The stakes have been raised to new levels for Wednesday’s World Cup qualifying match between the United States and Mexico, not only by ESPN’s unprecedented move to host pre- and post-game shows for a soccer event it isn’t televising — no different than its Super Bowl coverage, right? — but also by Mexican midfielder Andrés Guardado’s guarantee of a victory.
“But of course we will win; three-nil,” said Guardado. “We have many quality players; it has become clear that the team has been preparing well and the only thing left is to demonstrate that in the field on Wednesday.”
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That’s one way to ensure soccer is talked about around the water cooler, not that U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard took the bait.
“We don’t have to worry about it,” said Howard. “He’s the one that said it, not any of us. No one can predict the scoreline so we’ll see what happens.”
Considering the evidence, Guardado’s expectations might actually be well within reason. The U.S. has never won in Mexico, neither in Mexico City (0-18-1) nor for that matter, anywhere else on Mexican soil (0-22-1).
Meanwhile, only four of the 20 players called onto the U.S. national team — Carlos Bocanegra, Steve Cherundolo, Landon Donovan and Oguchi Onyewu — have ever appeared in a match at Mexico City’s famed Estadio Azteca (capacity 105,000, altitude 7,200 feet), site of Wednesday’s match [Mun2 (English)/Telemundo (Spanish), 4 p.m.].
Even U.S. head coach Bob Bradley has never been there.
The Mexicans are also coming off their 5-0 spanking of the U.S. in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final last month.
Yet, somehow this is the U.S. team’s best chance ever for a win south of the border?
That’s what upsetting Spain and nearly doing the same thing to Brazil will do for you.
“I guess, in a way, it’s a compliment to the growth of our team and the things that have happened over the years in U.S. soccer,” said Bradley. “To think that this is our best chance, and hopefully we can take advantage of it.”
