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U.S. thoroughly deserving of victory in Gold Cup
ESPN ^ | 24 June 2007 | Jeff Carlisle

Posted on 06/24/2007 8:41:13 PM PDT by RKV

Over the years, every time the United States has beaten Mexico, the score has been accompanied by Mexican claims that the result was undeserved. "We're still better than you," was the underlying message. To be fair, there was an element of truth in this. On many of those occasions, Mexico owned the ball while the U.S. rode its luck, bunkering in for long stretches. But in the aftermath of the Americans' 2-1 triumph over Mexico in the Gold Cup final, there can be no such caveats. On this day, the U.S. was thoroughly deserving of its triumph.

Tom Fluegge/US Presswire/Other The U.S. hoists its fourth Gold Cup trophy.

That's not to say the U.S. dominated. On the day, Mexico probably edged the Americans in terms of possession, and in Andres Guardado and Nery Castillo, El Tri look to have an attacking duo that will torment the Yanks for years to come. But in this match, the U.S. was Mexico's attacking equal. If not for a string of stunning saves by goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez, it would have been the Yanks who found themselves in front at halftime, and not their southern neighbors.

That Mexico did take a 1-0 lead, only to lose it, is just the latest nail in their psychological coffin. In previous matches, it was thought that if only Mexico could have gotten their nose in front, then the U.S. would have capitulated, allowing a steady stream of unanswered goals. Instead, the Americans proved once again that their winning mentality is far stronger than that of their rivals.

Proof of this can be found in the second half performances of Benny Feilhaber and Brian Ching. At halftime, both players were prime candidates to be subbed. Feilhaber's passing -- normally his strong suit -- was well below par, while Ching's poor touch was negating his usually solid hold-up play. And when I saw Ricardo Clark entering the game to start the second half, I figured that Feilhaber was out with Ching soon to follow.

Yet both players remained on the field, and responded with remarkable turnarounds. Once Ching began throwing his body around Mexico's penalty area, it began to unsettle the opposing defense, and the penalty he won that was converted by Landon Donovan turned the game around. As for Feilhaber, his passes began to find their intended targets, and his jaw-dropping volley in the 73rd minute was a goal worthy of any cup final.

There were plenty of other heroes as well. Carlos Bocanegra capped an up-and-down tournament with an immense performance, constantly covering for other teammates that had been beaten. DaMarcus Beasley and Donovan both delivered the requisite amount of menace on the wings -- although Beasley's shocking miss in the 90th minute, after Donovan had put the ball on a tee for him, made the final minutes nerve wracking.

But perhaps the move of the match was U.S. coach Bob Bradley's halftime insertion of Clark. The Houston Dynamo midfielder provided some much-needed energy in the middle of the park, and helped blunt the considerable influence of Mexican maestro Pavel Pardo. It was the kind of substitution that most coaches dream of.

The sight of Clark and Feilhaber patrolling the U.S. midfield gives hope that a positive showing from the Americans in next week's Copa American is possible. But regardless of how the duo performs in Venezuela, the most encouraging sign of the entire tournament for the U.S. was the continued progression of its young players. Throughout the Gold Cup, Bradley has continued to give young upstarts like Feilhaber, Jonathan Spector, and Michael Bradley (his son) playing time, and players like Donovan and Beasley now appear ready to take on the attacking responsibilities that crushed them during last summer's World Cup.

It's a development that still has a ways to go, as witnessed by the Americans' continued struggles to put matches away when they have the chance. But the U.S. has also made considerable progress along this course, and is further along than its Mexican rivals. While fans of El Tri can point to Guardado and Castillo as signs that the team is evolving, the fact that they are still relying on the likes of Jared Borgetti and Cuauhtemoc Blanco means that Mexico head coach Hugo Sanchez has more work to do than his American counterpart. That might be the first time ever that such a statement can be made.


TOPICS: Mexico; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: goldcup; mexico; soccer; us; usteam; victory Comment #1 Removed by Moderator

To: RKV

Bradley’s kid is on the squad.....geez.


2 posted on 06/24/2007 8:46:36 PM PDT by stainlessbanner
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To: RKV

Any ‘Osama’ chants this time?


3 posted on 06/24/2007 8:48:30 PM PDT by LdSentinal
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To: RKV
I obviously don’t know much about soccer... Is the Gold Cup a North and South America thing? Is it a prelude to the World Cup?
4 posted on 06/24/2007 8:49:40 PM PDT by DB
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To: LdSentinal

A few reported at the Big Soccer forum by persons who attended the game. Apparently the large crowd was 90% pro-Mexico. That said, some of the players and coaches from Mexico shook hands with their counterparts and traded (a few) jerseys (traditionally it should be many). The Mexican national team has been getting beat by the US for the last 7 years or so, and this is starting to make up for the many years when we could not beat them. The rivalry goes back to 1934 IIRC.


5 posted on 06/24/2007 8:51:38 PM PDT by RKV
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To: DB
270 million Americans say
6 posted on 06/24/2007 8:52:30 PM PDT by JRios1968 (Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will. - Ben Stein)
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To: DB

Gold Cup is north American. Copa Americas is south American. It is not directly connected to World Cup, BUT, our national team plays in Gold Cup and in World Cup. We got a break to beat Canada and get to the finals. Arguably Canada got screwed by a bad call. That said, to win in soccer letting the other team get close is a really bad idea. Typical scores are 1-0, 1-1, 2-1, so there is little margin for error.


7 posted on 06/24/2007 8:55:15 PM PDT by RKV
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To: RKV
How come we don’t see any mehicos ILLEGAL players on the U.S. soccer clubs???
8 posted on 06/24/2007 9:04:33 PM PDT by danamco (Now, I would LOVE to hear your solution as to how to remove 12 to 30 million people from this countr)
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To: RKV

The ownage of the classless mexico team and its fans continues.
Mexico better get used to this. Their days of dominating the US year after year are done.


9 posted on 06/24/2007 10:41:02 PM PDT by Proud_USA_Republican (We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good. - Hillary Clinton)
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To: Proud_USA_Republican

This win is SWEET! Especially after teasing them by being down 0-1 at halftime.

We outplayed them again, but needed Howard’s goaltending to save our bacon too many times.

Did anyone else think that the Mexican’s played less cheap than usual? I observed fewer obvious “cheap shots” after the ball was gone than normal. (Of course they still hacked Beasley to death and did their requisite amount of diving.”

Oldplayer


10 posted on 06/24/2007 11:09:13 PM PDT by oldplayer
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To: oldplayer

I guess no one in the crowd chanted “wetbacks”.


11 posted on 06/25/2007 2:32:20 AM PDT by freeangel ( (free speech is only good until someone else doesn't like what you say))
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To: Proud_USA_Republican

Its a good question to ask if they are losers therefore they act without class, or whether because they lack class they lose.


12 posted on 06/25/2007 5:55:02 AM PDT by RKV
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