The US became the first team from the CONCACAF region to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany by cruising to an easy 2-0 win over Mexico this Saturday in Columbus, Ohio. Mexico rarely threatened and took only one dangerous shot in the entire game. Keller dove to his right to block the shot, making it look like a routine save. His shot stopping ability is amazing. While the US and Mexico both struggled in the first half, the US turned it on in the second half and powered to the victory.
Mexico’s coach Lavolpe is a really sore loser. Whenever Mexico loses, he’s always full of excuses and complaints. This time after yet another loss in the US (they haven’t scored a goal here since 1999), he said “They [the US] play like my sister, my aunt, and my grandmother.” Wow, Manuel, I didn’t realize that three women from your family could so soundly defeat the entire Mexican national team. Next time, I recommend replacing the some of the guys on your team with women and maybe you will have half a chance of scoring.
Steve Ralston scored the first goal for the US by putting in a rebound after Oguchi Onyewu soared high over the Mexican defense to head a ball off the post. Just a few minutes later, the US carved up the unsettled Mexican defense as an unmarked Claudio Reyna made a sharp pass to an unmarked DaMarcus Beasley who then blasted the ball over the goalkeeper. The US then kept the pressure on Mexico the rest of the way and handily closed out the game for the win.