US Prepared for Arch-Rival Mexico: Gold Cup Final Preview

At around 6pm local time tomorrow the US and their world-class rival Mexico will be taking the field in front of 90,000 crazed fans at the prestigious, yet antiquated Rose Bowl Stadium. It is a perfect scene for a classic match between the up-and-coming Yanks and a lethal Mexican team led by their prized forward, who goes by the nickname "Chicharito". The tiny Manchester United magician is proving his worth, as he already recorded 7 goals in this tournament. Landon Donovan knows how important it is for the US to stop "Chicharito" tomorrow,

"It's key that we play well against Chicharito. What he does on the field is different from all the other players."

Not only will Chicharito pose a big threat to Carlos Bocanegra and the rest of the US backline, but Mexico is the most offensively dynamic team in the Gold Cup, period. Most teams have chosen to bunker down and create a defensive shell to attempt to thwart a superior US attack. However, it might be Bob Bradley's side assuming that role, similar to what we saw Panama use to frustrate the Americans in group play. Bob Bradley knows his squad is in for a stiff test tomorrow, 

"They [Mexico] have some good young talent to go with the experience..."

Then Bradley specifically talked about how deadly Chicharito can be, 

"His movement and his timing make him dangerous. He has a great sense of arriving in the right spot at the right time...Takes a lot of awareness and a lot of alertness to understand where he's going and to cut those plays off."
"If there's a little bit of a lapse or hesitation, that's when he's on top of things."

Bradley will have some big-time decisions to make tomorrow in regards to the starting lineup. The biggest of which will involve his star playmaker Landon Donovan. Landon has surprisingly started on the bench for the last two knockout games and many are now questioning his starting status for the Mexico final. Despite the tremendous success Donovan has accomplished against Mexico, Bradley still did not give Landon his word that he will start in tomorrow's monster game.

"There's so many different factors [when considering if Donovan will start]...he's been part of some of the discussions even leading into the decisions the last two games and we'll do it the same way [for this game]." 

In order for the Yanks to be successful tomorrow, they will have to lean heavily on the shoulders of their 18-year old lone forward in their new 4-2-3-1 formation. This forward is Juan Agudelo, who has been extremely active throughout the tournament, but he has yet to register a goal. He came ever so close in the semi-final match against Panama, as he saw a first half header bounce off the cross bar. You can see his confidence grow from game to game in this tournament. Bob recognizes this and talked about Agudelo, 

"He has confidence. He goes into good spots when he has the ball at his feet. He's looking to create things. He's not afraid to take people on. He's strong so under pressure he can hold up in those ways...He does things that are difficult for defenders."

"The rest of our team has confidence in the fact that he can makes those plays."

Since 2000 the Yanks have a 9-1-2 record against Mexico on US soil and that one loss was from the 2009 Gold Cup final when the US used a "B" squad. However, the US won't have a real home-field advantage tomorrow, as the majority of the crowd will be filled with Mexican fans. As US defender Carlos Bocanegra said, "It's going to be 90/10, 80/20 Mexican fans." Whether or not the crowd will be a real factor in tomorrow's match is unknown, but the US team is definitely hungry to defeat Mexico in what will be a must-watch battle between the two best teams in the region.