U.S. Soccer’s Mile High Victory
You name it, this game probably had it. While the matchup of the United States and Mexico wasn’t a surprise in the first ever CONCACAF Nations League Final, the way this game unfolded definitely was. The casual and neutral fan was entertained, while American and Mexican soccer fans were on the edge of their seats for almost 3 hours. Let’s take at how the night unfolded.
Mexico was the favorite in this game as their team has played together more often and were in a much better situation from a national team standpoint. The team was more familiar with head coach Gerardo Martino’s style of play and how to play on the big stage as some of the them had already played together in the 2018 FIFA World Cup and in the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The United States came in with some fanfare, but from an individual standpoint. It’s been well documented how many of the starters are key players on their European club teams and won some titles this past year, but they have yet to do anything on the national team stage. A lack of experience and chemistry can still get in the way of talent.
That was on full display in the semifinal game vs Honduras where the team struggled to work together. Whenever they did, they were usually pretty dangerous, but a stout performance by Honduras let this to be a closer game than many thought it would be and the US was unable to break through until 89th minute when Jordan Siebatcheu headed home the winning goal. As for Mexico, their semifinal game vs Costa Rica surprisingly ended in a scoreless tie. Mexico was better and generated several shots on goal, but they failed to break through. The headed to a penalty shootout where Mexico emerged victorious as goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa saved a penalty shot to send El Tri to the final.
With all the talent on the field, it was hard to believe this would be a game where one of the teams would be held scoreless. Sure enough, Mexico made sure of that very early in the game. US head coach Gregg Berhalter insists on playing out of the back for better or worse, but as much as talent as there is on the American side, the right side of the backline is still a big question mark. That was evident when Mark McKenzie gave a ball away near his goal and Jesus Corona took advantage to give Mexico a 1–0 lead. Nerves and lack of familiarity with some questionable tactics isn’t a good combination, and it wasn’t impossible to think after giving up an early goal, this young American squad could fold and get blown out by Mexico.
A little over 20 minutes later, it seemed that was unfolding as Mexico scored a second goal after a perfectly executed corner kick. However, VAR made its presence felt, as referee John Pitti determined that Hector Moreno was offsides and the United States caught a break as the score remained 1–0. The interesting thing is that would be the last highlight of the night for Mexico set piece wise and VAR would later hurt them once again. Seldomly, a team will catch a break and use the momentum to react, but the US was able to do that. About 2 minutes later, the US executed a corner kick of their own. Weston McKinnie, who dominated on set pieces all night, headed a ball that hit the right post and landed perfectly in front of Gio Reyna, who tied the game at 1. His parents celebrated in the stands and the camera caught their reaction. Reyna’s mother is Danielle Egan, a former soccer player who suited up a couple times for the US Women’s National Team, and she was more than ecstatic. His father, the one and only Captain America Claudio Reyna, looked to be in disbelief at what happened. Possibly, he was taking in the fact that he and Gio were now the first father and son combo to both suit up for the United States and score against Mexico.
While the game settled down, Mexico was the better team in the first half and it appeared they would take the lead right before halftime. Hirving Lozano was a demon all game as he kept beating offside traps and exploiting the lack of chemistry of Mark McKenzie and Tim Ream on the right side of the American defense. Lozano had a golden one-on-one chance vs goalkeeper Zack Steffen right before half time, but Steffen came up with a huge save to preserve a tie game. When the second half began, Mexico had an early chance on goal but then lost control of the game for about 15–20 minutes. While Mexico did a good job of keeping Christian Pulisic at bay, he connected with Weston McKinnie to create a great opportunity that Ochoa saved and later Josh Sargent was unable to convert. In this time period, the US had 3 corner kicks where they came close to taking a lead. The first was a shot that went wide by Sergino Dest and then headers by both Mark McKenzie and McKinnie were saved on the line by Ochoa.
The lack of quality defending on set pieces has long been a problem for Mexico, but it’s something that had improved due to the likes of Hector Moreno and Edson Alvarez in recent time. However, it was evident they didn’t pay much attention to practicing against them as they struggled all night. On the other hand, the US has been very efficient on set pieces and at times the complaint is that the team is too reliant on them. While it’s important to evolve and find other ways to win, if there’s something you can keep that continues to work, I say don’t fix it if it’s not broke.
However, the US momentum took a hit when starting goalkeeper Zack Steffen had to leave the game due to injury and backup Ethan Horvath would be thrown into the fire without having much time to warm up. Mexico made some changes and one of the best they made was bringing in winger Diego Lainez. Lainez was an instant sparkplug as he scored less than 2 minutes into the game. Once again, this was a moment where it appeared the US would fold. They had fallen short when pressuring the Mexico goal, lost their starting goalkeeper, and had to deal with some fresh legs that had just scored on them. But as Yogi Berra once said, albeit for a different sport, it ain’t over till it’s over.
