Graham Zusi was available off the bench but did not feature on Saturday for head coach Jurgen Klinsmann.
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Oribe Peralta eventually restored El Tri’s lead in the 96-minute but substitute Bobby Wood gave the U.S. a second equaliser 12 minutes later when he finished DeAndre Yedlin’s through ball to set up a tense finish in front of the pro-Mexico crowd of 93,723. The US had won three times and three games ended in a tie since Mexico overcame an early two-goal deficit to rally for a 4-2 victory in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final on June 25, 2011 at the Rose Bowl, the most recent time the U.S. Mexico in the Los Angeles before today.
Yesterday afternoon the United States U-23 team was outplayed, outhustled, and outcoached by Honduras, 2-0, with an automatic Olympic berth on the line.
“It means that you have to work even harder than you ever did before in order to turn the results around and to make things happen”.
But not everyone will be aboard the Klinsmman bandwagon.
Mexico had most of the possession and more and better scoring opportunities, at least after halftime, but effective defense kept the U.S.in the game and, heading into the final minutes of overtime – just before Aguilar’s goal – the Americans thought it was their game to lose.
The Americans are facing several stark realities late in an unimpressive year, and they’re not about fan support.
That pretty much sums how I feel about Jurgen Klinsmann’s program after what was darkest day of American Soccer that I can recall. “Turning in good results makes me very tranquil and satisfied”. “You can have your own impression (if) you look back at the last four years at what we did”. Not much to speak of going forward, though.
Aguilar’s game-winning goal. I think [our guys] showed a lot of character, they showed tremendous effort, and they gave everything they had out on the field. After the US cleared the ball out of the penalty area, Raul Jimenez lifted it in the air to the right side. And with time winding down and penalties looming, Mexico fullback Paul Aguilar struck an incredible volley by Brad Guzan to win the match, 3-2.
Bobby Wood (7.5) – The Union Berlin forward ratified his super-sub badge by placing the ideal croquet shot for what looked to be an all-important equalizer.
After both sides traded goals in extra time, Aguilar hit a brilliant volley in the 118th minute to send Mexico to the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russian Federation.
The second half saw El Tri continue to take shots on the USMNT’s net with very little response from the Americans.
Mexico and the United States needed something to separate themselves from one another.
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.
Bradley almost put the USA twice later in the opening half. Jones quickly returned after he was attended to by a team doctor, and went on to play the full 120 minutes.
It will go down as one of the darkest days in US men’s national team history. There were also a couple of late defensive breakdowns, with the lost crosser on Mexico’s second sticking out.
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Klinsmann’s sunny optimism was reflected by his players, who have a chance to end a summer skid with a sweet victory over a Mexican team bouncing back from a rocky summer under steady interim manager Ricardo Ferretti. A shoving match between the teams ensued and Peralta was issued a yellow card by referee Joel Aguilar.
