USMNT v Mexico @ Crew Stadium

SUCK IT EL TRI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, it was really nice to see the US actually dictate the play that game. A few shaky moments in defense and way too much possession at times for Mexico when they had 10 men. It was soooooooo much fun to watch!!!!

 

Had some problems as a unit in the back, but beyond the first 20 minutes we bossed the center mid.

A scrappy goal, and one with a little bit of luck - but I will take it.

Mexico may be in some serious trouble. Players not finding success abroad, and those that stay home are not reaching their potential. Might be more than just a few lean years.

 

Aw c'mon, can't we get one in the NY area?

Great win by the Yanks.

Edit to add: Lost in the shuffle, Hangeland's Norway team beat Germany for the first time since 1936.

 

Mex asst hits like gurl

Frankie gets girly-slapped

Probably for that two-foot tackle ball takeaway. I couldnt believe it didnt get called until i mentally replayed it. Thing of beauty.

Or.. maybe not:

Arace: Frankie takes one for the team.

{Arace is the Bluejackets' beat reporter, but he sure does love writing about the Crew}

 

RE: Mex asst hits like gurl

When I woke up this morning and turned on my crackberry, first email headline from my brother back in the states, 2-0 US.

What a great way to start the day! Freaking beautiful.

 

Even putting the goals aside, IMO that's the best Bradley has played in a while. He was in the right place all night and only had one stupid foul (which he probably should have been booked for). I think the Sweden performance got in SK's head and he tried to do too much offensively. But still very solid. Very fun to watch us control the middle of the pitch.

 

RE: Mex asst hits like gurl

On the Offal WCQ thread, there was a lot of bitching about the midfield passing, esp in the second half. Yeah.. we played SLOPPY in the half, but it wasnt the passing that was the problem, it was BALL HOLDING.

Seemed like every time we got the ball up, someone just stood there with it until it was taken away. Wasnt a damn thing wrong in the mid, otherwise.

And Hat tip to Pierce for knowing exactly how to blunt a cross at the touchline.

 

Re: Mex asst hits like gurl

Hey-dude's attitude is the right one to have, I 'spose. But I wouldn't have found much wrong with an overhand right to the mullet-sporting mexican either.

GREAT WIN! We were supposed to win and did, somewhat convincingly (after a should-a-been goal by the "green-goes home" in the opening moments).

 

US / Mex fan comity

No.. not misspelled. Seemed to me from the crowd shots that the fans conducted themselves just like '05. Good natured and not trying to start trouble.

That was one of the best experiences of the 05 match. Interesting to see if Mo backs that up.

 

Re: US / Mex fan comity

Yes I back that up completely. Mexican fans were great. Several congratuated us after the match. Some held a chained fence open for us so we could get through to the parking area (I will spare you my complaints and whining about that matter). There were a few immature fans on both sides but it amounted to nothing.

 

Yeah those sportscenter look-ins were brutal. I don't know why they needed them, especially since the Farve story was scrolling across the bottom of the screen the whole night.

I'm also amazed by how few American sports commentators actually appear to watch the game. When Howard got that yellow card, both announcers were oblivious to it. I watched the ref give it to him, so I don't know how they missed it.

 

I noticed in watching the match last night that if you go through the US starting XI, the similarities to Fulham are downright eerie. The midfields are a little different, but in the front and the back, very similar.

As for the match, most of our guys looked like they'd run out of gas in the 2nd half. Howard and Bradley gave the best performances. Sanchez for Mexico was fantastic until the 2nd Bradley goal. And apparantly Ochoa means offsides in Spanish, who knew? I did get annoyed that he was able to pick up two free kicks for falling into Carlos and Gooch on 50/50's, but I dont' believe he got that call again afterward, so good on the ref. He really let them play for the most part.

I fail to see how we're better with Ching up top instead of Jozy though. If someone can explain that, I'd be interested to hear it. Ching is very Zamora-esque.

 

Good result. I thought that, although there was a dearth of superb play, that the passion of the rivalry didn't miss a beat. Most importantly, the Mexico players were angry and dejected walking off the pitch. Bradley and Hejduk were great.

 

I have no complaints about 9 goals in 33 matches for the USMNT. He does a lot of the same good things that McBride did for Fulham and for the USMNT. We might be more explosive with Jozy but I think Ching is, at this point, a bit better at holding up the ball and playing quicker guys like Donovan and DMB and Demps into space.

You've gotta bear in mind how the weather (wind, wet field) must've wreaked havoc on any attempts to play pretty soccer, though.

 

I got back home to Baltimore early this morning....

Four of us left Baltimore at 9am Wednesday. My wife generously offered use of the minivan; at 5'11", I was the shortest of the four and Saturn SLs don't have a big rear seat. The drive to Columbus was very easy going. We stopped a couple times for bathroom and food breaks, but got to Columbus in good time, encountering no weather at all.

