World

North America

Mexico

The “A” Game

August 12th, 2009 | By: Andrea | 60 Comments »

I’m waiting for the excuses to start rolling in. The altitude. The heat. The fouls. The midnight serenades. The Mexican food. The referee. Bob Bradley. “We didn’t really need to win that game.”

Yeah, well those arefactors but the US team wasn’t the only one that had to deal with those. How many players play in that altitude(yeah, we have European based players too you know. I know crazy, huh…)? How many players were getting fouled. The players didn’t have a heat resistant veil around them either. And well there’s a thing called pressure.

Oh, and the weather? The weather was in the nice range of the 80’s(F). There were clearly, clear skies.

Well, you had your “A” team. This game “mattered.” It was worth something(3 points). The best team in US history. The one that beat Spain in the Confederations Cup…I’m waiting for the next game. And the excuses that will pop up for that.

As for the referee. Oh shut it. He had a good game. Yeah, there were some things, but it even out for both teams. Bocanegra deserved to be sent off for a second yellow, and there’s no arguments that Nery Castillo should have been punished as well.

The truth is that Mexico were the better team today. Period. The US did have chunks of time where they dominated, and looked quite dangerous. Dangerous enough to win the game. But face it. Mexico WERE the better team. There’ll be excuses thrown all around(I’ve already seen tons of them, and the game just ended) but Mexico deserved to win.

Just admit it. You aren’t as good as you thought you were(one win against Spain doesn’t make you a superpower).

In the opening stages of the game both teams were holding on pretty tight. They were anticipating every move, and weren’t giving away too much. Both Mexico and the US attacked.

Mexico’s first warning shot came in the 2nd minute with Andres Guardado taking a shot from outside the area, but Timmy Howard easily took care of that.

The US decided to respond right away with Charlie Davies making his way into the Mexican area, only to be stopped by Carlos Salcido.

Too early in the game, the US went up. In the 9th minute Landon Donovan(or Jotovan) picked up a ball and sent it to Davies. Davies then went past all the Mexican defenders who were left back sleeping, and easily sent it past Guillermo Ochoa to give the US the 1-0 lead.

After the US goal it was plainly clear that the US withdrew back, happy with the minimal lead, and waited for a counterattack opportunity.

Their waiting just caused harm as in the 19th minute Israel Castro took a powerful right footed shot from right outside the area that hit under the cross bar past Timmy Howard. Castro had received the ball from Blanco, and took the initiative to shoot for the equalizer at 1-1.

Mexico looked to go up once more in the 24th minute when Franco sent a ball to Gio who’s shot went rolling across the goal. Ultimately, it was called offsides.

In the 29th minute Mexico came close with a free kick, but Howard punched it away off the line.

Coming back for the second half, Mexico had a shot in the 53rd minute. Guillermo Franco laid a ball for Blanco, but the Chicago Fire player was unable to do anything and Michael Bradley cleared.

In the 58th, Gio received the ball unmarked, but was unable to make anything of his poor shot.

Then in the 65th minute Guardado had a good play in the US area. He made a pass to himself right in front of goal, but Cherundolo was able to clear it.

In the 75th minute Guillermo Franco had a good opportunity during a corner kick. Franco received the ball, but was unable to control it, and Howard was able to control the ball and the bottom of the post.

Finally, in the 81st minute Efrain Juarez took off with the ball leaving behind the US team, but mostly Landon Donovan who had traced him down. Donovan took him down right at the end, but Juarez was able to pass the ball back, which bounced to Sabah who shot past Howard’s outstretched hand to give Mexico the 2-1 score.

I liked this game. Mexico deserved to win this game. They played well, as did the US. You could see a different attitude from the players as they started. The only problem that I really have is that fans are going to celebrate this game like Mexico just won the World Cup. Sometimes, it’s not just the media that’s at fault for problems that occur. Yeah, they won, but the major celebrations aren’t really needed. And that they completely disrespected the US anthem. That’s just a No-No. I don’t care if it’s a game between Palestine and Israel. That’s just not done. Anywhere.

The defense was a bit shaky, but overall did a decent job. They were caught by the speed, but that isn’t really that surprising, is it. Rafael Marquez will be nice sight when he comes back for a game. Thankfully, he wasn’t on the field, because with the fracas going on he surely would have warranted a card.

