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 News from Around the Americas | February 2007 
Americans Shutout Mexico For Eighth Straight Time, Win 2-0
 Christopher Cornell - All Headline News
| | Jimmy Conrad (L) of the U.S. reacts to a play while Jared Borgetti of Mexico looks on during second half action in their international friendly soccer match in Glendale, Arizona February 7, 2007. Conrad scored the first U.S. goal as they defeated Mexico 2-0. (Reuters/Jeff Topping) |
Glendale, AZ - Who says no one cares about soccer in America? 62,462 fans in Arizona tried to debunk that myth on Wednesday as they packed the University of Phoenix Stadium to watch the United States national team battle Mexico. The sell-out crowd set an all-time soccer attendance record in Arizona.
The crowd was composed mostly of Mexican fans, however, it contained a fair share of American supporters as well. The fans of the country south of the border went home disappointed for the eighth straight time.
The Americans shutout Mexico for the eighth consecutive match on Wednesday. The U.S. beat Mexico 2-0 to improve to 7-0-1 against their boarder rivals since 2000.
It took 52 minutes to get a score, but Jimmy Conrad kicked the action off with a goal off of a Landon Donovan corner kick. Conrad's first international goal of his career stunned the pro-Mexico majority in the crowd, leaving a hushed silence from a once raucous cheering section.
Donovan would get a goal of his own in the closing seconds of the match. In the 90th minute, he shot one past Oswaldo Sanchez on the breakaway for his second goal in this year's international play and the 27th of his career. He also scored the opening goal against Denmark last month in the Americans' 3-1 victory.
Bob Bradley is now 2-0 as the lead man of the U.S. team. He's just the second U.S. coach to lead the Americans to wins in their initial two games of his tenure, joining Robert Millar with that distinction.
"The main thing is how proud we are of the effort," said Bradley. "The camp has been a hard camp and the players have put a lot into it, and the talk throughout the entire camp was that at the end the spotlight comes on real bright for an important game. I felt really good about the way the players held together. Obviously, there were some periods in the game where they had to deal with tough moments, and yet I still felt that on the field there was a mentality that all the work that had gone into the last month paid off for them and they got their reward. And that's my main thought right now."
Mexican captain Rafael Marquez was clearly disappointed with another loss to the Americans.
"I think the way the team functioned, the way it looked on the field, left us satisfied," Marquez said through an interpreter. "All the same, it hurts because of the rivalry between the two teams and the importance of the match. However, we have to take the positive from the match. We created a lot of opportunities but we just couldn't convert. It's just the beginning."
After the final whistle sounded the end of the match, the Mexican team walked off without shaking hands with the Americans or exchanging jerseys.
Donovan told ESPNSoccernet that he was disappointed by the show of disrespect from their nearest rivals.
"The sportsmanship - it would be nice if you guys [reporters] and the Mexican press talked about it, because it's really poor," Donovan said. "When we lose to them there, we shake their hands and say, 'Good job.' There's none of that reciprocally, and it's kind of disappointing."
The Americans have two more matches within the next month. They will play Ecuador next on March 25 in Tampa, Fla. and will follow that up with another friendly international match against Guatemala on March 28 in Frisco, Texas. |
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