USA Soccer, Mexico Tie, 0-0: U.S. Earns Point At Estadio Azteca In World Cup Qualifying

[TexasTowelie]

MEXICO CITY -- The Americans were clinging to a scoreless tie, seconds away from earning a rare point in Mexico, when Angel Reyna's shot darted perilously close to the goal.

Brad Guzan lunged, smothering the ball with his body.

"It's always going to be a bit hectic and a bit crazy, especially late in the game," Guzan said. "You're never going to come to a place like Azteca and go out and have it nice and easy. So we knew at some point, it was going to come, the pressure was going to come, and we were able to deal with it."

Guzan swatted away shot after shot, young defenders Omar Gonzalez and Matt Besler showed the poise of veterans and the Americans hung on for a 0-0 draw Tuesday night, earning only their second point in a World Cup qualifier at Azteca Stadium.

More at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/27/usa-soccer-mexico-tie-azteca_n_2960375.html .

[kdmorris]

1. All I can say is... it FELT like a win :)

The Mexican fans were quite pissed at their team and we didn't lose, so we got a point, anyway.

I was super impressed by Gonzalez and Besler - it was a little concerning to see Besler start, but he did a great job!

[Ron Obvious]

2. It felt like an oddly flat game to me...

I'm afraid the match didn't live up to the atmosphere and budding rivalry. The US didn't really have too much trouble for most of the game and didn't offer much going forward themselves. Mexico should have had at least one penalty and that would have been enough.

Still, one point gained and more importantly, two points denied to your biggest rivals, should feel like a win. The people who complain about 'ties' don't seem to understand that they make the sport more interesting rather than less.

I'm worried about the lack of scoring ability this US team have, and I'm not convinced by Klinsmann as a manager. This is going to be a really tight group and nothing is guaranteed.

[Aquavit]

3. More important than the result of this game...

...is that no player bit another player, dove, punched another player in the throat, dove, racially abused another player, or dove some more.