Once in Columbus, the rain began to fall and the city traffic, getting to points near Crew stadium was reminiscent the DC Beltway during rush hour. Once we got to the surrounds of the stadium, we found chaos. Despite being right next to a police academy, there was no one directing traffic. Two-lane roads would become three or even four lane roads as some drivers thought they were more important than those around them. When we finally got to a stadium lot, there were two (yes, as in one less than three) workers directing traffic, direction which consisted of "yeah, come this way, and park in any of the dozens of rows behind me." Not a good start.

Of course, it gets worse. We park, stretch our legs, and quickly learn that there are no porta-potties or restrooms of any kind near the lot. After 2 hours of driving and a couple of diet Mountain Dews, this was an unpleasant discovery. To top it off, the rain was falling heavier. After some discussion, we decided to head to the stadium, where at least we knew there were restrooms (or at least should be...).

While dressed moderately well, we were not prepared to the deluge that was to follow. We made it to the stadium, following the crowd of mostly Mexican fans. We get there to find the gates still locked, and 3-5 thousand mostly Mexican fans gathered in the (mostly unused) parking lot in front of the stadium. It was still a bit early, so we figured to wait 30 minutes or so and then they'd let us in and all would be good.

Then, the fun really began.

The rain began falling even heavier, and the wind picked up. One of the vendor tents, just inside the stadium gates (a big one, that covered 3 tables) suddenly flew up into the air and hit a power line, sending sparks everywhere. We looked at the sky and it looked ominous...very "tornado-esque." The Crew stadium staff, inside the locked gates, were all fleeing for cover. Meanwhile, the thousands of us began screaming and huddling together as hail the size of large BBs began flying down on us. Most of the deployed umbrellas were ripped to shreds in seconds by winds that I would guess at around 60mph and we were forced to just huddle together and wait it out, hoping and praying that the feared tornado didn't appear. The hail was coming down hard and fast enough that it was painful - like getting hit with a paintball gun..not dangerous, but it certainly stung.

By the time the worst of the storm blew over, we were soaked to the skin, that "I could wring water out of my underwear" level of soaked. A few minutes later, the "brave" Crew stadium staff came back out from under cover and opened the gates.

We trudged in, hoping our soaked tickets wouldn't disintegrate to unrecognizability before we could get them scanned. Every step was a struggle; it felt like each leg of my jeans was holding an extra 20 pounds of water weight. We finally made it inside the stadium, found the restroom, and dried off as best we could (for the first time ever, I was disappointed to find paper towels and not hand dryers...). We then bought some hot chocolate and went to find our seats. We had planned to stay under cover, out of the rain and wind, until closer to the game start, but such a location didn't exist, unless you stayed in the restroom...

As the stadium filled up, we saw that there were at least 10,000 Mexico fans in the stadium. While the North End, with Sam's Army, American Outlaws (where we were), and Crew Supporters were, was 99.9% US Support, the rest of the stadium appeared to be at least half Green. It was pretty disappointing. We stood there, shivering and waiting for the game to start. While the teams were warming up, the rain was still pelting down, and the wind was gusting. Amazingly enough, though, by the time the teams came out for the national anthems, it was down to a drizzle (albeit still windy).

The Anthem itself was awesome. There was obviously an unspoken competition between the supporters and, while the Mexican fans acquitted themselves well, we blew them away. Few things can compare to being in the midst of thousands of American soccer fans belting out the Star Spangled Banner at the top of their lungs!.

On the game itself, generally speaking we controlled the midfield and the flow of the game. Mexico had their periods of the game, especially the start of both halves and, sadly enough, after going down to ten men. I did find it really cool that when Timmy and Frankie picked up their knocks, the North End was chanting their names, willing them to "walk it off" and tough it out.

Some interesting things I saw from my end, that I didn't see when I watched the ESPN2 broadcast earlier today:
- Beasley's darting run into the box, which won the US a corner...Sanchez missed the ball and just caught DMB's ankles. i.e., it should have been a PK, not a corner.
- Gooch was lucky not to get a fouled called against him in the box a couple times in the 2nd half
- Boca and Gooch were having some communication issues, lots of talking, pointing to each other, etc.

Even if the game had ended 0-0, my MOTM would still have been Michael Bradley - he was the complete box-to-box midfielder.

I must admit, that I thoroughly enjoyed ending the game with the same chant I started it with: "Dos a cero!"

The drive home was rough. While happy about the result, we were otherwise wet, cold, and miserable. We finally got out of the parking lot at 10pm, after walking through 40mph winds to get to the van (one of the guys lost his baseball cap - on his head one second, and a hundred feet away the next). After some struggles, we finally found someplace open and got some warm food in us. It was slow going; while the rain was usually not heavy, the wind kept our speed down to the speed limit and often less (while minivans are good for passenger space, they also have a wonderfully high profile for the wind to catch), especially going through hilly West Virginia. After a couple stops and driver changes, we finally made it back home about 5:45am, knowing that we had lived an experience in order to witness the US Men's National Team extend its unbeaten home run against Mexico to eleven games.