OPINION Old amigo holds no fear for USA
Sunday 16th June 2002
by Allen Hopkins
The United States and Mexico, two neighbouring countries sharing a common border, travelled some 6,000 miles to face one another.
Mexico and USA have battled for 68 years, but the teams have never met at the World Cup Finals.
"We are bordering countries, and Mexico has always been the power in CONCACAF. In the United States there is a large Mexican-American population and we play frequently among each other," said coach Bruce Arena.
"Mexico has a pretty good team, and it has been a great rivalry. And both teams always look forward to playing each other," added Arena, who has a record of four wins and three losses against Mexico since taking the helm in late 1998.
The heated rivalry, that often transcends the game itself, dates back to 1934 when USA beat Mexico in their first ever meeting 4-2 in a World Cup qualifier in Rome, Italy.
The bitter rivalry festered in the 1990s, when the teams met 14 times, after playing just four times from 1978-1990.
USA and Mexico have met 46 times in all with Mexico winning 28 times to the USA's nine. There have been nine draws and Mexico have outscored the United States 109-50.
However, the USA has had the upper hand lately, wining four of the last five meetings.
Arena doesn't believe facing Mexico is a lucky draw for the American team.
"Luck out? We're playing the team that won their group, and was five minutes away from beating Italy," he said.
"I don't think we lucked out. I think everybody we play is going to be a tough opponent. We didn't get lucky by drawing one team or the other. We are very fortunate to be where we are."
Arena has some serious issues to deal with in his defence ahead of the knockout match. But that's been the story since before arriving in South Korea.
Defenders Jeff Agoos, who holds the national record for starts with 123, will miss the rest of the tournament after the 34-year-old suffered a moderate right calf strain during the first half of the USA's 3-1 loss to Poland.
And to make matters worse, Frankie Hejduk is suspended after picking up his second yellow card of the tournament against the Poles.
"We are very disappointed for Jeff," said Arena. "He has made an outstanding contribution to this team, and we will wish him a speedy recovery.
"We selected this 23-man roster with the belief that every player is capable of making a contribution, and we are confident that whoever we put on the field will help us to be successful on Monday."
Although USA's depth will be severely tested, the always bullish and sometimes sarcastic Arena isn't worried.
"I will sleep fine. We'll find two guys that can volunteer to play in a Round of 16 game in a World Cup. I imagine we'll find two players."
Carlos Llamosa, Gregg Berhalter and Pablo Mastroeni are viable replacement options.
Mexico and the USA know each other's personnel and tactics so well, you can forget all the records, hyperbole and everything else. It will be a difficult match, another classic battle that is up in the air. Midfielder Earnie Stewart agrees.
"You can toss a coin. We win a few, then they win a few. It's a great rivalry in CONCACAF, and I'm pretty sure you'll see that on the field on Monday. It's a hate-love relationship. It's a good hate; a sportsmanship hate."
Stewart added: "It should be a great game and it is a great rivalry. Mexico has been one of the great teams to date in this World Cup, so it is going to be a real difficult challenge for our team.
"We've watched them in this World Cup and they have been outstanding. They are a team that has played quite well and it is going to be a heck of a game."
One of the keys to the match will be how well USA are able to forget about the defeat to Poland.
If you told USA fans before the tournament that Arena's side would lose their group finale and still go through to the second round, they would have taken it.
But the bar was raised significantly after the upset of Portugal and in some ways the results have gone down hill since, however Arena, as usual, has a different spin on things.
"Well, we have played three World Cup games on foreign soil, we have one win, one loss and one tie, we have scored five goals, we've beaten a team that is rated in the top five in the world, we got a point against the host country that no one else has gotten a point against.
"You are labelling that a failure? We're moving forward," said Arena.
Defender Eddie Pope agreed wholeheartedly, "It is not about this game, it is about the first two games and all three games.
"We worked hard to get those results and that is why we are in the second round."
Thankfully for the United States Brad Friedel has been one of the top goalkeepers in the tournament. And many journalists from all over the world, including yours truly, believe he is making a strong case for the Yachine Award, named after legendary Russian goalkeeper Lev Yachine and given to the World Cup's best goalkeeper.
Friedel has been between the pipes for his fair share of matches against the Tricolor and knows how difficult the match will be, but is very optimistic. "A lot of the games have been very, very physical in the past," Friedel said.
"We played Mexico in the Copa America on neutral ground in 1995 and beat them in penalty kicks, obviously we don't want to go to penalty kicks this time, but hopefully we can get the same result," Friedel added. The teams have an even 1-1-1 record on neutral ground.
If they match does go to penalties, the US could have the advantage with Mexico having a poor record in penalties in their World Cup history and Friedel red-hot in goal, already saving two in the tournament.
Another plus for the USA are the recent standout performances from Landon Donovan and Josh Wolff against Mexico.
Wolff scored his first national team goal against Mexico in a 2-0 win in Los Angeles back in late October 2000.
But his most memorable moment of his four-year national team career came when he scored the game-winner and also set up an Earnie Stewart goal in the 2-0 defeat of Mexico in a World Cup qualifier in Columbus, Ohio in February 2001.
Landon Donovan made his international debut against Mexico on October 25, 2000 and recorded a goal and an assist in his first match with the senior national team.
Arena has been very pleased with the form Donovan has shown playing in his first World Cup. He scored the lone goal against Poland and had another questionably disallowed.
"He is very fit and he can play in a number of positions and he understands his responsibilities.," Arena said.
"There is no question that he is a great young talent. He is much stronger now and has much more experience, and that combination has made him pretty successful at this level.
"We are not really concerned with the odds or where we stand in the eyes of anyone out there," Arena added. "We just need to get focused and concentrate on the game on Monday."
A spot in the quarterfinals is within reach but the USA has to be willing to knock off one tough ol' amigo.
onefootball
