There was no Chicharito. No Clint Dempsey. No Rafa Marquez or Michael Bradley. On Sunday night in Denver, the Mexican and U.S. men’s national teams met without many of the protagonists who defined North American soccer’s greatest rivalry for a decade.
But on Sunday night in Denver, the rivalry was alive and well.
On Sunday night, in the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League final, there was fire. There was passion. There were shoving matches, and flying beer cans, and a player injured by one. And there was controversy that hoisted the U.S. to a rousing 3-2 win over Mexico.
The U.S. came back to force extra time, and then won on Christian Pulisic‘s 114th-minute penalty and backup goalkeeper Ethan Horvath’s 124th-minute minute penalty save.
Both penalties were questionable in the first place. Both were awarded after lengthy video reviews. Pulisic placed his in the upper right corner. Horvath palmed away Andres Guardado’s spot kick with a strong right hand.
All of it happened after two U.S. comebacks to force extra time, over three hours, amid pitch invaders and match stoppages for homophobic chanting, with plastic cups and bottles strewn along the sides of the field. Fans had thrown them as the match got feisty late on, with yellow cards – and a red for Mexico head coach Tata Martino – being shown left and right.
And at the end of it, the U.S. men won their first trophy in four years.
The back-and-forth 90 minutes before the controversy
The USMNT trotted out its youngest starting lineup for a tournament final ever, and the youth buckled early.
Center back Mark McKenzie, 22, tried to play out of pressure in his own penalty box in the game’s very first minute. His square pass never got out of the penalty box. Jesus “Tecatito” Corona nabbed it with his left foot, and powered his finish past Zack Steffen.
Mexico bossed the first half’s first half, and nearly opened up the U.S. again 22 minutes in. A cross from the right wing evaded Mexican attackers, but on the ensuing corner, Hector Moreno appeared to have doubled the lead.
A VAR review, however, kept it at 1-0. Moreno was ruled offside, barely.
And minutes later, it was 1-1. From a corner at the other end, Weston McKennie rose highest and guided a header off the far post. It rebounded right to Gio Reyna, who slammed it past Guillermo Ochoa, and wheeled away toward the corner flag to celebrate.
Most of the first half, and the first 30 minutes of the second half, lacked rhythm. Mexico created the best chance to break the deadlock, but Steffen denied Hirving “Chucky” Lozano one-on-one.
In the second half, the U.S. grew into the game, and began to find space in central positions. Christian Pulisic combined with McKennie, who forced a save out of Ochoa. Josh Sargent pounced on the rebound but flubbed his effort wide.
Ochoa then pushed away McKennie’s attempt on another dangerous U.S. corner.
The game changed, temporarily, with the introduction of Diego Lainez, the diminutive 20-year-old Mexican winger who plays for Real Betis in Spain. Just a minute after his introduction, Lainez danced inside and pinged a near-post shot past substitute goalkeeper Ethan Horvath. (Horvath had replaced Steffen due to injury.)
But just a couple minutes after the restart, McKennie thundered another header toward goal off a corner. This one beat Ochoa and the post, and leveled the game at 2-2.
Both Ochoa and Horvath were called upon again over the game’s final 10 minutes. Horvath in particular was then tested in the first half of extra time. But Mexico couldn’t find another route past him.
Pulisic’s conversion in the second half of extra time was ultimately the decider.