Some sloppy Mexican defending led to the US getting a corner kick. Gio Reyna whipped in the ball and Weston McKinnie finally connected on a ball that went in the back of the net. Ochoa got a hand on it, but wasn’t able to keep this one out and the game was once again tied. The key for the US was responding right when they needed to as Lainez’s goal only happened about 3 minutes before. Horvath was unable to stop his first shot as Lainez had scored on his first attempt, but he came up big when he saved Lozano’s shot on goal right before the second half ended. The game had avoided any escalation or chippy play until shortly after when Hector Herrera went for a ball that Horvath was trying to wrap up. While fighting isn’t something that should be encouraged, standing up for your teammate shows both character and togetherness. This team hasn’t had much time as a unit, but it sure didn’t look that way when they stood up for Horvath.
This game was now headed to extra time. Mexico was the dominant squad in the first 15 minutes and forced Horvath to come up with one big save. They had other chances on goal, but failed to turn that into a score as time wound down on the first extra time. Only 2 minutes into the second extra time, the US pushed forward and Christian Pulisic was in the box and headed towards the goal. He was stopped short and the ball was cleared while his teammates called for a foul. It appeared the game would play on, when VAR made its presence felt again as referee John Pitti went to review the possible penalty. Mexican players were in disbelief and it carried onto the coaching staff as Gerardo Martino put his arm around the referee while he was reviewing the penalty, and he was sent off. Pitti came back and determined Pulisic had been fouled and awarded the US a penalty.
From the beginning, Pulisic said he was taking the penalty. For all the talk of the Wonder Boy for US Soccer, he had been primarily silent all game and here was a chance for him to step up. A trophy was up for grabs against your biggest rival and to score, you have to put it past one of the best goalkeepers this region has ever seen. This was Pulisic’s time to step up. Could he do it? Boy, did he ever. Pulisic sent the ball into top right corner, impossible even for a great goalkeeper like Ochoa to stop. Pulisic and his teammates went to celebrate the huge goal in the corner and let loose. Unfortunately, so did some fans.
While the referee was equally bad for both sides, the worst thing about this night was the behavior of some Mexican fans. The first incident was when some fans yelled a certain four-letter word that caused the game to be paused. As one announcer said, whether or not you agree with what the word means, the authorities have said you can’t say it at a game or there will be consequences. Fortunately, that only happened once. But the same can’t be said for what happened when Pulisic and company celebrated their go-ahead goal. Some fans pelted the US squad with cups and drinks, and one of them managed to nail Gio Reyna.
It’s a shame because El Tri fans are very passionate and add a lot of color to a game, but there’s always a few that manage to ruin it for everyone. My hope is it doesn’t get to the point where the actions of a few that don’t know how to behave cause Mexico to have play games without fans, as we found out with the pandemic how playing in an empty stadium isn’t quite the same. A couple minutes later, this happened again when Pulisic and Andres Guardado getting tangled up led to another scuffle. Some Mexican fans threw things on the field, except this time they nailed one of their own in Henry Martin. If only Andres Guardado was as accurate as that fan, this game might’ve ended differently.
Shortly before the game was over, Mexico had a corner kick that was cleared, although it appeared the ball went off Timothy Weah’s arm. Referee John Pitti went to review for a possible penalty, and he awarded one again. It made sense for Guardado to take the penalty, as he was the man on the field with the most experience and coolest head. Horvath had come up with some big saves already, but now he faced his biggest test, a chance to stop a penalty against one of Mexico’s best players in recent time, and bring the US closer to Nations League title. Guardado stepped up and fired, though not as well as he’s done before, as Horvath stopped the penalty. Guardado fell to his knees in disbelief as he came up short and Horvath had gone from benchwarmer to hero. Due to all the time that had been wasted between VAR and scuffles, this game last up to 130 minutes. Mexico was unable to generate anything after the missed penalty, and when the referee blew the final whistle, the ecstatic Americans ran to celebrate and congratulate Ethan Horvath.
While Weston McKinnie deservedly won man of the match due to his goal and consistent creation of opportunities to score, Horvath had stepped up when his team needed it the most. Instead of falling apart, the US managed to fight back twice and then overtake a very formidable Mexico squad in a game for the ages. Unlike previous defeats to the US, Mexico hadn’t played flat and uninspired. While they failed at defending set pieces, Mexico had simply lost to a gritty American squad that was full of heart and now, a lot of talent. While the US has the advantage in terms of having a younger core, a lot of these players will play against each other when these two countries play in the coming years. In fact, some of them might match up in about a month as the US and Mexico are expected to meet up in the CONCACAF Gold Cup Final. If any future matchups have at least some of what this game had, it’ll be a treat. Even with the blemish of some fans causing chaos, this was easily the best US vs Mexico game ever.
