- February, 11 2009 -
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Michael Bradley scored twice, once at the end of each half, to give the USA a 2-0 win over Mexico Wednesday in the first match of the final round of World Cup qualifying.
“The big games are the ones you want to play,” said Bradley, son of USA coach Bob Bradley. “Before the game, I looked at everyone in the locker room and I knew that they wanted to play.”
The victory gives the USA an early advantage in the “hexagonal” and extends the Americans’ unbeaten streak at home against El Tri, with its ninth victory in 11 games since 1999.
It also extended the U.S.’s unbeaten streak against CONCACAF opponents at home to 51 matches, including 41 victories, and 14 games in World Cup qualifiers.
Trailing 1-0, Mexico’s hopes faded further in the 65th minute when defender and captain Rafael Marquez received a red card in the 65th minute for colliding with USA goalkeeper Tim Howard on a high ball.
Afterward, Marquez was contrite.
"My intentions to be here in this press conference is to ask for public forgiveness," he said. "I've already asked the same from my teammates, the coaching staff and the federation and now I want to apologize publicly to my fans, my country and the media for my conduct... I made an error and threw away all the hard work we had put in all week."
Both teams had their chances early, but the Americans began to control play towards the end of the opening half.
“We didn’t get our best performance from our players, but they knew it (winning) had something to do with Mexico and the conditions,” Bob Bradley said. “Our collective sense of how to deal with things was good.”
Michael Bradley capitalized on a bounding ball to open the scoring in the 43rd minute before a mixed crowd of 23,776 at Columbus Crew Stadium.
DaMarcus Beasley’s corner was headed back into the middle by Landon Donovan. Mexico goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez saved Oguchi Onyewu’s header, but Bradley was able to tap in the rebound with his right foot.
Michael Bradley added the exclamation point in second half injury time when Sanchez misplayed his shot from the edge of the penalty area.
The weather looked like it would be a factor as it was in the first battle of La Guerra Fria (Cold War) in February 2001. Though the temperature wasn’t as cold, torrential rain and high winds hit the area hard drenching the field. By game time, the rain had dissipated, but the gale-force wind remained a factor.
“When the wind is like that, it’s important for the team to move together,” Bob Bradley said. “There can’t be any gaps and we have to keep the ball down as much as possible. We focused on the way we worked as a team.”
The U.S. will resume its effort to qualify for a sixth straight World Cup when it travels to San Salvador to take on El Salvador on March 28. Mexico, which has only one victory in its last seven matches, will try to end its poor form when it returns home to host Costa Rica at Estadio Azteca.
Coming into the match, Mexico was struggling, winless in its last three World Cup qualifiers. And it was missing Carlos Vela and Fernando Arce due to suspension and Andres Guardado because of injury.
“I believe in my coaching ability,” Mexico coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said. “We must continue to work hard with a view to getting better down the road. The team has character and will do well in the future. In the future, I plan to bring in more players from Europe.”
Considerable hype surrounded the build-up to the match with former U.S. international defender Alexi Lalas telling a TV interviewer that he “hated” El Tri. Mexican newspaper La Reforma countered with a promotion that sold voodoo dolls in the form of a USA player.
The result was the third straight 2-0 victory for the United States over Mexico in Columbus – all in World Cup qualifying, starting with the 2001 match.
The USA extended its unbeaten streak at the home of the Columbus Crew to eight matches, including five victories.
