The struggles at Azteca never seem to end do they. The US continued their losing streak in Mexico, and moved to an atrocious 0-23-1 on Mexican soil. However, the men did not play as poorly as the 2-1 score would show.
They managed to jump out to a 1-0 lead early when Charlie Davies struck home a beautiful goal, past the outstretched arms of loudmouth goalie Guillermo Ochoa. Unfortunately, that is where the magic ended for the US. From there on out it frustration compounded on top of frustration. Just ten minutes later midfielder Ivan Castro, who was left unmarked was fed the ball by Cuathemoc Blanco, and Castro fired home a rocket past Tim Howard to level the score.
Gio "The Flop" Dos Santos
Then, shortly there after Oguchi Onyewu was given a yellow card, on what the ref called an intentional handball, but in reality he was playing through the man, and instead caught the ball with is arm. With that card, he has accumulated enough to miss the next qualifier against El Salvador. Just minutes later then Jay DeMerit was also shown the yellow when he went in for a hard tackle on Gio Dos Santos, whose play is very reminiscent of an Argentine, he has a high tendency to flop and try to get the foul. Maybe that is why people foul him so often because he is a crybaby, but he apparently doesn’t get the clue.
Three minutes later he commits a studs up tackle on Steve Cherundolo and does not get a card for the play, which was absolutely absurd, considering the soft cards Roberto Salazar had given to the US. Despite some decent chances the US could not muster anything the rest of the half, except for Carlos Bocanegra picking up a yellow for another foul on the flopper, who seems to be having his way when it comes to calls by the ref.
The craziness only ensued in the second half, when prior to kickoff, the Mexican team showed more of their great “sportsmanship”, when they made the US wait on the field to start the second half. How there is no delay foul or card given is beyond me, but everything Salazar did was ridiculous. With El Tri mounting the assault, Howard made save after save, keeping the US in the game, it was a good thing the Everton keeper was in net for the US, otherwise the score could have looked much like the Gold Cup final.
In the 71st Nery Castillo came on for Mexico, and the game got much uglier, (no pun intended), as the dirty fouls began to mount up. Just a few minutes later, Mexico was awarded a free kick, and Dos Santos stepped up to the ball taking the kick, that appeared to hit a Mexican arm, but no call was made. Charlie Davies was hurt on the play and down on the ground, when a throng of El Tri players tried to get him to get off the ground, he pushed one away, as they touched his face, and Benny Feilhaber stepped into the fray to defend his teammate, and all hell broke loose. Feilhaber soon was being choked by Mexican captain Gerrardo Torrado, who was only issued a yellow card for the offense, in what was most assuredly a red card offense. This was where Salazar should have been replaced and forced to ref U-14 games the rest of his life, because he was so atrocious at controlling the situation at hand. He had no control the rest of the game, and thankfully no one was seriously injured, because he was not carding any Mexican player for any offense. Davies was then taken off the field on a stretcher and replaced by Jozy Altidore.
Ten minutes later Castillo began to lose his cool, by attempting to rip the ball away from Onyewu’s arms. Not a mismatch at all, when Gooch could have flicked Castillo away like the annoying mosquito he is if he wanted to. One minute later, the magic point slipped out of the US’s hands when Miguel Sabah, who had just entered the game, scored putting Mexico up 2-1 with minutes left, and victory pretty much guaranteed for the home squad.
In the 85th, Dos Santos finally got his due when Salazar booked him for time wasting. It was a long time coming, and should have been his second card of the game, if the ref had opened his eyes, and actually called a foul on Mexico.
With the final whistle, the US trudged out of Azteca with the loss, and now has Mexico right behind them in the qualifying standings. The US however should have no problem defeating El Salvador, and winning the remaining games to qualify for South Africa.
It’s just a shame that Mexico can never show any class when they play the US, they trash talk constantly, and then play dirty the entire game, it’s no wonder no one shows them any respect, because they are last ones to give it out to any team.
who are you to tell me how to write? its a friggin blog first of all, so people can write how they want, and if you don’t like stuff then don’t read it.
And trust me I probably understand soccer much better than you do, so screw off.