Midfield played well. They provided good coverage, and creativity when called upon.

And up top. Again! Finishing was a problem at times, and that seriously needs to be worked on.

Nery Castillo. You got to keep that temper in check. I don’t think he contributed much to the game besides trying to start fights. Not that a good fight isn’t enjoyed, but in a game this close he should have kept himself more in check.

And US supporters smack talking Giovani. Be jealous. That hatred is just jealousy because as “dirty” as he played today(?), you should recheck some of the US players…Ahem.

A good try goes out to the US team. The “Gooch” was one of the best players on the field(and seriously Nery, don’t pick fights with this guy. He could probably get rid of that unibrow of yours with a swift punch. Show him you’re better, but with what you can do with the ball.) Davies was seriously worrying. And of course, Timmy Howard did well in goal(although not as well as I expected him too).

Mexico is in 3rd place right now, but Honduras has yet to play against Costa Rica.

Next game is on September 5th against Costa Rica.

Tags: 2009, Hexagonal, Mexico, Mexico Team News, Review, US, Video, win, World Cup 2010, World Cup Qualifying

Mexico World Cup RSS Feed

Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 60 comments.

Read the rest of the comments

By Paradowski | August 14th, 2009 at 1:55 pm

^ Mike, Thanks for the explanation about the US conditioning decisions -much appreciated.

By Brett | August 14th, 2009 at 2:09 pm

Mike:
“Tempers flared, as happens in many matches, and no, not only Mexicans are guilty of getting pissed when a prick is laying on the field wasting time.”

‘prick’ is a pretty strong word to use there man. if i remember correctly, i hope i do, davies was carted off the field and jozy was subbed on for him immediately after the scrum. I remember that i saw jozy on the sideline and was excited to see ching go off finally and the image on the screen said he was soming on for davies. It is very possible that he was wasting time, but he must have benefit of the doubt after getting subbed off after that. was dos santos’ card for time wasting in the last minutes?? i looked away from the screen and saw he had gotten one and was confused.

Feilhaber is a worse actor than Jenna Jameson. That was embarrasing to watch. That is the only thing i hate in the game, when a player tries to play off like they got assaulted when nothing happened at all. I can’t blame him for wanting to stand up for his teammate but he turned pretty much no altercation into a giant fiasco.

Posted from United States

By Mike | August 14th, 2009 at 2:35 pm

Brett, maybe “prick” was too strong a word to use. His being subbed by Jozy however would most likely be due to the fact that he did run himself ragged chasing long balls and was in line to be subbed out. I do think that he was cramping up, which expedited his subbing. If Ching was the original choice to be subbed out, I do not know. However, Davies did milk it for all it was worth and in that situation, 1-1, critical game, home field, rivalry match, etc etc etc, can you honestly blame the Mexican players for being desperate to get the game going again? Throw in the fact that Castillo is a proven jackass (reasons for his undeserved call abound), and it all boils down to a reaction that falls under the “norm” and need not be used as an example of how ALL mexico players are dirty cheating jerks, etc etc, as many US pundits would have you believe.
And yes, Gio was rightly yellow carded for delay of game when holding up a throw in.

By Paradowski | August 14th, 2009 at 2:36 pm

^ Andrea — thanks for your reply, and appreciated as well. I hope no one will drink from the thrown cups, because they might drink the piss and vomit. Booing during anthem is outrageous, and deserves mention and FIFA sanctions as does all the violent crap at football games. Your right, … in S. American gangs cheering for the same team fight each other; that is was beyond messed-up stupid. Regarding Donovan, this retaliation is not reasonable and not reasonable to imagine he was “dishing it out”; the guy had to relieve himself and meant no disrespect, plus that was like seven years ago. Mexican – US americans (I consider ‘America’ in the broader sense, not just US are americans) play soccer nearly every weekend in a field across from my home. It is not uncommon to see them piss a bit off the field, usually discretely. The team I play with, which is very diverse culturally, we run into the woods near the pitch if we must go. But I guess it is okay for the Mexican fans to throw their vomit and piss on the hallowed grounds as long as it as at the opponent — sounds like they were just looking for a reason to hate Donovan and the US. I really don’t want to be angry at good people like you. The disrespect really got to me this time.

