This was a match dominated by the state of the pitch, with both the United States and Mexico struggling to deal with the temporary grass pitch in the Alamodome. It was the USMNT who found a way to beat the field, though, scoring two second-half goals en route to another Dos A Cero win over their arch rival.
USA vs. Mexico 2015: Final score 2-0, US beat the pitch and their arch rivals
It was Dos A Cero again as the USMNT overcame a terrible pitch in San Antonio to beat Mexico.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Both the USMNT and Mexico struggled mightily to adapt to the rough, sloppy surface, with the first half pockmarked by booming longballs interspersed with wayward passes on the ground and players overrunning balls that just stopped under their feet. Between the near-unplayability of the ball on that surface and how many players were slipping and sliding and having a devilishly hard time handling the horrible surface, it was little wonder that both sides struggled just to hold possession, much less generate scoring chances.
The match went to the half scoreless, but it was Mexico who likely felt better after the first half, as they seemed to have figured out how to play on the pitch a little bit, and were exploiting the USMNT’s lack of width in their diamond formation. A couple of late pushed forward left the US back line looking very shaky, and the halftime whistle came as almost a sigh of relief for the boys in blue.
It was the US that found the breakthrough, though, taking advantage of two halftime defensive substitutions for Mexico early in the half before they could settle in to the match. Michael Bradley was able to work his way out of trouble in midfield and knocked the ball up towards Gyasi Zardes up top. Zardes was looking to flick the ball over to Stanford striker Jordan Morris in space between two Mexican defenders, but the ball deflected off one of them before it got to the Los Angeles Galaxy forward. Morris reacted brilliantly, though, not giving up on the play and running hard to get on the loose ball, pouncing on it and firing past Cirilo Saucedo to score his first international goal and give the US a 1-0 lead.
The US couldn't celebrate for too much longer, though, with Kyle Beckerman going down with what looked like a non-contact injury ten minutes later. He had been tangling with and chasing a Mexico player on the ball, but seemed to pull up awkwardly and grabbed at his knee after trying to push his opposite number off the ball. He hat to be subbed out, and eventually word trickled out that he had suffered a thigh injury despite trainers seeming to pay more attention to his left knee than anywhere else.
Mexico tried to take advantage of the situation by putting pressure on Beckerman's replacement, young DC United midfielder Perry Kitchen. The US instead exploited the extra space Mexico left by pushing forward, and substitute Juan Agudelo, who had only recently come on for Morris, found space and time on the ball, using deft control of the ball to beat one defender and letting another one slip before slamming the ball home at the near post.
Dos a Cero is every US fan’s favorite scoreline when facing Mexico, but they nearly made it Tres a Cero several times before the final whistle. One chance was stopped on the goal line another another not far in front of it, but the US just couldn’t find a third goal. Mexico nearly found a late goal themselves, but Cubo Torres’ close-range effort was disrupted just enough that he couldn’t get much on his shot and it rolled tamely in to William Yarbrough’s arms.
This match doesn’t mean a ton competitively, given that this was friendly between roughly the C teams of each nation. A win over Mexico is always most welcome, though, and getting to see some of the US depth players perform well was good. A chance to overcome a poor pitch is also good to see, because road matches for the US in CONCACAF play is always pockmarked by shoddy fields. There’s a lot to be happy about for Jürgen Klinsmann and his staff after this match.
United States: Nick Rimando (William Yarbrough 46'); Greg Garza (Brek Shea 46'), Ventura Alvarado, Omar Gonzalez, DeAndre Yedlin; Mix Diskerud (Brad Evans 81'), Kyle Beckerman (Perry Kitchen 63'), Michael Bradley, Joe Corona (Miguel Ibarra 46'); Jordan Morris (Juan Agudelo 65'), Gyasi Zardes
Goals: Morris (49’), Agudelo (72’)
Mexico: Cirilo Saucedo; Carlos Salcedo (Julio Dominguez 46'), 'Maza' Francisco Rodriguez (Luis Rodriguez 60'), Hiram Mier (Oswaldo Alanis 46'); Efrain Velarde, Carlos Esquivel, Mario Osuna, Luis Montes (Antonio Rios 80'), Gerardo Flores (George Corral 68'); 'Cubo' Erick Torres, Eduardo Herrera (Marco Bueno 83')
Goals: none
