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Landon Donovan assisted on the United States' first goal against Mexico last night. |
“There were some good things that you need to see in a tough environment and in a tough game and there were some things that you see that you still need to improve on,” said U.S. head coach Bob Bradley, whose U.S. record now stands at 13-5-2, “These kind of games are what the players look forward to and as coaches, we understand that we need this kind of games in order to look hard at our players and our team to find things that we need to improve.”
During the unbeaten streak, the U.S. has outscored Mexico 17-3 in that stretch, including Wednesday’s match, which was the highest scoring game in the series in almost 11 years (dating back to a 2-2 draw on April 20, 1997, a span of 17 games).
The opening goal of the game came in the 29th minute after the USA’s first sustained pressure of the match, with Onyewu finishing a towering, precise header from eight yards out that left Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa helpless. Onyewu began the sequence with a long throw-in from the left sideline that the Mexican defense failed to clear, allowing Donovan to alertly lift the ball back into the area from the right side of the penalty area and allow the hulking defender to expertly head home off the right post.
Mexico tied the match in the 35th minute on a close-range strike from Magallón, after a brilliantly played free kick from Pavel Pardo on the right flank eluded the U.S. defense and slid dangerously to the back post. Magallón eluded Drew Moor to slam his shot from four yards out into the upper left corner of the goal.
Mexico’s second goal also came on a close-range back-post strike from Magallón, who again beat Moor to the spot, this time finishing a deflected corner from Carlos Vela (by defender Carlos Salcido at the near post) just two minutes into the second half to even the score.
Magallón’s two goals were sandwiched around a stunning header from the young Altidore (18 years, 92 days), making his first start for the United States. Altidore’s 40th minute strike was slammed home from nine yards out after Moor had gotten forward on the right flank to hit a pinpoint cross into the area. The goal was the result of a strong U.S. counterattack led by Bobby Convey, who eventually fed Clint Dempsey, who in turn fed Michael Bradley to create the space for Moor.
With the goal, Altidore became the youngest player to score for the United States in the modern era.
Just two minutes after the USA’s second goal, Dempsey thought he had a goal of his own, hitting a 22-yard turnaround laser into the lower right corner of the goal. However, in controlling the ball off his chest on a long pass from Onyewu, the Texas native was whistled for offside.
Despite watching the U.S. surrender two goals to Mexico at home for the first time in 11 years, goalkeeper Tim Howard made a number of strong saves for the U.S. The Everton goalkeeper finished the match with six stops.
Overall, the testy match between the two old rivals featured six yellow cards, including four against the United States.
The 70,103 fans marked the fourth largest attendance for a USA-Mexico match in the United States (and the largest outside the state of California). It was also the second largest soccer crowd in Texas history.
Next up for the United States is an away match on March 26 against Poland in a city to be determined.
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