My United States played Mexico (Me-heeko) last Sunday for the Gold Cup championship. Maybe you were unaware of this cup. Perhaps you had no idea that there were other cups other than the World Cup. Does anyone even know what soccer is?
Well, let me save you the trouble of going to Wikipedia.com and searching soccer. There are many cups that go on in between the World Cup. It keeps things interesting during the time off. The Gold Cup is a big one. This ivites all the teams in the CONCACAF division, which is our division for the world cup and FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association or International Federation of Association Football). CONCACAF stands for the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football, so there are a lot of teams. They also have invited other teams to join in the past.
This game was one for the books. Mexico went to the locker room with a 1-0 lead over the US after a goal scored by midfielder Jose Andres Guardado. Both teams came out of the break with adrenaline rushing. They both took shots and nothing seemed to fall. Mexican defender Jose Jonny Magallon took down Brian Ching inside the box which gave the US a penalty kick. Landon Donovan took the kick and reminded us why he should be our captain (in my opinion of course).
With the game tied 1-1, Donovan took a corner kick that was broken up and sent out to the top of the box. It was a volley that midfielder Feilhaber took on a one-time kick high on the far left post. One of the best shots I have ever seen.
Mexico continued their strong attack but they weren't able to put one in the back of the net. The US's Brian Ching had another chance in the box where he dribbled until the keeper fell. Ching was off his footing, though and the ball was deflected off the right post. In the 90th minute, the US sent the ball out of their own box and to Landon Donovan who sprinted the whole length of the field. With only one defender he crossed it perfectly to Beasley. Beasley went for the goal but instead chipped it way over. The US held on, even though Mexico played more agressively. There was even a late shot by Mexico that Bautista took. It was him and the US goalkeeper Tim Howard. It was a great shot that Howard finger-tipped out of bounds.
The game was amazing and they were two well deserving teams. Soccer has got a lot of steam as the 60,000 sold out crowd proved. I think it would be in everyone's best interest to hop on this bandwagon.
US 2 - 1 Mexico