By Cece | August 14th, 2009 at 2:58 pm

Mike,

Youre absolutely right that there was a lack of class on both sides. We could argue about which offenses were worse, and which were much later in the game and could be seen as “fighting back” but that would get us nowhere. We could even count the number of offenses on both sides and compare it to number of cards issued to both sides, but honestly I don’t care enough to watch the game again. I was essentially criticizing defending a ref that horrible. Your response only strengthens my point.

I would go into more detail about criticisms of class on both teams and their fans but since el dude decided to rep Mexico by saying something incredibly racist (”they only care about commercials on tv and a bunch of monkeys jumping for a ball,”) I really don’t see a point in explaining anything further.

Again, cheers.

By Mike | August 14th, 2009 at 3:15 pm

Paradowski,
If I were a star athlete (especially from the hated rival team, say the Yankees) and went to play at Fenway and decide, “Heck, why not just whip it out right here?”, no fan would EVER forget such a defamation of their stadium. Fans would pass the story down from generation to generation. Landon stokes the fire plenty with Mexican fans without having to piss on it.
And Mexico fans did not need to throw piss and vomit. No one is defending those fan’s decision to be morons. Water… beer? Maybe. Better to not throw anything. Andrea was not defending those idiots, she was just merely stating that Landon is, and will always be, the center of Mexican fury. That some idiots decide to be disgusting, well, thats on their conscience. Stadium officials, their fellow fans, the federation, etc, should help put a stop to this behavior. Don’t start making accusations that mexican fans are ok with their behavior, because we’re not. Do we think that Landon deserves to get shit on (although not literally, and I am glad these lunatics did draw the line there), of course we do. We will jeer. Curse. Print dozens of t-shirts to hand out to fans that say “Fuck you Landon”. Hit on his hot girlfriend. Yes, and then some.
Its in keeping with the spirit of a rivalry, especially when its that totem player that we LOVE to hate. In fact, I don’t think we’re the only ones. It seems the gods find him as unpalatable and repulsive as Mexico fans and went ahead and struck him down with swine flu. Divine intervention? Your damn right.

By Colin | August 14th, 2009 at 3:26 pm

Mike,

Really? Throwing money at it is a problem? Say that to the top 4/5 in the EPL, or my personal favorite, Real Madrid.

MONEY plays a huge role as far as building a development system. We’re still building ours, but it’s being built nonetheless.

I think it’s funny how you say that “throwing money at a problem” is so American, when the biggest transfers and spending in football all occured in EUROPE. So save your uninformed remarks for someone who doesn’t know any better.

So Mexico fights for every ball, gives 100% all the time? Then what’s with your record in the WC qualifying? History means little (especially if it’s older than 10 years) in the world of football, especially since they can’t win you games. I agree, Spain was ONE game, and like Aguirre said, you can’t take history with you. What it does show, however, is that the US CAN win some games that maybe 5 to 10 years ago they couldn’t have. Look at the US record vs. Mexico in the last ten years – that should say a lot as to how far the USMNT has come.

And guess what – I’m not uninformed. I follow the world game and i bet YOU would be hard pressed to find anyone who considers Mexico a world power in football. SURPRISE. MEXICO HASN’T WON THE WORLD CUP EITHER. Sure, we haven’t won in Azteca, so congratulations for you. Mexico rarely wins in the US, even with a friendly crowd. Pretty balanced.

If there’s one thing I hate more than most things, its when fellow fans of the game knock down another person because they think they know more than someone else.

Listen, Mike. You sure do a good job of lecturing everyone here and pretty much just throwing your BS around the joint, but what does that prove? That you can sit in your basement and talk about how much more of the game you know than someone else? You don’t know me.

US fans know the game – we have television and internet, ya know? – and we tend to be a little more battle-hardened than others because we have to DEFEND our sport and our teams EVERY DAY from pricks like you and Jim Rome, because you assume ignorance on our part. Face the facts. The US lost in Azteca, but we’re still higher in every ranking out there. Stop lecturing everyone as if you know any better (because you don’t) and pull your head out of your arse.

