Thread: No love lost when USA shares soccer field with Mexico

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No love lost when USA shares field with Mexico

By Mark Zeigler
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
September 3, 2005

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The United States and Mexico play in a World Cup qualifier tonight. The winner clinches one of the CONCACAF region's three automatic spots in Germany next year.
For the Americans, it also would render meaningless their matches in Guatemala next week and Costa Rica next month, places where they routinely are pummeled with batteries and heated coins and anything else the devious mind can conjure and places where, not surprisingly, they have never won a qualifier.

And that's all nice as far as U.S. forward Landon Donovan is concerned. But it's not the primary source of motivation when he pulls the No. 21 jersey over his head tonight and trots on the Crew Stadium grass.

This is: beating Mexico.

"I know that sounds weird," Donovan said earlier this week as he munched on a cookie. "But that's how I feel. It's not just another game for me. I clearly, desperately want to beat them. I'll save my comments until after the game."

Then he proceeded to do the exact opposite, igniting what already is a highly flammable rivalry.

"I don't like their talking," Donovan said. "I don't like their mannerisms. I don't like the way they treat us, the way they don't respect us. The way they treat us sometimes, you want them to be miserable. And the best way to make them miserable is to beat their national team. That's devastating to them.

"I think that's what angers them about us, because we have lives beyond soccer and many of them don't . . . That's why they talk and say the things they do, because they can't do it on the field."

Donovan's relationship with Mexican players and fans began to sour in the waning moments of the U.S. victory at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea, when, he claims, Mexican forward Luis Hernandez told him he would "find my mom and kill her." The following year during an Olympic qualifying tournament in Guadalajara, Mexico, fans routinely chanted "Osama, Osama," whenever the Americans played.

Donovan didn't help matters when a TV crew filmed him urinating on a Guadalajara field after practice.

Or when he says, as he did this week: "I don't regret it. You gotta go, you gotta go."

The most recent barb came from Mexican goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez in a Spanish-language magazine article. Asked what comes to mind about the star U.S. forward, Sanchez was quoted as saying something unprintable about Donovan's mother.

"Extremely inappropriate," Donovan said.

All of which has added spice to a game that doesn't need seasoning. USA-Mexico has become a soccer rivalry surpassed in the Western Hemisphere perhaps only by Argentina-Brazil, fueled by the anxieties of immigration and the continued frustration of the visiting team. The United States has never won in 23 tries in Mexico, including a 2-1 loss at Estadio Azteca in March; Mexico is 0-5-1 in its last six trips north with zero goals scored.

"We seem to step up when we play Mexico, especially in the U.S.," midfielder Pablo Mastroeni said. "Obviously, I don't think we played our best (in March). I think we prepared well. The day of the game, I don't think we showed up. Here's a chance to redeem ourselves."

It's a common refrain. The last USA-Mexico qualifier on U.S. soil was in Columbus in 2001. It was February. It was below freezing. The Americans won 2-0, thrusting El Tri into a downward spiral that nearly cost it a spot in the 2002 World Cup.

"This game is very important for us for a lot of reasons," said Mexican captain Pavel Pardo, who can't play tonight because of an accumulation of yellow cards. "It's important to qualify for the World Cup, of course. It's also very important for all the Mexican-Americans living in the United States and for our people in Mexico. We have to give them satisfaction.

"It's been a long time since we won in the United States."

That was a 2-1 decision in a March 1999 friendly before 50,324 at Qualcomm Stadium. For this match, the Americans picked Columbus again at the expense of a big gate and live television exposure (the game is on ESPN Classic) and even top local billing. Earlier in the day, 100,000 will watch Ohio State open its football season against Miami of Ohio.

Crew Stadium holds only 22,500, and U.S. Soccer carefully controlled distribution of tickets – selling them first to Columbus Crew season ticket holders, then in a private sale to the U.S. Soccer "family" using individual e-mail codes, then through Ohio soccer federations. Ohio's population also is less than 1 percent Mexican-American, according to the latest census.

Or as U.S. coach Bruce Arena put it yesterday: "It's a good part of the United States."

Added defender Frankie Hejduk: "I expect our fans to be getting on them, which is something we normally don't get against Mexico."

Donovan, for one, will welcome it.

"I just want to beat them," he said. "Period."

I really wish i would have known about this game.

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USA 2, MEXICO 0

U.S. claims World Cup spot
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

September 4, 2005

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Qualifying for the World Cup is sweet. Doing it against your archrival is nirvana.

The United States is headed to next year's soccer championship in Germany after beating Mexico, 2-0, last night thanks to goals by Steve Ralston and DaMarcus Beasley five minutes apart in the second half.

The quick strikes, after a sloppy and chippy first half, lifted the Americans into the 32-team tournament with three games to spare. It was the first time since 1934 that the Americans were the first team into the World Cup for North and Central America and the Caribbean.

It's also the fifth straight World Cup appearance for the Americans, who are ranked sixth in the world, one spot behind Mexico - for now.

The win avenged a 2-1 loss in Mexico City in March and gave American goalkeeper Kasey Keller his 50th career victory for the national team. The United States has not lost to Mexico on American soil since 1999, and has not yielded any goals in that span, either.

On both U.S. scores, Mexico seemed confused who should be where on set plays. Eddie Lewis' floating free kick was headed by Oguchi Onyewu, whose 6-4 height came in handy as he soared over the smallish, befuddled defense. His shot hit the goalpost and bounded into the air directly to the unguarded Ralston for his second career international goal.

The visitors were out of position on a short U.S. corner kick. The ball came to Claudio Reyna and the unmarked U.S. captain fed an equally wide-open Beasley. His twisting left-footed kick soared over goalie Oswaldo Sanchez, who had no chance.

Mexico (5-1-1) still needs another point in its final three games to make Germany 2006.