IT’S A “RIVALRY”

Written by: Gabe

Wednesday night had the potential to be the greatest soccer match I have witnessed in my life. A home town match. USA vs Mexico. Life-threatening weather. Insanely good seats. Even Trecker remarked that the match “offers fans one of the purest and rarest soccer experiences: Real, unbridled menace”.  I live in a city where the drug of sports rivalry is laced through our water supply. I never drink water, so a rivalry on my terms sounds incredible. I even let myself half-expect something legendary, which may be the reason I was so easily underwhelmed by the event.

Cutting to the chase, Mexico looked absolutely terrible. Don’t get me wrong, I want them to lose. Always. But I also want to see a good game… and this time, they did everything wrong. The passes were off, the strategy was faulty, the aggression was misdirected, the spark was missing, the clutch moments were marred by nerves. Meanwhile, all the US had to do was recognize the mistakes and stay in synch. We had our shortcomings to be sure, but I never felt we lost control. I never felt the danger.

(Actually, I did feel the danger, twice. Within feet of me, fan fights erupted with enough fury to require handcuffs, and enough blood for me to feel actual concern for the well being of a stranger. I don’t know the details, but it doesn’t seem a far fetch that the frustration of an overhyped matchup could lead to fists and other potentially harmful objects taking flight.)

What all this means in my estimation is that the US is at risk for complacency and real trouble in 2010. The team needs real competition at the world level BEFORE the World Cup if we want to earn some respect. Mexico’s performance in this “rivalry” tells me that our last shred of challenge is gone from CONCACAF. If we really are that much better than Mexico now, we need to forget the rivalry and focus on pushing ourselves abroad in matches that will truly test our skills and improve our world game.