The Morning After is a recurring piece highlighting matches the morning after or whenever we get around to posting it. This edition of Morning After focuses on the International Friendly between the United States and Mexico.
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By Jacen & Kayla
Last night was the United States' first match with Jurgen Klinsmann at the helm, and it could have gone better. That being said, it could have gone a lot worse. In the wake of the 1 - 1 draw with Mexico the questions and assumptions have all been flying around the internet from cognitive critics and serious journalists, and through word of mouth from random fans and observers. There will no doubt be talk about the questionable calls and somewhat foul play, as well as nitpicking the lineups (of the USA in particular). People will undoubtedly say "they should have done this" or "they shouldn't have done that" but what's done is done. At least for fans of the USA, they can take solace in the fact that this was not a 4 - 2 loss.
The US came out looking energized but seemed to lose their stride in the 17th minute when Oribe Peralta (AKA Gumby) managed to wrap his leg around Michael Bradley in a set piece and put the ball in the goal. For the rest of the half, the game was dominated by the Mexicans. It also didn't help that the US failed to chalk up a shot on goal during the first half. That first shot on goal happened for the US in the 56th minute when Carlos Bocanegra managed a header from a Landon Donovan corner kick. The US managed to wake up some after the close goal, but the calvary arrived in the form of the young guns: Juan Agudelo, Robbie Rogers, and Brek Shea.
Agudelo and Shea both subbed in the match in the 59th minute and immediately shifted the momentum in the US's favor. Robbie Rogers solidified the change when he came on for Michael Bradley in the 71st minute, only to score on a cross set up by Brek Shea in the 73rd, which was also Rogers' first touch of the match. The US controlled the game until the end, so much so that Mexico resulted to desperate measures to prevent more goals from the US team. The pinnacle of the desperation on Mexico's behalf came in the 86th minute, when Robbie Rogers broke away from the pack after accepting an excellent cross from Juan Agudelo and was pulled to the ground by Gerardo Torrado. The general consensus in this instance is that the offending player is shown a straight red, since Rogers had cleared the last defender and Torrado tackled him from behind. Unfortunately Torrado was only shown a yellowcard and play continued.
Regardless of the result and regardless of the lack of some of the usual suspects of the US lineup, Klinsmann has already made a difference in his 10 days with the US leading up to the match. Compared to the squad playing in the Gold Cup final six weeks ago, we saw a new team on the field in Philadelphia last night. This was a team that was a conceivable threat to a Mexico side that was only missing Chicharito, and the US side were a mixture of players who consistently make the roster, players who haven't been on the roster in awhile, and players who are still trying to cut their teeth on the international level. What's more is that the US players who were the biggest threat were the young guns. And that's a good sign. Because with the end of an era of players like Dempsey, Donovan, Cherundolo, and Bocanegra on the horizon, we can rest a little easier knowing we have players who can only be stopped by a defender grabbing their jersey and pulling them to the ground.
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