By Brett | August 14th, 2009 at 3:49 pm

Mike, there is no way i can doubt Mexico wanted speed up play becuase USA were on their heels for the last 80 minutes of the game and Mexico wanted/needed the win. We could keep going back and forth about how teams milk the clock to their advantage when they have the opportunity to. Ochoa did it at the end of the game as does it with Club America. Howard does is with the national team and Everton. A good amount if not all of players will milk the clock when possible to give a slighter chance to their team winning. I have no doubt that Bradley subbed Davies to save him from passing out due to all of the pointless long balls that he had to try to hopelessly chase down (dont get me started about those damn long ball tactics ha, i was pulling my hair out all game in frustration.) I don’t think Donovan got swine flu for peeing on a TRAINING pitch during PRACTICE in mexico. but i see the comedy in your remark haha. As for his wife/girlfriend, they are seperated recently so she is fair game! haha.

I don’t really appreciate the “monkey” comment made by ‘el dude’ earlier either. lets just keep it to sports? everone else here is able to keep it related to the game.

Posted from United States

By Mike | August 14th, 2009 at 4:13 pm

Colin,
Basing yourself on FIFA rankings is not the best measure. I remember plenty of US fans who knocked Mexico’s higher FIFA standing prior to the US being above Mexico solely on the argument of “What does FIFA know?”. So, get off your ranked higher horse. Those things are in constant flux and don’t accurately capture a team’s true ability. Not in the US’s case, nor in Mexico’s.
I, mind you, will defend the US against European and S. American fans any day. Why? Because I want the US to do well. The US WILL have a good youth development program once a few years go by. ITs system is improving by leaps and bounds. But you have to admit, they need to start developing the technical side of the game a lot more. I find it funny when people say, “Oh, but Italy has won world cups playing the way the US plays?” WHAT! Its retarded to compare the two. Of course Italy perfected the infamous catenaccio style, but people forget that Italy had its Del Pieros, its Zolas, Pirlos, Platinis, Amoros’, Tresors, and Giresses. Highly.. HIGHLY!!, technical players. They made up for the loggerhead at the back plenty. Throw in the fact that a Cherundolo and a Bornstein are no Zambrotta, then the US style loggerhead has a tough time holding up. I AGREE that the US can have a good… in fact, bordering on great team. But ONLY if they rework their priorities in youth development and tactical vision and graft a more creative style of play to their proven physical ability. Go ahead and keep fielding those Brian Ching’s. See where that gets ya.

And the examples that I used to demonstrate Mexico’s well-known fighting spirit are not older than 2-3 years. (The Italy mention being the oldest, ‘02). Go ahead, oh worldy one. Ask around. I think the RECENT run in form over the past few years against formidable opponents is enough to clarify that Mexico does present a strong opposition. That they are also developing their system and trying to promote their own youth, speaks well for Mexico’s future as well. The 7-1 facts speak for themselves (how many goals the US has conceeded to Mexico over two matches). The Mexican players FINALLY are under the tutelage of a coach that GETS them. Knows what the Mexican style is about. That doesn’t mean that they are going to be world champions, but it does mean that they are going to play to the expectations that Mexican fans have of them. To fight. To never give up. To use their technical abilites at the lack of physical might. And to give a good show and not settle for the safe bet. Never did I say Mexico were a world power. Far from it. But they are a scrappy bunch that, like the US, can provide the occassional upset. Maybe in time though, they won’t be considered upsets.

And as you should know, money doesn’t buy talent at the NATIONAL level. When was the last time England, with all its big spending, actually won something worthhwile? 1966. And it was at home. With a PHANTOM goal to top things off. EPL? Yeah, great league. But you let me know when Chelsea plays Brazil at the World Cup.

When you pull YOUR head out of your ass, then maybe you’ll see that you need not DEFEND your sport so much. Instead, learn from a critical commentary (albeit a little vexed since I was venting) that points out some pros and some cons. And I will say it again, the US will be a lot better if it plays a bit more like Mexico. But the opposite also holds true. We need to get some towering motha’s in the mix every now and again to even the playing field.

