Dos a cero! goes the famous US Soccer chant, aimed at our Mexican arch-rivals. The US beat Mexico 2-0 on September 10 at Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, and booked a trip to Brazil 2014 in would could be called a tale of two halves.
It's been 12 years since the first "Dos a cero", a momentous occasion, played out in a frigid Columbus, Ohio night. The US Men's national team beat Mexico's team 2-0, a major victory on their way to qualifying for the 2002 World Cup.
Three more "Dos a cero's", one of which happened in the World Cup, and the US faced Mexico once again on September 10, 2013. The US had an incredible summer, winning 12 straight including the Gold Cup. Mexico... did not. They fired their head coach a day after losing to Honduras in their vaunted Estadio Azteca. They were desperate.
They were in fourth place in the CONCACAF qualification standings. And here's the thing: Mexico has never won on US soil in World Cup Qualifying in over 40 years, and Columbus is the site of three straight dos a cero matches. It's become about as vaunted in Mexico as Azteca has been for the rest of CONCACAF.
The US had lost not just the game 3-1 against Costa Rica on the previous Friday night, they lost some important players, which included "General" Michael Bradley (a vital member of the US midfield), so there was some nervousness coming in. The USMNT needed a win and either a loss or draw by Panama to clinch a spot in next year's World Cup.
Because they were desperate to salvage their World Cup hopes, the Mexican team came out with a fury. Loaded with talent like Giovanni dos Santos and Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, they struck first, dominating possession and attacking the US net. Gio Dos Santos was unstoppable on the left wing, making the US midfield look stupid. But the Americans absorbed the pressure and several excellent saves by Timmy Howard kept the score sheet clean in the first half.
Unfortunately, for Mexico, that opening flurry would not last them, especially when the second half began. The USMNT made some necessary adjustments to the midfield and defense, putting in Michael Parkhurst to solidify the midfield.
It only took four minutes for the USMNT to score in the second half. It was a brilliantly set-up corner kick and forward Eddie Johnson used his height to his advantage to put the ball in the back of the net with a brilliant header. It was pretty obvious that the Mexican chances were dead at this point. It was only solidified when Mix Diskerud executed an excellent throw-in that missed Clint Dempsey's foot, but hit the foot of Mexico's sworn enemy Landon Donovan.
Dos a cero.
In the long run, this was unexpected. At times, it looked like the US would not even qualify for the World Cup. Just before the famous "SnowClasico" in Denver, The Sporting News ran an article about discontent in the US camp, questioning head coach Jurgen Klinsmann's tactics and philosophy. This came off a disastrous 2-1 loss at Honduras. And of course, the US had just lost 3-1 to Costa Rica just before the Mexico game.
But Klinsmann's showed why he's one of the best coaches the US has ever had. Sure, there's been a few slip-ups, every one's gonna have a slip-up! But what he did was he learned from his mistakes and made the right changes, both tactically and in personnel.
The Mexicans may have had the better individual players, but the Americans had the best team. They played like a well-oiled machine, stopping whatever weapon the Mexican team threw at them. Midfielder Jermaine Jones was lost and confused against Costa Rica last Friday, but he was solid, shutting down the Mexican midfield on Tuesday. And while there were questions about the defense, they more than held their own and once again held the supposed best striker in CONCACAF, Chicharito, scoreless against the US.
There will be questions about the US in the coming days and months, but right now, the hard part is over. They only have two games left in qualifying, which are essentially a formality. I expect they'll play well, since first place in the Hex will be at stake. But right now, it's time to party because, We are going to Brazil,
We are going to Brazil!
We are going,
We are going,
We are going to Brazil!
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