Mexico Proves That They Are the Kings of CONCACAF
If the Rose Bowl was the set of the Wild Wild West on Saturday night nobody would have known the difference. The Mexico-US rivalry lived up to the hype, producing an erratic game with plenty of surprises. Each team played their part in an action packed 90 minutes, where defense seemed to be an after thought. The first half alone consisted of 4 goals and 3 subs due to injuries, which barely out did the physical nature of the 2nd half that saw Mexico rise to the occasion.
Bob Bradley continued to shock everyone with his lineup choices, as he decided to insert Freddy 
“I think sometimes a final becomes a real test of both teams going after each other. That was the way we chose to play this game, knowing it would still require good reactions defensively to deal with situations,” said Bradley of his team’s strategy.
Despite early Mexico pressure, Bob’s game plan seemed to pay off as his son scored a surprisingly early US goal in the 8th minute. Michael Bradley made a great near-post run and was able to flick on Adu’s corner kick. His flick was quickly in the back of the net, giving the US a 1-0 advantage.
The US then added to their lead with a beautiful build-up between Clint
Instead of changing to a more defensive approach with an early 2-0 lead, Coach Bradley chose to stick with his aggressive mentality, searching for a third goal before the half.
This proved to be the wrong move, as Mexico continued to dominate possession, finding so many wholes in the US defense that it became comical. One of the main reasons for the continued defensive breakdowns was the injury to Steve Cherundolo. Cherundolo left the game in the 11th minute with a sprained left ankle, which brought Jonathan Bornstein into the match to play left back while Eric Lichaj went to the right side. This messed with the entire chemistry of a defense that had been so steady in the last 3 games, holding their opponents scoreless.
“Stevie is an important part of our backline,” said Coach Bradley when asked about losing Cherundolo to a sprained left ankle early in the match. “Mexico came out and put a lot of pressure from the start. I think we were figuring out ways to deal with it, losing Stevie hurts in that moment…Not having that experience at that point is a tough one.”
“That certainly affected us not only from just a soccer standpoint, but from a leadership and morale standpoint,” said Donovan about Cherundolo’s injury.
It was only a matter of time until Mexico put one past US net-minder Tim Howard and that time arrived in the 29th minute. Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez expertly picked out a streaking Pablo Barrera. Like Donovan, Barrera found himself alone with the goalie and was able to place the ball just inside the near post for the goal. Bornstein was the main culprit on the play, as he let Barrera beat him to the spot.
Things just got worse 7 minutes later when Giovani Dos Santos danced around Bornstein on the right wing, giving him the space to deliver a cross into the box. Eric Lichaj tried to clear the ball, but instead he re-directed the pass right to Andres Guardado in front of goal. Guardado barely got a foot on it, however the ball still tricked in under Howard. The game was now leveled at 2, but it seemed as if the Yanks were trailing by a bunch of goals.
A devastated American side went into the locker room tied, knowing that they should have been in control of the match. Steve Cherundolo echoed this sentiment,
“What changed the game tonight, when you go up 2-0 you have to get into halftime ahead and that’s what killed us.”
When the second half kicked off, the Yanks really never had a chance. Andres Guardado, Pablo Barrera, and Giovani Dos Santos were all in top form, slicing and dicing the US defense like they were meat that Mexico was preparing to serve as an entrée.
“They did a really good job putting us in bad spots, they had us twisting and turning,” said Tim Howard when describing Mexico’s attack.
“It’s not easy playing against quick, fast guys. Their whole front line is quick, fast guys. It’s difficult for us to always have to deal with every single one of them,” added Freddy Adu about Mexico’s dynamic attack.
Barrera used this speed Freddy was mentioning to get open on the right wing, which allowed him the time to beautifully use the outside of his foot to curve a shot far post by Howard in the 50th. Although the game was far from over at this point, it felt like it was with the 90,420 fans cheering on El Tri. As Bob Bradley put it, “the support that Mexico has on a night like tonight makes it a home game for them.”
The crowd only got louder as the final minutes ticked off the clock and when Giovanni Dos Santos iced the game with a moment of sheer brilliance in the 76th, Mexico's fans erupted into hysterics. Dos Santos was able to avoid Tim Howard and 3 US defenders, before perfectly chipping a ball into the top left corner of the net over Lichaj’s head, who jumped up, attempting to make a goal line save. It looked like a SNL skit, with the unbelievable skill of Dos Santos coupled with the laughably US defending and ending with Lichaj tangled in his own net after failing to save the shot.
In the end Mexico was flat out better in every aspect of the match. Donovan summed up the night in a matter of fact way by saying, “tonight they just made more plays. They made a few special plays that changed the game.” Still Tim Howard was shocked that El Tri managed to comeback with such ease,
“Early on they did well to battle back. I thought we knocked the stuffing out of them at 2-0, really hit them where it hurt. Tip your hat off to them they’re a good bunch of players.”
“It’s beyond me how they rallied back from that,” Howard added.
Now the US must take the positives away from this tournament and this disappointing result in order to move forward so that similar mistakes do not repeat themselves in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. The players do remain motivated,
“At times it doesn’t go your way, but it only motivates you more to work hard to get better,” said Michael Bradley after the loss.
Despite all the talk and the sugarcoating that goes on after big losses such as this one, Bob Bradley knows this was a missed opportunity,
“When it’s all over if you let it get away, it’s an empty feeling.”
