US-Mexico

The way Mexico is playing, the Gold Cup final seems out of reach, thus potentially spoiling a US-Mexico final. Though both teams are in Copa America, the prospect of the two sides facing each other seems slim, though they did meet in the Copa America quarters in 1995.

But the two teams will play this year for sure.

FMF president Justino Compean told L.A. daily La Opinion that the U.S. and Mexico will play a friendly in Estadio Azteca on Sept. 9.

Some of the highlights from the story (in case you can't read it)

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"In fact, we are going to make sure we play one game a year between Mexico and the United States," Compean said.

"We are going to figure out a name for a cup, perhaps the Friendship Cup, but we are going to play one game a year and if we meet more times in tournaments, that's good too."

Compean said the contract has been signed by both sides.

"We have a great relationship with Sunil Gulati. This rivalry is something we want to take advantage of for the good of both countries. We can play in the United States or Mexico but the important thing is that we play each other."
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Initial reaction: awesome.

I was anticipating the U.S. not playing there until 2009 and I figured I'd have a few years to wait for a match there. Unlike Andrea, I've never been to US-Mexico in Azteca. I've never been there at all, so going there for that game would be awesome. I'm contemplating going. It would be a little tricky because the Galaxy and Chivas USA both play at home that weekend so I would make more money if I stayed home and covered those games but it would be hard to pass on US-Mexico in Azteca.

For the teams, that's an international fixture date so I would hope that Bob Bradley would call in a strong side. A matchup of that magnitude deserves nothing less.