“I don’t want to make any excuses for what happened in the Gold Cup”, said Klinsmann, who coached Germany from 2004 to 2006 before taking over the US job in 2011. “It was full of intensity”. We won’t dock him for getting away with what could have easily been a penalty handball late in regulation, but the Sporting KC defender spent a portion of the contest chasing the action and was a primary culprit on the Mexico opener. In a goal somewhat similar to their first, Mexico played the ball over the US defense, then nicked it inside to the boot of Oribe Peralta, who calmly placed it in the back of the net to go up 2-1.
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Klinsmann has set a lofty goal of the USA reaching the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, but that target looked a very distant proposition when the Americans were stunned 2-1 by lowly Jamaica in the Gold Cup semi-final in July. But now, after the terrible Gold Cup, Saturday’s bad loss and the U.S. Under-23 team’s failure to secure a berth in the Olympics (for now), it is growing tougher and tougher to defend Klinsmann’s tenure as head coach and technical director.
Klinsmann has always used his personal charisma and optimism to encourage and cajole – the cult of personality around him is, in a lot of ways, part of his mandate.
He headed in Michael Bradley’s free-kick to knot up the game, giving the hosts all the momentum possible.
It’s been a while since I can rememeber a match where a stadium swelled with feeling from start to finish, hitting every note of the emotional register on the way.
Tempers boiled over in the 34th minute when Peralta flew in as Brad Guzan gathered a loose ball, triggering a prolonged melee in the United States goalmouth.
The US goalkeeper came up with stops on Raul Jimenez in the 47th and 73 minutes, and grabbed up a chipped free kick by Hector Herrera in the 87th. The Mexicans created a flurry of opportunities in the first five minutes, but the US defense kept it tied at 1-1.
And then Aguilar scored a goal for the ages. “The guys showed a lot of character, tremendous effort, they gave everything they had”.
Wood nearly the hero: Had Wood buried that header after scoring the extra-time equalizer, Mexico never would have come back.
El Tri held possession for well more than 60 percent of the match, but the real marker of Mexico’s dominance was the location of possession.
Aguilar scored the game-winning goal in the closing stages of the one-off playoff game.
Just inside the hour mark, Jimenez was back deep into USA territory, sliding a pass through the penalty area that Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez tried to back heal into the goal but couldn’t quite control. Mexico struck first in the 96th minute when a free kick over the top was redirected into the middle of the box by Paul Aguilar.
But Aguilar popped up with a memorable volley from an acute angle in the 118th minute at Rose Bowl as Mexico claimed the winner-takes-all CONCACAF Cup playoff and a trip to Russian Federation two years from now. Guzan made three saves, two in the first half and one in the second.
In between US forward Jozy Altidore, wide open in the heart of the box, wasted a nice cross from the Galaxy’s Gysai Zardes, sending a shot way over the goal.
Geoff Cameron (7) – Though among the culpable on Mexico’s opener, Cameron was also the most hung out to dry on the play.
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Visibly exhausted, the US were caught napping early in the additional period, though Guzan denied a try from Peralta in the 93rd minute. Given the significance of the match this was a veritable gathering of the tribes and it was interesting to take the temperature of the room and hear the multiple gloomy predictions of a Mexico victory. The result was a yellow to Peralta.