By Mike | August 14th, 2009 at 4:28 pm

Colin – I have a correction. I did use examples over 10 years old. Your right. But over the last four years we have had the 4-3 loss to Germay in Germany, the penalty loss against Argentina in the Conf Cup, the 2-1 loss to Arg in the WC, the 2-0 win over Brazil at the Copa America, the 6-0 thrashing of Paraguay (currently sitting above Argentina in the WCQ standings) at the Copa America, and beating Uruguay for 3rd spot in the Copa America. All official matches. All on neutral or unfriendly grounds. Yeah, I do wish there were more wins tallied above, but, just like the US, its a work in progress, and we have the talent to start climbing those rungs. World power is not in the cards any time soon. But, we, just like you, have our eyes on that prize as well. Which is why we are the rivals we are.

By Mike | August 14th, 2009 at 4:44 pm

OMG. Haha. I wrote down Platini, Tresor, Amoros and Giresse as Italian. MY bad! I meant Rossi, Tardelli, Donadonni, and, the greatest, Baggio.

By Paradowski | August 14th, 2009 at 4:54 pm

Yeah sure – Mike “Stay Classy” ; in your own words it isn’t going to happen for Mexico

By Mike | August 14th, 2009 at 5:00 pm

Paradowki,
What? If I am agreeing that we stop throwing stuff, start educating the fans, and put in place measures to punish this behavior. They should limit themselves to harmless acts that jab at Landon. Like the “Fuck you Donovan” t-shirts. Whats wrong with that? Do you think those taunts in good fun are classless? Its a stadium, not a church.

By Paradowski | August 14th, 2009 at 7:38 pm

I guess you think that guy of shirt is classy – O.K. sure. Loving to hate anyone is not classy, it’s a game, it’s soccer, … not violent criminals. I think we have to agree to disagree on this.

By Paradowski | August 14th, 2009 at 7:39 pm

sorry, should be …that ‘kind’ of shirt and attitude…

By ernie | August 15th, 2009 at 2:25 am

didnt donovan take a piss at Azteca?

Posted from United States

By jeremy | August 15th, 2009 at 12:13 pm

no, that was jalisco. you must be thinking of all the Mexico fans who threw their piss onto the field at azteca. i can see how you are confused because it’s ultimately the same thing, but to Mexican fans one of them is dismissed with “we always do that” while the other justifies any number of indecent acts. it’s a subtle difference, but apprently it’s there.

Posted from United States

By jeremy | August 15th, 2009 at 12:33 pm

and jesus rios, thanks for mentioning that incident and linking to it. please link me to the articles in the Mexican press reporting on or decrying the Mexican fans’ actions, and then follow it up with a public apology from the fan: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/08/15/victorino.apology.ap/index.html

I just don’t understand how people can pretend there’s not a difference in what the fans are like and what’s culturally acceptable in these two countries. there plainly is, so it doesn’t make sense to say an American complaining about it is being hypocritical–it’s just a difference in cultural norms. what should be the commonly accepted rules is another question, and one I think merits discussion.

Posted from United States

By John | August 16th, 2009 at 12:12 am

John here. I’m a Brit in the US.

Funny, seeing both sides of the “war” going on here it seems like the sample of Mexican fans are more classier than the US fans. It’s just a what I’ve seen here between this blog and the US blog.

Posted from United States

By Brett | August 16th, 2009 at 1:57 am

there is no such thing as ‘more classier’ it’s either classier or more classy.

Posted from United States

By Paradowski | August 19th, 2009 at 12:52 pm

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090817

Posted from United States

By gerson saul hernadez castillo | August 28th, 2009 at 3:22 pm

CLASS???

what the fuck?

please shut up people,class has nothing to do with football.

Class is when Zidn headbutt the italian dude at the last WC final.

Now THAT was class.

By gerson saul hernadez castillo | August 28th, 2009 at 3:22 pm

ZIDAN***

By aems | August 31st, 2009 at 11:39 pm

you can take everything from us, but you cant take the pleasure of beating you at FOOTBALL!

Posted from Mexico

By Taylor | September 13th, 2009 at 9:18 pm

who ever wrote this is a prick. there was a poor ref and the mexican fans are terrible hosts. it was bs but hey look who is on top, thats right, the U.S.

Posted from United States

Comments are closed