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In the grand scheme of things, the first five matches for the U.S. national team in the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup haven't had all that much long-term significance. That, however, changes Sunday afternoon when the U.S. meets with rival Mexico at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., to crown the tournament champion. (Fox Soccer Channel, 3 p.m.) It doesn't matter so much that when that most of the players contesting Sunday's final won't be around come Aug. 12 when the teams meet again in Mexico City for a crucial 2010 World Cup qualifier. This is still U.S. vs. Mexico, the most heated rivalry in the region regardless of the starting XIs.
Both sides enter Sunday's final tied with a record four Gold Cup titles, but the storyline seems secondary. More important, the U.S. looks to extend its dominance at home over Mexico, even with what some are calling a 'JV' squad. Since 2000, the U.S. is 9-0-2 vs. Mexico in American soil, outscoring El Tri 19-3 over that span.
The U.S., even with most of its first choice players absent, seem to be picking up momentum as the tournament progresses as evidenced by a thorough 2-0 victory over Honduras in Thursday's semifinal in Chicago. All tournament coach Bob Bradley has been able to rely on a core of players, including Stuart Holden, Kyle Beckerman, Brian Ching, Davy Arnaud and keeper Troy Perkins.
Oddly enough, Ching is the only player from the U.S. that featured in the 2007 Gold Cup final, a 2-1 U.S. victory over Mexico in Chicago. In fact, the U.S. has more players that won the 2005 Gold Cup in penalty kicks over Panama (Jimmy Conrad and Santino Quaranta) on its current roster.
A win by the U.S. with its transitional lineup would help validate the Gold Cup run to the team's fans, who to some degree treated this tournament as an afterthought in light of the stunning run to the Confederations Cup final in June.
Meanwhile, there is probably more at stake for Mexico, which needed a Guillermo Ochoa save to defeat Costa Rica in penalty kicks in the other semifinal.
On top of its losing-streak to the U.S. in America, there is plenty of pressure on Mexico due to its stagnant World Cup qualification campaign. El Tri are currently in fourth place and not in place to automatically qualify.
It's possible that Mexico bottomed out in the Gold Cup group stages against Panama, when Javier Aguirre kicked a Panama player in a very sensitive area, resulting in a three-game FIFA suspension. Perhaps that was rock bottom and a win over the U.S. is the first step toward gaining back some of the momentum the team has lost since the 2007 Copa America.
Unlike the U.S., which has somewhat of a built-in excuse if it loses since it's best players aren't involved, there's not safety net for Mexico. For one, unlike America, most of the Mexican public actually cares if El Tri wins or loses. Plus the team does have some talented youngsters on its roster like Arsenal's Carlos Vela and Tottenham's Giovanni Dos Santos, coupled with a solid group of Mexican league professionals.
A win by Mexico Sunday certainly would give El Tri plenty of confidence for the Aug. 12 qualifier and possibly kickstart its qualifying campaign. On the other hand, another win by the U.S. over Mexico, especially with a 'B' team would set the stage for the first American win at Azteca Stadium.
So even with the big name players for both sides resting up before the European season kicks off next month, it's still the U.S. and Mexico and that really ought to be enough.
