It's a little late and maybe some of you have already read this but this match report on the Gold Cup final is a fantastic write-up. Mark Zeigler's always been one of my favorite writers, and he nailed it yet again.
This part was interesting:
Second-half goals by Donovan and Benny Feilhaber gave the Americans a 2-1 win and improved their record against Mexico on U.S. soil to an astonishing 8-0-1 since 2000 – astonishing since you could take all the U.S. fans who attended those nine matches and fit them into a high school gymnasium.
3 comments:
As a US fan who has attended both USA-MEX matches in Columbus, I can say that no high school gym in the country could hold all of us.
So Zeigler might want to recalculate.... However, I do agree that none of these US wins were played in front of a "home crowd".
Yeah, lots of license there by Zeigler. Maybe for some of the friendlies, but not for the WCQ. And some of the friendlies I have seen were certainly closer to 50-50 than this past match.
The only games that were about even were the qualifiers in Columbus in '01 and '05.
Granted, I wasn't at all the games but...
2000: 3-0 in NY, don't remember, just remember McBride scoring
2000: 2-0 in L.A., I was there and it was 90 percent-plus pro-Mexico
2001: 2-0 in Columbus, pro-US
2002: 1-0 in Denver, pro-Mexico as far as I can remember, something like 50,000-plus
2003: 0-0 in Houston, pro-Mex
2004: 1-0 in Dallas (I might have this site switched with the 03 game) pro-Mex
2005: 2-0 qualifier in Columbus, again pro-US (as far as I remember from media reports)
2007: 2-0 in Ariz., 95 percent Mexico, I was there and can attest to it
2007: 2-1 in Chicago another large pro-Mex crowd
See, US Soccer is actually smart by scheduled friendlies in cities like Houston and Phoenix because they will get a huge turnout, draw huge revenue and give the team a chance of improving. It's funny because in a way Mexican fans have helped the US grow and develop; they've helped out financially.
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