“Part of this has to do with an inordinate amount of Americans just not knowing much about Mexico. These fans need to subscribe to the ‘know thy enemy’ thinking. I posted a projected Mexico lineup and formation on Friday.”
That came on February 5th and, for the record, interested parties can find the lineup mentioned in an earlier post, though it’s worth mentioning that Galarcep continues the passage quoted above by noting his version of the roster was speculation.
Returning to the guilt, I have to own up to being one of the “inordinate amount of Americans” who doesn’t really know jack about the Mexican team. As with most of you (I’m guessing here), I see the Mexicans whenever we play them and....and...well, there is no “and.” In spite of its ready availability, I don’t watch Mexican club ball; and living in a one-TV household means I don’t get to a lot of the European stuff either, a recent requirement for in following the Mexican team these days (see, Marquez, Rafael; Pardo, Pavel). Thus, it’s fair to call me ignorant. Moreover, I know there’s no way I can reasonably drag myself up to speed between today and tomorrow...
....not that that stopped me from trying. And, as it turns out, I have at least seen a good chunk of this Mexico team function at a decent level, something anyone who caught Mexico during the World Cup can claim. That’s a funny thing. In spite of repeatedly reading that Mexico will bring its starters, I never made the mental leap to grokking that this meant the Mexican team we face tomorrow night would - or could, at least - look a lot like the team Mexico took the World Cup (that link will take you to a wealth of player profiles, histories, etc.). But the staggering thing is how much. Nine players listed on Mexican coach Hugo Sanchez’ roster started against Argentina in the Tricolores epic Round of 16 loss to Argentina: Oswaldo Sanchez, Carlos Salcido, Rafael Marquez, Ricardo Osorio, Pavel Pardo, Ramon Morales, Andres Guardado, Jared Borghetti, Francisco Fonseca.
Cue the “holy crap!!” moment.
Yes, I read “A Team,” but that didn’t compute. Think back to that Mexico v. Argentina game: remember how hard the Mexicans pushed, how fluid and quick they could be in possession against a team that had been, to that point, one of the hottest in the tournament. (Here’s the match report in case your memory fails you.) Now picture Jonathan Bornstein, Chris Albright, and Bobby Boswell trying to stop them (NOTE: I've encountered recurring pre-game panic about Albright and Bornstein). Now dig out that rosary you chucked upon going agnostic. Pray. Keep praying.
In all seriousness, this personal realization of mine has me feeling fairly pessimistic about tomorrow night’s game. Someone, somewhere suggested that, for once, the U.S. team has the luxury of saying we didn’t bring our “A Team,” which we can use to calm our fears and hide some embarrassment in the event of a loss. That’s a silly suggestion on so many levels - and it’s one I’m almost certain to use if things break against us. But it’s hard to like our odds with so many young players suiting up for the U.S. (that and the reasonable possibility of Mastroeni compensating with hard, risky fouls).
That’s not to say there’s no hope. A while back, former Chivas USA player Juan Francisco Palencia offered some thoughts on the level of play and style in Major League Soccer (MLS):
"...I disagree with those who say it's an elephant cemetery, because that's where I would've buried myself. But I'm in great shape physically, because that's how you have to be there, above all else; and mentally, because you have to think much faster there than here. It's harder to keep the ball at your feet; they pressure you very quickly."
That’s the little crack of daylight for this U.S. squad. I doubt I’m alone in believing that the U.S. men built their recent domination of Mexican squads on the back of a maniacal work-rate. I expect this same mentality will be in evidence Wednesday. The decisive question will be the extent to which our quality of play will complement the anticipated energy. I believe that it can pull us through to a good result. Who knows? We may even pull out a win. But more on that later.
But, seriously, I’m not expecting a win, or even a tie really. If Mexico can reproduce half of what they put into the game against Argentina we’ve got several miles of our work cut out.
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