¡Dos a Cero!

We had a great time at the US-Mexico game Wednesday night, and not just because the US won 2-0 (although that was a big, big reason why). I tried to snap a few pictures, which I'm pretty bad at, but take a look:


Me and Chris pre-kickoff. It took nearly four hours to get from Tucson to the seats, thanks to unforgiving Phoenix traffic. Though in 90 minutes, none of that would matter.


This was my first trip to the UofP Stadium up in Glendale, and it was very impressive. Unfortunately, we didn't get to look around so much because we arrived so close to kickoff.


It didn't hurt that they sold beer at the stadium, but I think Pat really enjoyed himself at a soccer game. And I think Doyle stomached the fact that this game wasn't in Italy.


The roof was open, thankfully. It was in the mid-80s. February in Phoenix, folks. Judging by the insane traffic, the word is getting out.


There were a lot of Mexicans at the game. How fitting, then, that Bud Light was a sponsor.




Being six of the 20 US fans at the game, we got on camera quite a bit (thanks to Kori for snapping these)



Again, Pat seems to be enjoying himself in his fresh US jacket. I will never take any more cheap shots from him again.


Beating Mexico 2-0 in Mexico City...err, Phoenix...makes it excusable to snap up-close pictures of yourself. In the background peeping through is Joe's brother, Rick, who was at the World Cup with us.


Pat, Chris and Doyle under the giant US flag after the final whistle. Because of this flag, we missed Mexico walk off the field angrily and not exchange jerseys or shake hands with the US players (again).


We were really happy.

Meanwhile, I wrote an article for the Daily Star that can be found here. One of my favorite blogs, DuNord, actually had lovely things to say about it and linked to me on his daily run-down of soccer articles:

"Before we get to the main body of today's USA v Mex stuff, I just want to say that the newspaper coverage for the USA v Mexico game tonight in Phoenix via the Arizona Republic has been a joke! They've had a couple of stories this week, but you have to search deep into their website to find them, and then you read them and they are really just cliched fluff. So so so so lame. Any potential owners of a team in that city should take notice of this. One of the big reasons things have gone well in Houston, Salt Lake and Toronto is that they get at least decent, and in the case of Houston and Salt Lake, great coverage from the local press.
-To be honest the Arizona Daily Star of Tuscon has a nice article today, which picks out 5 points of interest for each team."

The next day, the Star didn't send anyone to write about the game, and DuNord wasn't pleased (I'll overlook his three factual errors: misspelling 'Tucson,' calling the Daily Star the 'Arizona Star' and saying the game was in Tucson).

"More completely minimal coverage in the Arizona Republic this morning. One article. One. And that one was very short, basic and cliche filled. Really poor.
-The Arizona Star from Tuscon that I praised yesterday only had the AP story today. What a joke. The game is in your town! Send someone out to cover it!"

I haven't watched the tape yet, so I'll spare my thoughts on the game until later. I will, however, say that Jimmy Conrad was overwhelmingly the man of the match. And his goal was simply a bonus that adds to that. And Rafa Marquez couldn't stop playing square passes and not getting called for commiting blatant fouls. Tim Howard scared the daylights out of me a few times, but watching the replays he knew exactly what he was doing (most of the time).

2-0. Very nice.