Fox give player of the game to Bradley for his stunning goal but for me Cameron was the better player over 90 minutes. And he was more representative of a battling, gritty performance that has given the US an impressive - and important - point. Bradley speaks: “Tactically the game went the way we wanted it to”.
Updated
Full-time: Mexico 1-1 USA
One final push from Mexico. The excellent Cameron clears once again. El Tri win a throw-in and a horrible looking - in a dangerous way - flies in and, yep, Cameron is the man to clear. And that will be it, the US cling on for a point.
90 min +2: Altidore wins a throw in for the US. I bet this isn’t a quick one.
90 min: Guzan takes his time over a goal kick - there are three minutes of added time to get through for the US. Pulisic is subbed off for Zusi.
89 min: Pulisic creates space for himself and he steadies himself to shoot from 20 yards out. This already looks like a goal that will be replayed for years to come, his head goes down and unleashes his shot ... wide. Well, he’s still only 18 - he has time.
88 min: Pineda clutches his head after he shoots over. There were men free he could have laid the ball off to.
87 min: It’s 0-0 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final, by the way. No? OK. Yedlin’s sliding challenge concedes a corner - he’s been good tonight. The corner rattles through the area and out for a throw in.
85 min: A free-kick again for Mexico. This time Vela takes it away from Herrera, who rattled the crossbar last time out. Vela’s Herrara impersonation is rubbish and he balloons it over the bar.
83 min: Fifa fine ahoy as the Mexico crowd shout that chant.
81 min: Altidore’s first contribution is to win a header because he is Joy Altidore. His second contribution is to climb over his marker and concede a foul because he is Joy Altidore.
79 min: Here comes Jozy! Wood is the man who makes way for Altidore. On the pitch, Aquino scoops the ball into the night sky from 10 yards out.
Updated
77 min: Pineda comes on for Dos Santos.
75 min: Cameron - who is rivaling Bradley for spectacular plays - slides in to clear from six yards out.
74 min: Bradley nearly scores another brilliant goal! From a mere 35 yards out this time. He takes the ball on the bounces and smacks the ball against the post.
72 min: Free-kick for Mexico around 30 yards out. Oh! Herrera slams the ball onto the crossbar. A fantastic shot that deserved a goal - so fantastic that I originally wrote “crossword” for “crossbar” such was my excitement.
69 min: Tim Ream! I genuinely have not noticed he was playing. Poor Tim. Anyway, I’ll give him his due - he chests the ball down nicely to break down a Mexico attack.
67 min: Mexico had by far the better start to this half but the tide has turned slowly to the point where, if the US aren’t dominating, they are at least threatening once in a while (and taking the pressure of their defenders).
64 min: Arriola is subbed and Darlington Nagbe comes on in his place.
63 min: Another corner for the US after good work from Yedlin and Acosta on the wing. Again, Mexico clear. They’re good like that.
61 min: Pulisic wins a corner after he loses his marker and cuts - or tries to cut - the ball back to Wood. His next cross does find a team-mate but Gonzalez’s header doesn’t trouble Mexico too much.
60 min: Another great tackle from Cameron. He’s had a brilliant few minutes, not exactly up to Michael Bradley’s goals but impressive nonetheless.
58 min: Cameron puts in a brilliant tackle to stop a Mexico move that was pinging back and forth across the US area. At the moment, the US will be relieved to get a point from this game.
56 min: An attack from the US! And a free-kick too. Yedlin is fouled and we’re about 40 yards from the Mexico goal. Don’t get too excited, a Mexican head clears the danger. Arriola is booked for a foul.
54 min: Not one but two Mexico players are offside. Fabian trots off for Aquino, not sure if Fabian was feeling the effects of that first-half injury. Aquino may bring El Tri a little more width too.
52 min: Cameron stretches to deflect a through ball to Chicharito and the ball loops into the loving arms of Brad Guzan. Not a sniff of an attack from the US this half.
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49 min: Mexico are pressing but not really going anywhere. There’s a brief foray into the US box but Bradley clears.
