The Rose Bowl awaits tomorrow.
Ahead of Saturday’s USA-Mexico CONCACAF Cup match at the Rose Bowl, TYAC asked a number of American soccer writers about their favorite USA-Mexico games and moments. The responses were as varied as they were wonderful, and we’re excited to share them, and some media from many of those matches, with our readers.
Kartik Krishnaiyer, World Soccer Talk Editor, Co-Host, “Divers and Cheats Podcast”, Rabble TV, (@kkfla737)
2001 2-0 USA
“The first of the four successive qualifiers in this series held in Columbus that ended with a 2-0 USA scoreline is still the standout game for me. The atmosphere and cold February Ohio weather made it a keeper of a memory. First half injuries to Brian McBride and Claudio Reyna-arguably the two best players for the US- led to the entrance of Josh Wolff and Clint Mathis. The two Georgia-raised South Carolina Gamecocks combined on the first goal in minute 47 when Mathis played a ball into space and Wolff ran onto it and finished cleanly. The game was sealed when Wolff set up Earnie Stewart late to secure the now familiar Dos a Cero scoreline.”
Who could forget Gio dos Santos at the Rose Bowl in 2011?
Blake Thomsen, Sports Illustrated’s The Cauldron, American Soccer Now (@blakecthomsen)
2011 Mexico 4, USA 2
“This may be a bit of a surprising response, but my favorite USA-Mexico game is definitely the 4-2 Mexico win in the 2011 Gold Cup final, which had everything you could possibly want from a soccer game (aside from a U.S. victory). The level of play on that field was ridiculous, initially highlighted by Landon Donovan scoring perhaps the U.S.’s best ever team goal (against quality opposition, at least) to give the Yanks a 2-0 lead. From there, things unraveled for the U.S. — and let us not forget the role that Stevie Cherundolo’s injury played in that — but it was such an astonishing spectacle that I was hardly even upset after the game. Mexico launched one world-class counterattack after the other, and the U.S. simply could not resist a brilliantly talented Mexican team in peak form. I think Giovani dos Santos’s worldie was up for the Puskas Award. Somewhere amidst all of that Dempsey smashed the woodwork, summing up the game from a U.S. perspective: breathtaking, but ultimately not quite enough.”
Editor’s Note: Amazing that a US manager was fired shortly after such a performance, but we digress…
Oddly, a great moment in the history of the USA-Mexico rivalry was a match that didn’t even involve both sides.
Andrew Marcinko, Contributing Writer, MLS.Com, The Yanks Are Coming and SB Nation’s “The Mane Land”, covering Orlando City SC (@Andrew_Marcinko)
2013 USA 3, Panama 2, saving Mexico from World Cup elimination
“I’m going to go off-prompt a little bit and choose the Yanks’ 3-2 World Cup Qualifying win over Panama in 2013. You remember, the match where, in U.S. Soccer’s magnanimous glory, we decided to ALLOW Mexico to qualify for the World Cup by defeating Panama with two stoppage time goals? Sure, the glory of all those “Dos a Cero” victories will never fade, but I can’t even begin to imagine how demoralizing it must have been for Mexico to have to rely on the United States to even qualify for the World Cup. I still say we should have pretended to score an own goal at the final whistle just to mess with them.”
Zack Goldman, Where Is Football, frequent contributor to everybody, great human being (@thatdamnyank)
2009 USA 2 Mexico 0
“Waking up my neighbors in the dead of night as the Yanks snuffed out Mexico’s hopes at the 2002 World Cup sits atop my Fond Childhood Memories Power Rankings, but unquestionably my favorite meeting between the two nations was the World Cup Qualifier in Columbus in 2009. I was living in rural Ohio at the time, and my brother and father flew in for the big match—a dose of home I desperately needed after a long winter. My dad had broken his ankle a few months prior, putting the trip in jeopardy, but he intrepidly made the voyage anyway. Thankfully, it was worth it. The U.S. prevailed in some of the most insane weather conditions I’ve ever seen for a match. Sheets of rain and biblical gales thrashed the Erector Set that is Crew Stadium for hours beforehand and nearly caused the game to be cancelled. On it went, and, oh, how it went. The atmosphere was fantastic. The game was tense. The commitment to win challenges was the best I’d seen from an American team in years. And the result was incredible. But, it’s the memories I shared that day with my brother and dad that will stay with me forever.”
