USA Vs. Mexico, 2011 Friendly: Oribe Peralta Goal Puts El Tri Up By 1-0 Score

Well, that's not a good start to the Jurgen Klinsmann era. Though it can't be emphasized enough that this is a friendly and that the United States aren't playing with a full strength squad, it's not terribly encouraging that the USA are already down 1-0 to Mexico. It's been a fairly even match in the early going, but Mexico have been the slightly better team and the goal by Oribe Peralta was a bad one to give up.

The goal came after a set piece, assisted by a great cross from Andres Guardado. He hit a powerful in-swinger from the right side with his left foot towards Peralta, who was surprisingly marked by Michael Bradley and not a central defender. Bradley wasn't looking for the ball at all and was simply shielding his man, allowing Peralta to reach around Bradley with his leg and get his foot on the ball, flicking it into the back of the net. It was a bad goal to give up, though this kind of start is a bit predictable.