Fun game! Good back and forth action all the way through . Kinda what I thought it would be: Mexico was more confident in midfield and got to goal more regularly, but their chances weren't really any better than the USA's. USA was getting quality rather than quantity, but I still expected quantity to win out in the end. Around the 70th minute, Mexico kinda slacked, USA finished strong but couldn't find the goal before OT. I thought Mexico kinda dominated the 1st OT period then kinda disappeared in the 2nd OT.
Set play from about 40 yards out, nicely dropped at the spot, Robinson got up, caught the keeper out of position and guided it home in the 117th minute. Nice finish. Hey, I thought the Americans were capable of stealing it but until the 2nd OT, I still expected Mexico to figure it out.
Good W for USA. This isn't their top squad, still a level up this team can go. That may well be true for Mexico, too. I thought they handled themselves well, the relationship between USA-Mexico has always been based on the border: games in USA tend to see the Americans winning, games in Mexico City are just death to the Americans, as brutal a homecourt advantage as any I've ever seen (think Duke at Cameron Indoor against non-conference opponents). I would've thought Vegas was kinda neutral territory at this point, but USA stayed with it and got the late win, always nice to bring home the trophy.
I think both these teams are gonna be strong next year in Qatar. The world is a suddenly weird place, USA challenging at a World Cup is not something anyone's ever seen before, I wonder if we're there yet. Ditto for Mexico, they compete well internationally but seem to sputter in the same spot, weird world, man, a bust out Mexican performance might be on the horizon.
I feel like Mexico and USA have been through a weird reality the last 15 years or so: the individual talent keeps getting better and is vastly better compared to 15 years ago but the team play is not any more cohesive or threatening or likely to win games. I understand that the rest of the countries of the world are going through a similar thing but I still feel like USA and Mexico are positioned to develop more talent at a more reliable pace than any other country (until China figures it out). But why doesn't that translate to more wins? Why doesn't that evolution of talent bring a similar evolution of successful application of talent? What is USA soccer missing? And can Mexico significantly challenge for a World Cup before USA? Qatar is the next place we'll find out.