Neil W. Blackmon, Editor and Co-Founder, The Yanks Are Coming, Brooklyn before Miranda made it cool, (@nwblackmon)
2013 USA 2 Mexico 0
“My first US-Mexico cap as press, for three reasons. First, USA-Mexico is always meaningful, but it is bucket list stuff when the result counts. Being there to cover the match was beyond the dream of any guy who starts a blogthat becomes so much more than that. That was personal. The atmosphere was remarkable and I still get goosebumps thinking about the stadium when the teams came out and those two gorgeous national anthems played. Second, knowing covering the match that the US would qualify for the World Cup with a victory, and knowing, after Landon Donovan’s goal in the 78th minute, that the US would go to Brazil. And then hearing all those fans sing “We are going to Brazil.” What a moment. And finally, Landon Donovan. There’s not a journalist at that match who didn’t think he would be on the team in Brazil the next summer if he was healthy. Seeing the unadulterated joy in his face after he scored his 57th goal for the United States, and slid, arms raised, with the ebullience of a happy child. No one knew it was his final goal for his country, least of all him. But of course it came against Mexico, and what a moment it was and what a game he had.”
Keith Hickey, Freelance Soccer Writer, (@usarsnl)
2009: USA 2-0 Mexico
“I went to my first U.S. men’s national team game on February 11, 2009. We took a bus from Philadelphia to Columbus, and somewhere between the Pennsylvania Turnpike and central Ohio, the weather went from sunny, blue skies to a menacing gray, and kept getting worse. We tailgated, drank and sang outside Crew stadium, while the overcast skies opened with a deluge and a fearsome wind that threatened to blow away everything not weighted down.
The weather improved as the game approached, dialing down from “outright biblical” to merely uncomfortable, and the game itself had everything you could want from a U.S.-Mexico Hexagonal match: dos a cero and a Rafa Marquez red card. The players came over to the AO section after the game to thank the fans, and Frankie Hejduk threw his shirt into the crowd. It’s currently hanging in my room.”
Matthew Tomaszewicz, Founder, The Shin Guardian (@shinguardian)
2009: Mexico 2, USA 1
“The Counterattack Heard Round the World.”
Editor’s Note: This and Donovan’s goal vs Brazil- the two most beautiful goals the Americans have ever scored? Certainly up there.
John D. Halloran, Writer, American Soccer Now, The Yanks Are Coming. Founder, American Touchline, Championship winning coach. (@johndhalloran)
“Trying to pick your favorite United States men’s national team victory over Mexico is a bit like trying to pick your favorite child—you love them all, but for different reasons. And when it comes to wins over Mexico, there are many great choices. Personally, I have to go with the 2-0 win in September 2013 as my favorite for a few reasons. First, it was the fourth time in World Cup qualifying that the U.S. beat Mexico by the classic “Dos a Cero” scoreline in Columbus, Ohio (I’ll go to my grave believing Clint Dempsey missed his 94th minute penalty kick on purpose to preserve the 2-0 scoreline). Second, the win secured U.S. qualification for the 2014 World Cup and we all got to see images of Jermaine Jones wrapped in an American flag drinking a Budweiser—how cool is that? But mostly, it’s because that win was the last time we would get to see Landon Donovan make an impact in a meaningful game in a U.S. jersey, as he assisted on the team’s opening tally and scored the goal that sealed the win. All in all, it was the perfect win.”
Jon Levy, Co-Founder, The Yanks Are Coming, Former Rock 104 DJ, best soccer preview writer, United States. (@TYAC_Jon)
2009 USA 2 Mexico 0
“I’ve gone over it so many times trying to figure out why the USMNT’s 2009 World Cup Qualifying victory over Mexico is my favorite memory in the rivalry. On two separate occasions I’ve even sat down to write about why Gooch’s stare-down or Feilhaber’s rocket is my favorite (each has such great re-watch value), only to second guess myself, and opt instead for that rainy Columbus night in February 2009. For me, that 2009 “dos a cero” resonates so strongly for two reasons. First, Michael Bradley and Sacha Kljestan took center stage in the center of the pitch, and proved that there was new life in the American midfield. It was kind of the dawn of a new day for the national team. My second reason for loving this match is purely personal. I was living in a house with friends who were also big US Soccer fans, and we’d recently launched our modest Blogspot soccer writing site The Yanks Are Coming. We all watched that match together, and took great delight when the US capitalized on a set piece, and when a frustrated El Tri started to mentally fall to pieces. It was one of those moments in time that you can’t appreciate fully while you’re in it; you just know you’re having a good time. Cue Bryan Adams and Summer of ’69.”