Despite the protestation of players, coaches, media members, and a very loud vocal segment of American soccer supporters Klinsmann never wavered on his policies or positions.
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Mexico were a class above throughout the fixture – a contest between the winners of the two Gold Cups prior to the Confederations Cup – and the 2015 Gold Cup champions took the lead in the 10th minute. “It’s not necessary”, said Klinsmann, hinting however that more opportunities would be given to emerging players.
Mexico beat the US 4-2 in the 2011 Gold Cup final that day, a loss that led to coach Bob Bradley’s departure and Klinsmann’s arrival.
But not everyone will be aboard the Klinsmman bandwagon.
The rivalry between Mexico and the US national soccer teams stretches all the way back to 1934, but there might not be a single match in that span that was as exciting as Mexcio’s win at the Rose Bowl Saturday night. U.S. Soccer still seems committed to Klinsmann and given the amount of resources and relative success that he has had that is understandable.
‘That’s totally fine. I’m not here to be liked.
FanSided Daily brings you the hottest content on your favorite teams. Not much to speak of going forward, though. “We had 2012 great year, 2013 great year, 2014 we got out of the (World Cup) Group of Death and now we have a tough one, this summer and that’s part of it but I leave that up to you”.
But the sight of the U.S. U-23 team failing to lock up an Olympic berth last weekend gives one pause.
Aguilar scored the game-winning goal in the closing stages of the one-off playoff game. The Americans would not give up and their abnegation would pay with an equalizer 10 minutes before the end of the overtime. “Coming back twice against Mexico was impressive, but it was not enough”. With extra time looming, Matt Besler appeared to handle a cross in the box but the appeals from Mexico were waved off and the final whistle went.
And how dramatic extra time proved to be, with two wonderfully opportunistic finishes from both sides looking to send us into a penalty shootout, only for Aguilar to meet a spinning, dropping ball with the sweetest of volleys across Brad Guzan to win the game. Rambunctious fans from both sides engaged in chat wars before the match, and at times it sounded as though their goal was to see which fan base was the loudest.
Bradley was at the catalyst of all the US plays throughout the first half, and the Toronto FC star came close on two occasions to put the hosts ahead. Mexico delivered that performance by thoroughly outplaying the Americans for the majority of the CONCACAF Cup, and as much as Mexico’s win came courtesy of a dream goal, that shouldn’t overshadow the fact El Tri were clearly better than the US on Saturday.
The crowd was slightly more of a pro Mexico crowd and while the USMNT clearly had a strong and vocal following it was El Tri that had the slight advantage over the home team.
The USA had two shots on goal in each half. But center-back Geoff Cameron took away that notion, at least for the time being, just five minutes later. The USMNT’s last trip to the Confederations Cup was the South Africa 2009 competition where they ended second place.
Emotions nearly boiled over in the 34th minute, when Guzan covered up a ball in the box and tangled up with Peralta.
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A ball that had popped up fell to Aguilar, who put his volley into the far corner of the net in the 118th minute. While there are a few players doing well in MLS, the notion that there are Americans in MLS who would have helped the USA beat Mexico on Saturday is about as convenient and hollow a narrative as you’ll find. The midfielder made a dazzling run in the 32 minute into open space in the Mexico penalty area only to pull a weak shot wide of the goal.
