It's U.S.-Mexico time again. Next Wednesday in Houston (8 p.m. CT; ESPN2), we get to see a real, live soccer game during the heart of the MLS offseason. And what better time to take a look at the last 11 meetings between these two rivals and take notice of how MLS has contributed mightily to the Red, White and Blue's impressive 8-2-1 mark in that span. Seriously, you wonder how the USA has turned the tables on a rivalry once dominated by Mexico? Look no further than the domestic league that first kicked off 12 years ago.
11. Oct. 1, 2000: U.S. 2, Mexico 0, at Los Angeles. At the time, it was considered a glimpse into the future of U.S. soccer. Landon Donovan, then a player with Bayer Leverkusen, earned his first start for the full men's national team and he combined well with a pair of young attacking players from Georgia named Clint Mathis and Josh Wolff. Donovan got the game's first goal on an assist from Mathis while Wolff added the insurance. For U.S. fans, this game was certainly a harbinger of things to come.
10. Feb. 28, 2001: U.S. 2, Mexico 0, at Columbus. First of all, credit an MLS city, Columbus, and the first soccer specific stadium built in the U.S., Crew Stadium, for giving the USA a rare home field advantage for a qualifying match with Mexico. On a frigid night, Wolff came on for the injured Brian McBride and provided a goal (the assist from Mathis) and a brilliant assist late in the game to lift the U.S. to this victory. The Mexican team did not seem to enjoy the elements very much, nor did their fans who could not get a ticket to this intimate event.
9. July 1, 2001: Mexico 1, U.S. 0, at Mexico City. What would the U.S.-Mexico rivalry be without the home-field advantage? Winning at Azteca Stadium remains, not only for the U.S. but for just about everyone, the final frontier. So we will breeze past this hiccup except to mention that a future MLS star, Claudio Suarez, was brilliant for Mexico and the U.S. fielded a mostly European-based lineup. Someday the U.S. will win at Azteca.
8. April 3, 2002: U.S. 1, Mexico 0, at Denver. Clint Mathis, about to become the Sports Illustrated cover boy and the most-talked-about U.S. player at the World Cup, scored the lone goal to run his consecutive-game-point streak in a U.S. uniform to seven games. Tony Meola recorded the shutout for the USA who, if I'm not mistaken, fielded a 100 percent MLS-based lineup.
7. June 17, 2002: U.S. 2, Mexico 0, at Jeonju, Korea. The Big One. Who on the East Coast will ever forget waking up in the wee wee hours to watch the U.S. battle Mexico in the 2002 FIFA World Cup? And who will ever forget the performance put on by the likes of Eddie Pope and Pablo Mastroeni and Cobi Jones and Donovan and Wolff, not to mention Brad Friedel, Brian McBride, Tony Sanneh, Claudio Reyna and, oh yeah, coach Bruce Arena. This one still hurts South of the Border and tastes sweet here in the U.S. Will there ever be a bigger match in this rivalry? Doubtful.
6. May 8, 2003: U.S. 0, Mexico 0, at Houston. Hopefully next week's game in Houston will be more fun than this game, which produced only 11 shots and few legitimate scoring chances. A pro-Mexican crowd of 70,000 attended the match, hoping to see their team exact a small bit of revenge, so on that end, it was good for the U.S. to earn a draw.
5. April 28, 2004: U.S. 1, Mexico 0, at Dallas. It looked like the U.S. and Mexico would tack on another 90 minutes of scoreless soccer in Texas until MLS veteran Eddie Pope found the net in injury time to lift the U.S. to victory. Arena went with an MLS-heavy lineup that included Jonny Walker in the net and a defensive midfield tandem of Kerry Zavagnin and Chris Armas. And while the game was not a thrill-a-minute affair, the U.S. did create the game's better chances and came away with a much-deserved win.
4. March 27, 2005: Mexico 2, U.S. 1, at Mexico City. Easter Sunday in Mexico City. With horns blaring and more than 100,000 fans on hand to will Mexico to a qualifying victory, the U.S. came up just short. After conceding a pair of goals right before the half, the U.S. pulled one back (Eddie Lewis) early in the second half and had a few chances to equalize. Still, grabbing a result at Azteca remains the holy grail for the U.S. team.
3. Sept. 3, 2005: U.S. 2, Mexico 0, at Columbus. Back to Ohio with a World Cup berth on the line, the U.S. pulled out a big one. And who was on the field to put the U.S. on the board? An MLS lifer, Steve Ralston, who'd come up just shy of the final World Cup roster, but can carry this huge goal with him the rest of his life. The U.S. danced all over Crew Stadium when the result had been secured, and who could blame them?
2. Feb. 7, 2007: U.S. 2, Mexico 0, at Phoenix. Just about one year ago, new coach Bob Bradley enters the fray of the U.S. Mexico rivalry and throws an MLS-dominated lineup at Mexico. Veteran Kansas City Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad opens up a choppy affair when he gets on the end of a Donovan corner kick early in the second half and Donovan provides the insurance with a sizzling breakaway goal in stoppage time. This game will also be remembered for the cheap swipe Mexican goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez took at Eddie Johnson after Donovan's goal.
1. June 24, 2007: U.S. 2, Mexico 1, at Chicago. Of course, this match will forever be remembered for Benny Feilhaber's incredible full volley from 25 yards out, but do not forget that the Mexicans took an early lead and the U.S. was able to equalize through the persistence of Brian Ching, who drew a penalty in the 62nd minute that was converted by Donovan. The Americans took the CONCACAF Gold Cup and hope to carry that bit of momentum into next Wednesday night's clash in Houston.
Jeff Bradley is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. Send your comments and complaints (200 words or less, please) to Jeff at jbradleyespn2003@yahoo.com and he promises to read (but not respond to) all of them. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
