Photo: Erik Guzman
By Julian Cardillo
After months of defensive lapses and allowing opponents to equalize or take the lead in the final 15 minutes of games, the U.S. national team finally secured a shutout victory, this time taking out rival Mexico 2-0, on Wednesday night in San Antonio, Tex.
Despite the back line’s impressive performance, it was New England Revolution forward Juan Agudelo who best protected the U.S.’ one-goal lead.
Seven minutes after being subbed into the game for Jordan Morris—a Stanford University sophomore who opened the scoring with his first international goal in the 49th minute—Agudelo doubled the U.S. advantage with a strike that showcased his trademark athleticism and creativity.
The key play started in midfield in the 72nd minute, as U.S. defender Ventura Alvarado knocked down a long, searching pass out of Mexico’s half for Michael Bradley, who immediately looked downfield and played Agudelo with a looping, 30-yard pass. Agudelo jumped up like Daredevil to reach Bradley’s aerial feed, eventually corralling it with an outstretched right leg and moving beyond his marker toward net. Next he rounded an off-balance Mexican defender, George Corral, at the top of the penalty area before carving out enough space to blast a low, hard drive that skidded into the net, deflecting off the right hand of goalkeeper Cirilo Saucedo on the way.
Agudelo knelt down and pointed his arms toward the sky in celebration. It was his first game for the U.S. since last March and only his third-ever international goal.
But from a larger perspective, Agudelo’s handiwork was a reminder that sometimes the best way to defend a lead is to seek out and score another goal—something the U.S. has struggled to do this year.
Is frequency watering down the USA v Mexico rivalry
The timing of the goal seemed to break Mexico’s spirits, as the U.S. bossed possession and collected repeated turnovers for the remainder of the game. And while Mexico wasn’t playing its best team—missing several starters who played in last summer’s World Cup—neither was the U.S., which featured a number of young, up-and-coming players.
Morris was the most emblematic of this youth movement. Though he earned his second U.S. appearance on Wednesday night, he became the first college player to start a game with the national team since 1995. Morris, who took his schoolbooks with him on his journey, made a nuisance of himself en route to scoring a memorable goal. In the first half, he used his speed to get in behind the Mexican back line and worked off of Michael Bradley and Gyasi Zardes in and around the penalty area.
Early in the second half, the trio’s efforts paid off. A one-two combination between Bradley and Zardes at the top of the 18 somehow defected into the heart of the penalty area to Morris, who had made a diagonal run to go at goal. He took hold of the loose ball, then shot through Saucedo’s legs and into the back of the net.
Morris was considered for the Man of the Match award.
The goal was a critical step to the U.S. beating their nemesis Mexico in an arena that seemed to be peppered with just as many green Mexico jerseys as red, white, and blue paraphernalia from the American crowd. But it was U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann who sought out Agudelo to do more damage and put the game out of reach for El Tri, telling him on the sideline before subbing him into the game to score another goal.
Klinsmann, whose native Germany is famous for its merciless attack as a means of defending its leads, finally got his U.S. team to show some resilience. This time, though, it came with a side of firepower.
Follow Julian on Twitter @juliancardillo
