Hexagonal: U.S. Plays to a Scoreless Draw against Mexico

The U.S. men’s national team played to a scoreless draw against Mexico yesterday in a sold-out Azteca Stadium. The U.S. gained an important point in qualifying, which places them third in-group standings.

 Panama leads the pack in first with Costa Rica following in second. The scoreless draw against the U.S. marks Mexico’s third straight draw in qualifying, which places them fifth in the pool.

Although El Tri controlled most of the possession, they had an unlucky night with several missed chances and several fouls that were not called in favor of Mexico.  Less than half an hour into the match, both back-line players DaMarcus Beasley and Matt Besler were in a dangerous position after picking up yellow cards early in the half.

Klinsmann once again started with a 4-2-3-1 formation last night after testing it out against Costa Rica. With Jermaine Jones out after sustaining an ankle injury against Costa Rica, Maurice Edu was brought in to partner with Bradley in the midfield. Edu missed his opportunity to make himself present last night and was not able to catch up to the Mexican’s pace.

Klinsmann made another change to the line-up last night, which included adding Matt Besler to the central back-line. The start gave the Sporting Kansas player his second cap with the stars and stripes.

My man of the match honors go to both Brad Guzan and Michael Bradley. Both players gave a solid performance. Guzan made some major saves for the U.S. last night, which will serve to grow the U.S. fans’ faith in the future of the goalkeeping position after Howard. As usual Bradley was a standout last night getting most of the touches last night while also being active defensively.

The U.S. will once again be on the road on June 7^th for a qualifying match against Jamaica.

Should fans be happy with a scoreless draw?