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| April 12th 2005 |
Pasadena, Rose Bowl
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| MEXICO - UNITED STATES |
3-2 (2-0)
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GOALS 4' 1-0 Hugo Sanchez
31' 2-0 Cuauhtemoc Blanco
62' 3-0 Hugo Sanchez (penalty)
69' 3-1 Clint Mathis
85' 3-2 Miguel Espaņa (own goal)
REFEREE Ivan Eklind (Sweden)
ATTENDANCE 99,000
YELLOW CARDS Blanco, Ambriz (MEX) - Dooley (USA)
MEXICO (Coach: Velibor Milutinovic, system 4-3-3)
1 Antonio Carbajal
15 Miguel Espaņa
5 Gustavo Pena (captain)
6 Ramon Jesus Ramirez
20 Tomas Boy
4 Ignacio Marcos Ambriz
8 Manuel Negrete (-87)
11 Cuauhtemoc Blanco
10 Enrique David Borja (-46)
9 Hugo Sanchez
Substitutes:
14 Luis Hernandez (+46)
12 Salvador Reyes (+87)
UNITED STATES (Coach: Bruce Arena, system 4-3-3)
22 James Douglas
4 Eddie Pope
20 Alexi Lalas
5 Tom Dooley (captain)
3 Paul Caligiuri
6 John Harkes (-77)
13 Tab Ramos
12 Claudio Reyna
19 Aldo Donelli (-46)
15 Clint Mathis
11 Eric Wynalda (-46)
Substitutes:
10 Bert Patenaude (+46)
9 Joe Gaetjens (+46)
16 Earnest Stewart (+77)
MATCHREPORT
Mexico had to win this match, and not only win it, but to win it with a
considerable margin of at least five goals. On top of that they needed a
Soviet win against Spain. Mexico succeeded in reaching the win themselves
though not with the right numbers, but the Soviet Union never really made it
difficult on the Spaniards and that ended Mexico's All Time World Cup. They
had tried to play attractive football but opponents like Spain and
Soviet Union simply had just a little more quality. That didn't apply to the
US, the minnows of group A. Being beaten with 4 goals margins twice earlier
in the competition, their only goal was to avoid another big defeat in front
of their own people. The team had nothing more at stake this time, but that
didn't stop people from coming to the Rose Bowl, which was completely
sold out with almost 100,000 spectators. The 3-2 suggests that it was a
tight match but it wasn't.
Against a totally reshaped American team Mexico wanted to do business right
away. Sanchez illustrated it after just 4 minutes. After a fine cross from
Borja, Hugol scored with his specialism, the bycicle kick. Goalie James
Douglas, standing in for Tony Meola, was too stunned to react. It gave
Mexico the start they wanted. The United States couldn't do anything. They
played in a totally new composition but it didn't make a better team.
Defensively, with Lalas in a leading role, they did rather well but there
was no bite in the front line. Wynalda was a no-show and Donelli had nothing
to tell against Ramirez. Mathis was left on an island. In midfield Negrete
took command without too much resistance from Harkes, Ramos and Reyna.
Just like expected, Mexico increased their lead in the course of the first
half. It had squandered quite some chances before, Douglas had saved from
Sanchez, Borja and Boy. But in the 31st minute the 2-0 fell. Negrete passed
it to Blanco who dazzled past Caligiuri and tapped it between Douglas' legs
in the empty net: 2-0 for Mexico. At half-time Bruce Arena, the American
coach, took Donelli and Wynalda off. Only Clint Mathis kept his place. Bert
Patenaude and Joe Gaetjens came in but Mexico was still the dominating team.
With Hernandez in place of the disappointing Borja, they gave it all to
score as much as possible, to stand their chance of reaching the last 16. If
the US had any ambitions left, they were shattered after an hour. Douglas in
the meantime had made saves from Negrete and Hernandez, but could do nothing
against a Sanchez penalty. Dooley fouled Blanco in the area, referee Eklind
gave him the yellow card and the spotkick to Mexico. Sanchez easily
converted: 3-0. Match over, what remained was the question whether Mexico
could score enough to threaten Spain.
Messages coming in from Paris that the Soviets had equalized, gave Mexico
legitimate hopes for a stunt. They put on the pressure on the US because
they needed more goals. But surprisingly enough it was the US that scored.
All out of the blue, Suarez played the ball back to Carbajal but hadn't
noticed Mathis standing between them, who easily rounded the goalkeeper and
scored the 3-1. It closed the door for the Mexicans, they let their heads
hang down and the greenwhite suffered an even bigger blow when 5 minutes
from time Espaņa, under pressure from Gaetjens, put the ball in his own net.
Mexico, though they had been on top most of the match, were happy now
to carry the win over the finish line but it was clear that they wouldn't
make it to the second stage. They needed at least a five goal margin. And
most of all, a win from the Soviet Union that didn't come. In the end the
final whistle from Ivan Eklind came with 3-2. America at least had regained
a little pride by coming back from another big defeat and nearly grabbing a
point. Mexico were out, but they weren't beaten below par.
Next Friday the countries from group C will play their last match. Holland
take on Poland in Mexico City, while at the same time Uruguay and South
Korea meet in Santiago. Holland and Uruguay are the clear favourites to
qualify, but if Holland fail to grab at least a draw against Poland they are
most certainly out. South Korea are sure of elimination but the team will
play for their consolation. Referee in Mexico City is Arnaldo Coelho from
Brazil, while Uruguay-South Korea is under guidance of East-German Rudi
Glöckner. No suspensions or injuries it seems, so all teams can field their
best teams.
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