry, and that’s what we want on La Seleccion”. That says it all. We have the right man managing this team, and the team we will see on the field tomorrow is one that is hungry to win, with 100,000+ supporters right behind them. I can watch the game comfortably knowing this fact.

I will expect nothing less than a victory tomorrow. A draw will be considered a failure. A loss will be a catastrophe. I’m not even taking World Cup qualification into account right now. It’s all about defeating the USA once again at home, remaining undefeated to them at home, and taking the honors as the better team in the CONCACAF, despite Costa Rica sitting in first.

Enjoy the game, everybody. Be the twelfth man (borrowed that one from Adidas).

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Once again, the roster.

Goalkeepers: Guillermo Ochoa (America), Jesus Corona (Cruz Azul).

Defenders: Efrain Juarez (Pumas), Jose Antonio “Gringo” Castro (Tigres), Jonny Magallon (Chivas), Ricardo Osorio (Stuttgart, Germany), Aaron Galindo (Chivas), Carlos Salcido (PSV, Netherlands), Oscar Rojas (America).

Midfielders: Gerardo Torrado (Cruz Azul), Israel Castro (Pumas), Andres Guardado (Deportivo la Coruña, Spain), Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Chicago, U.S.), Alberto Medina (Chivas).

Forwards: Giovani Dos Santos (Tottenham, England), Nery Castillo (Shakhtar, Ukraine), Carlos Vela (Arsenal, England), Miguel Sabah (Morelia), Guillermo Franco (unattached).

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VIVA MEXICO!