My friend from work and his girlfriend (Shawn and Jill) came along with me to the ESPNZone downtown yesterday. We went to see Mexico host the USA in a World Cup qualifier. I must say that I was very nervous about the game all day long. I really just wanted it to be over. Why? Because Mexico has not been playing well in the last few months, and the USA have been playing very well in the last few years. In fact, they're in the final phase of a 15-year plan that has them winning the World Cup, if all goes according to plan. And they've been playing that way, too.
Still, plan or no plan, Mexico is Mexico when it comes to soccer, and I shouldn't have doubted that too much. Azteca Stadium, at 7,200 feet above sea level, at 2pm in the afternoon in August (temps on the field above 95 degrees), with 110,000 screaming fans, well, it's just not the place where any team can come into and win. Sure, the USA scored early in the game, around the eight minute of play. But you could see how they lost their stamina as each minute went by. Just like they did with Brazil, they fell back and waited for Mexico's move.
Mexico did move, twice, scoring ten minutes later and then again toward the end of the game. Other than two or three little moments of brilliance, the USA was done. After the game, Landon Donovan, star of the USA team, said that the heat, height, and the fans got to them. He was very frustrated that Mexico is unbeatable in Mexico City. I would be too, if it happened to me.
So I shouldn't have been worrying so much that I actually broke into a cold sweat during the game. It's not healthy. I should have just settled down and known that Mexico is hard to beat in Mexico, and that it was just another soccer game. We're going to do it all over again in 4 years, anyway. I should instead be worrying about the once-in-a-lifetime events, like helping The Girl get everything in line for our wedding...
Still, plan or no plan, Mexico is Mexico when it comes to soccer, and I shouldn't have doubted that too much. Azteca Stadium, at 7,200 feet above sea level, at 2pm in the afternoon in August (temps on the field above 95 degrees), with 110,000 screaming fans, well, it's just not the place where any team can come into and win. Sure, the USA scored early in the game, around the eight minute of play. But you could see how they lost their stamina as each minute went by. Just like they did with Brazil, they fell back and waited for Mexico's move.
Mexico did move, twice, scoring ten minutes later and then again toward the end of the game. Other than two or three little moments of brilliance, the USA was done. After the game, Landon Donovan, star of the USA team, said that the heat, height, and the fans got to them. He was very frustrated that Mexico is unbeatable in Mexico City. I would be too, if it happened to me.
So I shouldn't have been worrying so much that I actually broke into a cold sweat during the game. It's not healthy. I should have just settled down and known that Mexico is hard to beat in Mexico, and that it was just another soccer game. We're going to do it all over again in 4 years, anyway. I should instead be worrying about the once-in-a-lifetime events, like helping The Girl get everything in line for our wedding...
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