U.S.A. Defeats Mexico 2-1 in Columbus by Jeff Graceffo

If someone told me that the United States would defeat Mexico despite playing without four starters, and with Mexico desperate for a victory, I would've said that the best we could hope for was a draw. In a shocking result the Americans defeated Mexico 2-0 in front of a raucous crowd in Columbus, Ohio. The win brings the U.S. to the cusp of qualifying for Brazil 2014, while the defeat brought Mexico to the brink of elimination.
It's almost impossible to believe that it was just two years ago in the Gold Cup Final that Mexico defeated the U.S. 4-2, which cost former coach Bob Bradley his job and made me believe that the gap between the two sides was as lopsided as it has been in over two decades.  However, on the eve of the 9/11 anniversary, the Americans showed that no such gap exists, and in fact they have the advantage in the intense border rivalry.

Rather than go into the minutiae, I'll give a few thoughts on the first and second half.  During the first twenty minutes the game went as I thought it would with the Mexicans dominating possession, nearly scoring on several occasions.  Tim Howard, American goalie, made several saves from shots inside the eighteen yard box. The Americans looked very shaky with the new look lineup. I was afraid the game would turn into a Mexican rout. Fortunately, it did not go that way.  The Americans created some scoring opportunities as the first half came to a close. With the score locked at 0-0 at the break it looked as if the Americans could grind out a draw.

The second half continued as the first half ended with the Americans pushing forward and the Mexicans failing to unlock the American defense.  Eddie Johnson put the Americans ahead with a brilliant header off of a corner kick in the 49th minute as the crowd erupted in rapture.  After Johnson's header the Americans appeared to believe they could win and the Mexicans looked deflated as the clock ticked up.  In the 78th, Captain America himself, Landon Donovan put the game out of the reach as he knocked in the second goal.

I can't reiterate enough how shocking this result is. Mexico is on the verge of failing to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in...I don't even know, and rather than Google it, I'm just going to say I don't know.  CONCACAF is a significantly weaker region than Europe or S. America so it is embarrassing to say the least that a team like Mexico may not qualify. This will haunt that nation until 2018 if they don't qualify. Currently, they are tied for fourth, which would qualify them to represent CONCACAF in a playoff against the OCEANIA region. However, they are tied with Panama who plays the USA in the final game, which the Americans could intentionally throw. I doubt they'd be obvious about it, but it is an interesting story to follow.

Bring on Brazil 2014...Just six months ago, the U.S. was in the midst of a terrible slump and their qualification campaign was in doubt. I doubted it. If the snow didn't go down in Denver back in April then I wonder if we'd be where we are now.  It's incredible how these things happen, but it is what it is.
Coach Jurgen Klinsmann did a great job with this team, especially how they rebounded after a bad defeat on Friday at Costa Rica.

By Jeff Graceffo

http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/usnationalteam/id/648?cc=5901
http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/usnationalteam/id/646?cc=5901
http://www.businessinsider.com/usa-beats-mexico-2-0-in-world-cup-qualifier-2013-9
http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/usa/story/united-states-mens-national-team-2-0-mexico-world-cup-qualifier-landon-donovan-eddie-johnson-091013