Chile's Corner
THE GREATEST RIVALRY YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF
By Chile Hidalgo
"They suck ... Hopefully that will shut them up for the next three or
four years." -- U.S. national soccer team midfielder Landon Donovan.
"(They're) a little team...It's easy for them, because they aren't
playing under any pressure. My mother, my grandmother, or my great
grandmother could play in a team like that." -- Mexican national team coach Ricardo Lavolpe.
"They do a lot of talking. They haven't beat us in a long time here.
I'm kind of sick of it. There's no better scenario than to beat them
easily." -- Donovan.
"We're the giants of the CONCACAF, and we're going to continue showing
it." -- Lavolpe.
If the above comments were made in relation to any professional sporting event in the United States other than a 2006 World Cup qualifying match, they would've been plastered on about four different places on ESPN's website; various analysts would have sadly shaken their heads at Donovan and Lavolpe; and Stephen A. Smith would have invited US national teamer DaMarcus Beasley onto his show to discuss the comments.
Instead, because the comments occurred in the wake of the US's 2-0 victory over Mexico and classification for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, almost no one in this country has heard about them.
Granted, soccer is slightly less popular than ESPN's Outdoor Games canine frisbee retrieval competition, but if you're a sports fan, you're doing yourself a huge disservice if you're not at least tuning in to the US-Mexico rivalry every so often.
To bring you up to date: Mexico's national soccer team dominated the
CONCACAF (the regional world cup qualifying group that includes North and Central America) for the better part of the 20th century, pretty much like the Yankees dominated the American League. From 1950 through 2002, Mexico finished 1st in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying 9 out of 11 times (Mexico hosted the World Cup in 1970 and 1986 and did not have to qualify in those years). Up until the 2002 World Cup, when they advanced to the quarterfinals and lost to eventual finalist Germany, the U.S. was generally considered the soccer equivalent of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before their Super Bowl win.
From 1930 through 1986, U.S. World Cup highlights were few and far between: There was a fourth-place finish (out of 13 teams) in the inaugural event in 1930; and a staggering 1-0 upset of England in the first round in 1950.
That marked the team's last Cup appearance until 1990, when it beat Trinidad and Tobago on the last day of qualifying to make the World Cup.
The US has played four straight World Cups (as a side note, the US has a longer active streak of World Cup appearances than its rival; Mexico failed to qualify in 1990), beginning with the 1990 appearance. The US has not lost at home to Mexico since 1999 (For its part, the U.S. has never won a qualifying match in Mexico). Discounting the World Cup in 1998 (in which is went 0-3 and scored one goal), the national team has dramatically improved in international play.
The Mexican team mostly fails to acknowledge the American rise and attributes the team's success to conspiracies by referees, shadowy international plots, and sketchy American nationalization policies, among other factors.
The rivalry reached 2004 ALCS levels in the 2002 World Cup in South Korea, when the US knocked out Mexico, 2-0. Mexico seemed to regain the upper hand with a 2-1 victory when the teams played their World Cup qualifier at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. In FIFA's latest rankings, Mexico was No. 5 and the US was No. 6.
Which brings us to the Sept. 3 match in Columbus (televised on ESPN Classic, not available in some cable markets in Southern Connecticut, where I was visiting my dad. I was thus forced to watch the somewhat biased Telemundo coverage). Barring an unexpected collapse, both teams were close to guaranteed a spot in the World Cup, but you wouldn't know it based on the intensity of the match. The US came out attacking heavily, but Mexico held their ground and took control of the game in towards the end of the half. The teams played to a scoreless tie in the first half (yeah, yeah, insert a random joke about 0-0 ties in soccer here). Mexico almost snuck one in right before halftime, but Kasey Keller made a sprawling save on a shot to the lower right corner to preserve the shutout.
Mexico seemed content to put 11 men behind the ball and foul the
lightning-fast-but-Chile-sized (5'7", 126 lbs) DaMarcus Beasley.
Ten minutes into the second half, Steve Ralston (of the MLS' New England Revolution) scored on a rebound off a header (to give you an idea of the quality of coverage of the game, the header was ascribed to defender Oguchi Onyewu or Landon Donovan, depending on the publication consulted for a post-game report). About five minutes later, the US again scored off a corner on one of the most gorgeous goals I've seen the US put in. At this point, Mexico began making wholesale substitutions, hacking away at American players any time they got near the ball, and, in time-honored soccer tradition, berating the ref and waving their arms around at every blow of the whistle.
Following the game, players on both sides took potshots at the other
team (see quotes above), and then Mexico put on their Tuff cleats and
beat Panama (0-6-2 in CONCACAF WC qualifying) in their next game, 5-0,
tying the U.S. atop the CONCACAF group with two games to go and showing everyone their giganticality in the CONCACAF. The US, on the other hand, sent their starters home, fielded a team of reserves, and tied Guatemala 0-0 on the road. Lavolpe's great-grandmother did not participate in the match.
Disappointingly enough, the rivalry has probably settled down for the
moment, at least until next summer in Germany. As a distraction in the
meantime, I highly recommend Ralston's Revolution, who have the most
points and wins in the MLS and boast three US national team players and one player each from Grenada's, Trinidad and Tobago's, and Panama's national teams, but alas no Mexican nationals.
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