Mexico has had a tough year with drug wars, swine flu and an ongoing national recession. On Aug 12, 2009 all was forgotten for 90 minutes soccer match as Mexico vs. USA. The game was scheduled as a qualifying match to vie for one of the top 3 spots of the bracket. The qualifiers are for a chance to enter the world stage of soccer.
In 2010 the world will once again focus on a football tournament between countries for the chance to earn the coveted World Cup and the praise of millions of fans. Mexico has never been in the United States in the stadium from over 105,000 screaming fans in green, red and white decorated lost.
To return the favor to host in Columbus in mid-February, the Mexican team planned for the game in the middle of the day under the scorching sun. This was a brutal pace of play for 90 minutes because of the heat and conditions of altitude, which literally suck dry the lungs of oxygen. This was certainly a game of chess betweenrivals with the advantage going to Mexico.
With the USA scoring first, the game seemed to be an opportunity for the US to finally begin to remove the monkey from their backs. Unfortunately, as the game wore on, the Mexican team placed 2 unanswered goals on the board. To the elation of a country that defines their soccer as a bright light in a dark time. Soccer is one of the few things that this country has over the US.
Since the top three teams are guaranteed automatic entrance into the next year's World Cup in South Africa, Team Mexico had something to prove and needed a win to survive. Games between Mexico and the US are always fiercely competitive and with times so difficult, Mexican nationals across the country relished the victory as the clock wound down.
As matches will be played in the future, the fierce competition will continue. Fans on both sides of the border will root for their favorite football players as Mexico vs the USA will be forever one of those rivalries that fans will live for.
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