COLUMBUS, Ohio — Mexico came to Columbus to make history and a statement Friday. And it accomplished both, rallying for a 2-1 victory over the U.S. in a World Cup qualifier.
The win was Mexico’s first in five games in cozy — and chilly — Mapfre Stadium, a bandbox the U.S. has dubbed a fortress after going unbeaten in 10 games here. But it was a fortress Mexico finally breached behind a first-half goal from Miguel Layun and a header from captain Rafa Marquez with a minute left in regulation time.
Bobby Wood had the only goal for the U.S., tying the score with a brilliant goal in the 49th minute of a bruising, physical game, one befitting a matchup that is among international soccer’s most hard-fought rivalries.
Mapfre’s grandstands, packed with a sellout crowd of 24,650, were a sea of red (with some white and blue thrown in) at kickoff, which came under 45-degree skies and a wind chill that made it feel six degrees cooler.
Of the five qualifiers the U.S. and Mexico have played in Columbus, only the 2001 game was colder.
Into that chill Mexico sent the deepest lineup it has ever used in its long, heated rivalry with the U.S. The starting 11 featured just two players from Mexico’s domestic league and one, Galaxy midfielder Giovani dos Santos, from MLS. The other eight play for first-division teams in Europe.
Layun, who plays for Portugal’s Porto, is one of those European players and he wasted little time getting Mexico started, finding the lower right corner with a shot from outside the box in the 20th minute.
The goal ended a 380-minute scoreless streak for Mexico in Columbus. And El Tri nearly had another five minutes later when Carlos Vela’s header bounced off the crossbar.
That marked the second time in 15 minutes a Mexican beat U.S. keeper Tim Howard only to have the shot hit the goal frame. In the 10th minute Jesus Manuel Corona’s shot from the left wing found the far post instead of the net.
Yet that passed as good news for a U.S. team that would finish the first half without its starting keeper after Howard left the field and headed straight to the locker room with an undisclosed injury in the 40th minute.
But if the first half was Mexico’s, the second 45 minutes mostly belonged to the U.S., which tied the score four minutes after the break. The goal came on a great individual effort from Wood, who took a low feed from Jozy Altidore, cut between two defenders and into the box, then pushed the ball under Mexican keeper Alfredo Talavera.
Minutes later Wood dumped the ball off for Michael Bradley, who had a chance to put the U.S. in front. But his shot from inside area went straight at Talavera, who wrapped up the easy save.
Then in the 77th minute, a leaping Talavera got just enough of his right hand on a bending free kick from Altidore to redirect it over the crossbar.
That miss proved important in the 89th minute when Marquez, stationed near the left edge of the six-yard box, leapt and got his head on a corner kick, deflecting it past U.S. keeper Brad Guzan.
Guatemalan referee Walter Lopez struggled to keep order during the chippy game though it wasn’t for a lack of effort: Lopez, whose whistle got a workout, handed out nine yellow cards and ejected Mexico’s Carlos Salcedo, who picked up two of the cautions.
When it was over, the Mexican players rushed off the bench to celebrate on a field that had been hallowed ground for U.S. Soccer. For Coach Juan Carlos Osorio, the win raised his record as Mexico’s coach to 13-1-2, with the lone loss coming in last summer’s Copa American Centenario.
Meanwhile the U.S. and its coach, Juergen Klinsmann, have just four days to regroup before meeting Costa Rica in its second qualifier in Central America. In the final six-team round of World Cup qualifying, only the top three finishers earn automatic invitations to the 2018 tournament in Russia, leaving the U.S. needing a win Tuesday to keep its qualifying campaign on track.
Mexico resumes it qualifying schedule Tuesday in Panama.
