Mexico Holds Off U.S. in Overtime

Mexico had to fight ferociously Sunday to edge the United States, 1-0, in extra time of the semifinals of the Confederations Cup, more proof of the U.S. soccer team’s steady recovery from its World Cup humiliation of a year ago.

Mexican star forward Cuauhtemoc Blanco scored the lone goal in a goal-mouth scramble during the sixth minute of extra time on a play that Blanco himself set up with a looping midfield pass to right wing Francisco Palencia, who crossed the ball back into the chaotic crease.

But that was the only time the Mexicans beat U.S. goalkeeper and captain Kasey Keller, who made two superb saves in the first dozen minutes and another early in the second half to keep the Americans in the game.

After a surprisingly convincing 2-0 victory over Germany on Friday night and a tight 1-0 loss to Brazil earlier in the tournament, the U.S. team continued to win respect with its strong display against Mexico in a rivalry charged with emotion and history.

The Americans, missing several key starters, were playing against a Mexican team at full strength in its own Azteca Stadium, the mecca of Mexican soccer, where Mexico has beaten the U.S. 15 times--and played to a draw once. Although the 110,000-seat stadium was only two-thirds full, the crowd still sent up a deafening buzz every time Mexico touched the ball. Yet the U.S. team remained organized and unrattled.

“If you look back a year ago and compare what we did in France in 1998 against July 1999, it’s night and day,” said Jeff Agoos, part of a back line that repeatedly blunted the Mexican attack. “We have more of a team concept, we have a better idea what we want to accomplish, and that’s showing on the field.”

The Mexican team, criticized by its nation’s media for a sluggish start in the tournament, also broke new ground in the eight-team competition: With its victory Sunday, Mexico qualified for the first time for the final of a major international competition. That final will be played Wednesday in Mexico City against Brazil, which beat Saudi Arabia, 8-2, Sunday in Guadalajara in the other semifinal.

U.S. Coach Bruce Arena, who won titles with D.C. United and the University of Virginia, complained afterward that playing four games in 12 days “is unfair to the players--too many games in too short a time. The thinking behind that is very poor.”

The U.S. team raced from Guadalajara in western Mexico to the capital Saturday and had to adjust to the 7,350-foot altitude overnight. And the U.S. squad lacked key players such as playmaking midfielder Claudio Reyna, who scored a goal Saturday in his season debut with Rangers, the champion Scottish team.

All that said, the U.S. team fought Mexico to a scoreless draw at the end of regular time, setting up the overtime.

“To see that our team can play them pretty evenly tells me that we are making progress,” Arena said.

Keller made a fine one-handed save in the ninth minute off a short bullet shot by Rafael Marquez and tipped away another shot by Ramon Ramirez two minutes later. That helped the Americans get through an unsteady first quarter-hour.

“Any team could have won after the first 15 minutes,” Keller said. “I’m very proud of the way the whole team has played. We are continuing to grow from our disappointment in 1998 in France.” During last year’s World Cup the U.S. team bickered its way to a winless early elimination.

Describing Blanco’s goal, Keller said: “It was definitely a lucky goal. He kind of stepped on it the first time, and then it fell to his left foot with three people sliding around him. But you make your own luck.”

Blanco, a dramatic ball-control artist known for his trademark white shoes, took the goal-scoring lead in the tournament with five, but Ronaldinho of Brazil scored three goals later Sunday to regain the lead with six. One of six national players from the club America, Blanco was in the midst of every Mexican surge.

The U.S. climbed back into the game in the 14th minute with a break by Cobi Jones down the right side, the first of several forays by Jones. The game was physical and tense, and San Diego’s Frankie Hejduk, relentless throughout, got into a pushing match in the 27th minute. John Harkes also drew a yellow card in the 40th minute for protesting a foul call--as did Blanco early in the second half.

Although Mexico picked up the pace of its assaults as the second half advanced, the U.S. team managed several counterattacks. In the 21st minute, Jones hit the crossbar in what turned out to be the best U.S. scoring opportunity, set up by a long pass from Hejduk.

As the end of regulation time approached, the crowd implored, “Si se puede!” (“It can be done!”), and the Mexican wave pulsed around the stadium.

Fan Gerardo Garcia, a 31-year-old computer systems analyst, worried before the game that the U.S. team has grown steadily stronger. “Just 10 years ago, the U.S. was nobody. We laughed at the U.S. team then. With time, the U.S. team is going to be as good as Germany,” he said.

The rivalry is especially fierce given Mexico’s perceived disadvantages in most aspects of the close and complex relationship between the two countries.

“With this game,” Garcia said, “we can show that we at least still beat the U.S. in soccer. That’s the popular sentiment.”