Mexico is going nuts -- it has the second-best soccer team in North America.
Since 2000, the US has played eight matches at home to Mexico in a variety of competitions. Many of the home matches are merely matches within the US that are essentially neutral-site or home-away-from-home matches for Mexico -- such as last night's US win in Arizona where the crowd was comprised primarily of Mexican partisans. And the fact that the US not only has dominated the competition, but that Mexico has not scored in the United States since before the millenium galls Mexico to no end. That whole country seemed about to open a vein when the US knocked Mexico out of the 2002 World Cup with a 2-0 win in the round of 16.
Mexico's getting desperate -- it played a top squad last night, but still lost to a US team that is seeking to establish its identity after last year's World Cup flop and the retirement of top players like Kasey Keller and Brian McBride. And Mexico is a poor sport about it. The team simply walked off the pitch after honking last night, no handshakes, no jersey exchange -- that's no-class behavior in the soccer world.
Hopefully the US will swat the Tricolores again in the Gold Cup this June.
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