After 90 minutes they were 0-13-2. That's right, they achieved a tie. A scoreless tie at that. But rarely has a tie felt this good. For the second time ever, the United States went into Mexico with something on the line, and walked out of the stadium with a valuable road point.
As you can see, merely tying Mexico on their home turf is a tremendous achievement for the USA. When you add in the fact that the US had multiple contributors injured or absent, and put far from their A-lineup on the field, this result is even more shocking.
The best part of this game, even counting the result, is how the Americans played. Yes, they played very defensively, and yes, they were clearly playing for the tie (unless an opportunity arose), but they were much more aggressive than in the past under previous coach Bob Bradley. Under Bradley, it felt like the US ceded 2/3 of the field to Mexico from the start, and were content to sit back, try to withstand the barrage, and counter if the chance arose. Mexico is better than the US, it's true, but they don't outclass the US. Against Bradley's American team, it felt like the US believed they were levels below the Mexican team.
Under Klinsmann it's different. This American team fought to possess the ball. Even when they weren't pressing the issue forward, they were holding onto the ball through the midfield for precious blocks of 90-120 seconds at a time. These respites are key in surviving a game against a superior foe. You can't simply chase the ball for 90 minutes and expect to hold your opponent scoreless. Not even when you're playing a minnow, let alone Mexico.
Edu is really lucky he's not the goat. First off, he had a 5 minute segment of the first half where he gave away the ball 3 times less than 35 yards from his goal. That's inexcusable. But more importantly, his challenge in the 76th minute from behind should have resulted in a penalty for Mexico. On another note, the "two-handed shove" by Bradley in the 12th minute was NOT in any way shape or form, deserving of a penalty. The referee got that one absolutely right, even though his linesman didn't.
The center backs were a terrific backbone. Omar Gonzalez and Matt Besler were terrific together, despite havign 6 caps between them entering the game. Gonzalez has been dominating MLS for a couple years, so his stellar play wasn't much of a surprise. Besler's game was shocking, considering he only played because Clarence Goodson had a hamstring injury.
Michael Bradley doesn't get enough credit. He completed 57/58 passes versus Mexico. The US owned the middle of the field, in large part thanks to arguably their best player (and that's no slight against Clint Dempsey).
Goalkeeper controversey? Brad Guzan submitted his second clean sheet in as many qualifiers. The United States has 2 beyond capable keepers on their roster. But talk of a controversy is silly. If Howard can get healthy, it's still his net.
Mexico is under a cloud. This isn't the same Mexico team that rose to the top-10 in FIFA's rankings over the last couple of years. Mexico won the gold medal at the London Olympics (those teams are essentially U-23 rosters, so it's not exactly the same, but still), and now they are winless (but also undefeated) after 3/10 games in the Hex, including 2 scoreless draws at their Azteca stadium, where they had been 68-1-5 all time before this Hex began.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Mexico change coaches. They're no strangers to changing coaches mid-qualification (they did it last qualification cycle), and if they don't do it before they're next game, they won't get another chance until 6/10 games have been played.
In sum, this was a great result for a team that seemed in total turmoil just one week ago. Tomorrow we'll take a look at the Hex with 3 games down and 7 to go.
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