Oil and Water

Soccer is back. Wednesday night at 9 PM eastern on ESPN 2 the USMNT plays Mexico out in Arizona in probably one of the most heated national sports rivalries. The U.S. has recently been dominating Mexico, going 7-2-1 against Mexico since 2000. Both losses have been at away games, notably in the intimidating Mexico City stadium where few teams ever beat them. At home, the Americans are 6-0-1 with an 11-0 goal differential. Of course, some can wonder why, having only played 9 times in 6 years, there can be any type of rivalry. North American sports has saturated the idea since most "major" sports end up playing their rival at least once a year, if not more. There is so much more to a rivalry than simply playing each other every few weeks and having some people from each team trash talking. In the case of the US and Mexico, there is national pride, and regional dominance of the soccer world. The Mexican country expects their team to beat the US. They see themselves as superior to us in all things related to soccer. It's an embarassment to them to lose to us, and they have been embarassed a number of times, most memorably the 2002 World Cup Round of 16 where the US beat them 2-0 and knocked them out of the tournament. They still seek revenge for that game every time they meet. World Cup qualifying begins in a year, and usually the team of the two that comes out on top during the qualifying session has a chance at being put in the pot as one of the top seeded teams, meaning they have a better chance to avoid big names in the tournament. Mexico was given the last top seed at the '06 WC, and received a relatively easy group compared to the US.

At any rate, tomorrow's game does not necessarily carry the burden of qualifying for the World Cup. It does, however, mark the debut for the new Mexican National Team coach, and the 2nd game in charge for the interim US coach. A win for either will boost their standing considerably, while a loss will be devastating to the morale and future of both coaches. In addition, both teams are fielding relatively young teams. The new WC cycle brings about a necessity to have new faces fill the voids. The US team for sure has voids to fill with Brian McBride, Claudio Reyna and Eddie Pope all retiring from national team duties. That trio has essentially formed the spine of the national team for the past decade, from forward to defense respectively, and finding people to fill their shoes is of the utmost priority. It won't be an easy task, and although there are people that are promising in those positions, the reason they were around for so long is that nobody in the past decade was able to challenge them for their positions.

If you don't normally watch soccer because you find it boring, I think that this might be the best chance to "entertain" you. For sure when there is world cup qualification on the line, there isn't a whole lot better in our neck of the woods than US vs. Mexico. The teams despise each other and bragging rights go to the winner...at least for another 6 months or so. What more could you want in a game? If you have a minute, tune in and watch, cause I know I will be.