Sams Lose a Tough One

I typed about 17 words to begin this post, but none of them seemed to accurately describe how I'm feeling right now. Most of them had to do with frustration; not because the United States men's national team lost its World Cup qualifier 2-1 against Mexico, but because we looked so lifeless doing so. No pace to our offense, no control to our offense, no energy; we seemed as if though, after getting an early goal from Charlie Davies in the 9th minute, we were playing for the tie. Every time a ball was cleared from the defense, it was always way downfield, never to a midfielder to start an attack. Even Davies' score was sort of fluky in that a long ball was sent down the field, he controlled it, and made a great move on the defense before sliding it to the right of Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa.

In the grand scheme of things, this game didn't mean much. We're still second in our qualifying group (tied with Honduras, actually), and three teams get the automatic bid to the World Cup next summer. With upcoming games against Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago, El Salvador, and Costa Rica, we still have plenty of opportunities to get points. However, in the non-grand scheme of things, this loss sucks. Mexico is our most bitter rival, and even though we've never won in Mexico City, I felt good going into this game. We've played well as of late, and Mexico has been a program in disarray. They go through coaches like I go through underwear (hey now, keep those jokes to yourself) and they're about as flaky a team as you'll find in the CONCACAF region. There's no question that they have some very talented players, but I really thought we had the better team and would prove that today.

We didn't.

Clint Dempsey was a ghost for most of the game. Landon Donovan, our team captain -- I don't care who's wearing the arm band -- looked lost in the second half. Carlos Bocanegra -- who actually wears the captain's arm band -- was out of position time and time again. Basically, it was a poor performance all around, save for goalkeeper Tim Howard, who once again bailed us out on a number of occasions. Were it not for Howard, the game easily could've been 4-1 or 5-1.

As we went to the half tied at 1, I knew that we were in trouble. Our energy wasn't there for whatever reason, our execution was terrible, and there was no cohesion to our game at all. Once the second half started, I was hoping to get the tie, take our point, and get the heck out of Mexico. Things appeared to be headed that way until Miguel Sabah scored in the 81st minute, all but ending our chances of getting any points. Mexico dominated possession, played with a sense of urgency, and, to be honest, deserved to win more than we did.

All is not lost, however, as we still have plenty of opportunities to get our swagger back and give the FIFA people a reason to not put us in the Group of Death come World Cup time. Before we can worry about seeding though, we need to get our mind back on our business and qualify first. And the next step is September 5th against El Salvador.

Hopefully, this lethargic effort against Mexico is behind us by then, and the Yanks team I know and love will be on full display.

~~ Lank