Dominate? There were stretches when Honduras was the more dangerous team. Better? yes. Dominate? Not until they put one in net.

Mexico really wasnt dangerous in the run of play. They looked tired. So did we tbqh.

The format of this tournament is ******ed imo.

meh im a casual fan dont get me wrong at all but i disagree wih the notion that you cant dominate a team without putting ball in net...mexico had lots of sitters (headers mostly) that i feel like they make more often than not that they missed

you're right in that honduras had a legit shot at goal with about 88 mins left that barely missed but other than that i thought their finishing was awful. I actually thought they put together some reallly good plays but they never got that extra pass into the box or just outside where it needed...i thought mexico cut off the angles really well


but casual fan dont mind me


edit- kind of contradictory to blame boht team finishes being awful but one side dominating but i mean to say mexico had way more legit chances from what i saw...but i started watching 40 mins in so maybei missed some

not casual fan thinking imo.

It's just a reflection of styles. Honduras was looking to pack it in and spring counters while Mexico was playing their usual Ole possession game. Honduras looked better than I thought they would and legitimately dangerous at times. Mexico wasn't generating the run of play chances I expected. But yeah, Mexico was clearly the better team.

care to elaborate on the problems with the format? i still dont understand all the tourneys that well, i like the simplicity of the tables for club play

Basically there's very little downtime. There should have been more space between the group stage games, and preferably one more for the final.

hmmm being an american and alll i dont have the patience to wait i kind of love it this way

but i could see how that would piss off more real fans if the quality of play diminished bc of it

Most of the time when the Honduras forward would get the ball up front and out wide, he'd have no support at all, they definitely were playing to counter. We were there(1st ever time) and had a blast, can't wait to watch another one.

"can't wait"

I mean if Chicharito and GDS finish those opportunities, we're saying ho-hum 2-0 win for Mexico, or may be 2-1 if Honduras somehow gets the PK chance. on the Costly play.

Just catching up on the thread, good stuff.

I'm not as hugely pessimistic as some I've heard, but I think we're decided underdogs. We're just not healthy enough. Fully fit and in form Holden, Jozy, Davies, and Gooch (Gooch and Davies were our two best players at Azteca I thought, and Holden was great off the bench. Brutal.) and I love our chances, but what can you do? Mexico has injury problems too, and they're a fact of life. In fact, I'd say that's one of the bigger advantages Mexico has over us...that they have a deeper player pool so injuries hurt them less.

We have some things working in our favor. Since Bob found the right backline we haven't given up a goal.

There's always the possibility that Howard gonna Howard and he can dominate a game even if Mexico has the better chances.

A front 6 of Agudelo, Dempsey, Donovan, Bedoya, Jones, and Bradley is actually pretty damn good, and I think more than capable of creating chances. Our finishing has been abysmal though. Going 1 for 17 good chances is fine enough to beat Guadeloupe, but we'll only get a couple of good chances on Saturday and we have to be better in front of goal.

At the end of the day though, I just don't think we're good enough in the back. Boca and Goodson just aren't quick enough or good enough defenders to hold Chicharito out I don't think.

The best part of the whole thing though, is that Mexico could win on Saturday and win 5 more Gold Cups on the trot without it making up for that sweet sweet day in South Korea.

Chicharito really is the poacher that Mexico has lacked in recent years. He's perfect for their style of play.

Mexico is a slight favorite. Bet365 has Mexico 4/6, USA 6/5.

wc2002 always gonna be the trump card no doubt.

this is 2011 tho

Denial itt

there is no statue of limitations on an epic (dynamitesque) trump card.

sigh.

you'll always have that decade of glory to hang your hat on. welcome back to pathetic mediocrity

Mexico/we will look back on those 10 years and be like "lol variance"

you have to be there already to welcome us. At least you admit it.

You mean the ten years we've actually, you know, BEGUN to care about the sport?

Ten years is a lot for lol variance. And it's not like we were anything special. Mexico was just worse.

Mexico is never going to be good enough to dismiss losses in elimination games. US and Mexico will never play another game as important as that one for the rest of our lives because when either of them qualifies for the knockout stage of the World Cup it will be second place very often.

Michael D that very well may be true.

However it all goes back to the recurring point brought up over and over the last couple of years wrt Mexico v US

Who would the teams of the world rather play against in a meaningful elimination game? Mex or US?

the answer is overwhelmingly an emphatic triple fist pump insta-snap call "USA".

or do I need to poll the the soccer threads in SE again?

TY & GG

Huh? 2p2 SE represents the sentiments and thoughts of NT coaches around the world?

Since when?

teams/nations/fans etc

hold on let me get hiddink, capello, and j low on the line...