46 min: And we’re back. A telling stat from the first half:
Passes Completed in 1st Half Tonight
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 12, 2017
Mexico 215
USA 66 https://t.co/Z0tOOwRLtK
A note on goals at Estadio Azteca from Justin Kavanagh:
“There’s something about this stadium and greatest goals, isn’t there:1970: the greatest team goal of all time from probably the greatest team of all time; 1986: the greatest individual goal from probably the best player of all time; and tonight we can add maybe the finest goal ever from an American player.”
The PA announcer is shouting "Mexico" over the crowd-favored "puto" on goal kicks, presumably to avoid a FIFA fine.
— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) June 12, 2017
Half-time Mexico 1-1 USA
And that’s the half. Michael Bradley opened the scoring with a brilliant goal, one you will see replayed whenever these teams meet in the future. Bruce Arena is interviewed on the touchline and says his team “are playing well”. He’s not wrong exactly, but Mexico have definitely been the more dangerous team as the game has gone on.
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45 min: Only two minutes of added time - a little surprising, given the number of players who have gone down with injury.
44 min: Chicharito and Cameron collide and the striker goes down looking for a penalty. The ref waves play on - and Chicharito avoids a booking. Yedlin is booked though, for a hack.
42 min: Pulisic slaloms his way through midfield but his final ball is too heavy. “Amazing how deep Mexico are playing, it’s almost astonishing,” says Bryan Graham, our man at the stadium.
41 min: Oooof. Nearly a nasty moment for Guzan. Cameron tries to take a cross away from Chicharito but isn’t too far from nicking the ball past Guzan. The US live to fight another day/minute/half.
39 min: Fabian is back on so looks like he wasn’t too badly injured after all. Anyway, we finally have some actual football - a corner for the US that Gonzalez gets to but flicks the ball wide. Should have done better - he was unmarked.
38 min: Beasley limps off. So for now it’s 10 v 10.
36 min: The US win a corner against the 10 men (for now) of Mexico. Beasley is now injured though.
35 min: Fabian is stretchered off. I forgot to say earlier that Gallardo replaced Alanis earlier, so it looks like Mexico will have to make a second sub. Will that tell later in the game as players tire?
34 min: Fabian is down injured and the trainers are attending to him.
32 min: A rare glimmer of life from Pulisic, who goes on a little run before the ball is taken off him. Mexico have kept him quiet for the last 20 minutes. There’s a corner for Mexico but the ref whistles for a foul from El Tri.
30 min: All the US need now is for Bradley to score four more 40-yard stunners and they’ll wrap up the three points with ease.
28 min: Wood has a good chance just before the Mexico goal - it could/would have been a very different game if he was a little more alert. As it is, Mexico are in the ascendancy now: and they have a free-kick around 35 yards out. Suffice to say, the free-kick was not a good one.
25 min: This is an excellent game - both teams going at each other like the old rivals they are. And the atmosphere - he says from his office in New York - is electric. I can just about hear it from here if I open my window.
GOAL! Mexico 1-1 USA (Vela 22min)
Wood nearly scores at one end but Mexico clear and score on the counter-attack. Vela scampers down the right and cuts inside, dancing past Beasley before skidding a shot past Guzan from around 20 yards out.
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22 min: Nearly a goal for Mexico. Chicharito is one on one with Guzan. He lifts the ball over the keeper but it plonks wide. Chicharito is limping after colliding with the Guzan but looks OK to continue ... for now.
19 min: Fun Beasley fact: tonight he becomes the first US player to play in five different qualifying cycles
18 min: Beasley had already been elbowed this game, and now he’s attacked by the ball itself: he lands on it after being fouled and he is winded. Not too winded that he’s can pick himself up and take the free-kick, which ends up in an offside call against the US.
15 min: Dos Santos has Mexico’s best effort so far, he latches on to a quickly taken free-kick and skims a shot past Guzan’s left-hand post. The home team are definitely playing their way into the game.
14 min: Cameron has to head away a cross that was wending its way towards Chicharito. Mexico waste the corner.
12 min: Pulisic has already wriggled free a few times, he does so again but his through ball has too much ball and not enough through. Oh, here’s the Bradley goal:
10 min: That goal, understandably, has pepped the US up a little and we have a corner. Pulisic takes but there’s a US foul and Mexico can breathe. We can all breathe.
7 min: That wasn’t just a hit and hope from Bradley, he knew exactly what he was doing, the ruthless genius.
GOAL! Mexico 0-1 USA (Bradley 5)
What a goal! Bradley chips the keeper from 35 yards out! He intercepts the ball just inside the Mexico half, sees Ochoa off his line and chips in to perfection. A brilliant, brilliant goal.
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4 min: There have already been some tasty challenges, most notably what looked suspiciously like an elbow to Wood’s face. Could easily have been a red card. Probably should have been.
3 min: Plenty of “Oles!” as Mexico stroke the ball round before a long ball is sent for Chicharito to chase (alliteration!). It goes out for a goal kick.
1 min: And we’re off after a rousing rendition of the Mexico national anthem and plenty of red, white and green streamers. The crowd is very loud.
The players are out! The Mexico fans boo the US players and cheer the Mexico players. The US fans boo the Mexico fans and cheer the US players, leaving us with a boo-cheer mash up.
Crowd trouble! Very polite crowd trouble!
Breaking news: Christian Pulisic thinks the US will win tonight. No news on what Chicarito’s prediction. Let’s just out him down for an 8-0 Mexico win.
The last five games are split evenly between these two teams, although recent history favors El Tri. They have won the last two games 2-1 and 3-2.
Bryan Graham writes from the stadium: “The US team emerged from the tunnel to a half-full Azteca Stadium minutes ago for their warm-ups, yet the volume of the reception they received from the early-arriving Mexico fans made this 51-year-old fortress sound packed to capacity, their jeers and whistles drowning out the cheers of the US fans surrounded by riot police in the upper deck of the stadium’s south end. The Mexican team soon followed to deafening roars.”
Frosty reception for the visiting fans ahead of #USAvMEX. pic.twitter.com/U2fOYnToMb
— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) June 11, 2017
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The teams
Mexico: Ochoa; Salcedo, D Reyes, Moreno, Alanis; Herrera, J Dos Santos, Fabian; Vela, Hernandez, Lozano
USA: Guzan; Gonzalez, Cameron, Ream; Yedlin, Bradley, Acosta, Beasley; Arriola, Wood, Pulisic
A lot of changes for the US then, with seven swaps from the team that beat T&T in a kindayeahitwasOK performance. Cameron, Bradley, Yedlin and - no surprise - Pulisic are the only players to keep their places. Is it a good idea to change a team so much before a huge game like this? I don’t think so, but Bruce Arena is a much better football coach than me.
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Our man in Mexico City, Bryan Graham, reports that the weather has cooled significantly in the last hour or so - it’s about 65F and we may get rain during the game. Not that that matters too much, but just in case you wanted to bring an umbrella***
A quick reminder that this game is being played at around 7,000 feet, not exactly the Himalayas but not great for exercise. The US acclimated slightly by playing their last qualifier, a victory over Trinidad & Tobago, in Denver - a city, which as its nickname tells us, is a mile-high.
***Not applicable if you are reading on your sofa in Des Moines.
Hello, and welcome to tonight’s coverage of a game with a little - shall we say - history. And, let’s get this out of the way early, I can confirm there are Trump pinatas. Albeit ones that are being bashed with not too much enthusiasm:
Así perdió la cabeza #DonaldTrump afuera del Azteca https://t.co/OJDA6NzXTy pic.twitter.com/BpY4tUoCp0
— CANCHA (@reformacancha) June 11, 2017
Tom will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s a preview of tonight’s game:
A school of thought insists that it is unhealthy to crank up the hype train’s lever so it approaches speeds worthy of a Shinkansen. But … but. Christian Pulisic. Christian Pulisic! CHRISTIAN PULISIC. Christian Pulisic.
If there is hope when the US face Mexico at Estadio Azteca on Sunday night, it lies on the 18-year-old’s small but sturdy shoulders. Hard to conclude otherwise after the 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Trinidad & Tobago on Thursday in Colorado.
This is a roster replete with decent players capable of getting a team to the second round of a World Cup finals, and one step farther if the draw’s kind. Pulisic, though, even so early in his career, is the only one who looks like he’d belong in the line-up of a top-10 nation, a side that expects to reach the semi-finals.
You can read the full article below:
