Mexico, U.S. to tangle over first Nations League trophy

Concacaf got what it wanted, but it sure wasn’t pretty. The inaugural Nations League tournament will get a Battle of the Giants in the Final after Mexico and Team USA survived tougher-than-expected semifinal challenges.

The precocious Americans scuffled past a feisty Honduras side when Jordan Siebatcheu scored in minute 89 to claim a 1-0 victory. Gregg Berhalter’s Europe-heavy squad enjoyed the better of play but found it difficult to get clear looks at goal. The U.S. got only four shots on target all game.

Honduras sat back and absorbed pressure, springing the occasional counter-attack, two of which nearly produced goals for the Central Americans.

Though Team USA didn’t look convincing, they held up for 90 minutes, bouncing back from its disappointing 2-1 loss to Switzerland in its previous game. Their reward is a date with El Tri, a finalist by virtue of defeating Costa Rica in a penalty shoot-out after a scoreless draw.

Mexico, U.S. renew rivalry in 1st-ever Nations League Final

Sports fans will get treated to one of soccer’s best rivalries on Sunday night when Concacaf giants Mexico and USA battle for regional bragging rights. The two neighbors are expected to meet again in the upcoming Gold Cup, but a win at Denver’s Empower Field at Mile High could be a springboard to a great summer as these teams look ahead to next year’s World Cup.

After the unconvincing U.S. victory, Mexico took the field and floundered for 90 minutes against Costa Rica. Coach Gerardo Martino continued to tinker with the line-up in an ongoing effort to replace the injured Raúl Jiménez, but to no avail.

El Tri had nice stats (59 percent possession, 87 percent pass completion rate, 4 shots on goal), but exhibited sloppy fundamentals and inconsistent execution. Take your pick: errant passes, poor first-touches, bad spacing; Mexico displayed them all.

Martino opened with a 3-man central defense, Edson Álvarez (a midfielder) in the middle, but Uriel Antuna looked out of sorts on the right wing and Gerardo Arteaga failed to convince wide left. Henry Martín stood in for Raúl up front, but did not provide much. Diego Lainez was also unproductive, while “Chucky” Lozano spent much of the game picking himself up off the ground after crunching tackles.

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• Mexico earns draw in yet another lackluster performance
• El Tri overturns 2-goal deficit to earn draw vs Australia
• El Tri in Big D to face Socceroos at Jerry World

Despite the slack play, El Tri was rarely threatened at the back. Costa Rica managed just 1 shot on goal (in minute 25). Although the Ticos put the Mexican defense in vulnerable positions on more than one occasion, they just couldn’t find a way through.

The final minutes of play were marred by a couple dust-ups and a mandatory suspension of play when the Concacaf Anti-Discrimination Protocol was enforced. (Mexico fans revived the offensive “Puto!” chant despite warnings issued over the public-address system forcing officials to suspend the match, as per regulations.) Concacaf and the Mexican Soccer Federation appear determined to eliminate the abuse (it’s long past time), so it will be interesting to see how that might come into play at Sunday’s final.

After the scoreless draw, Mexico captain Guillermo Ochoa and counterpart Leonel Moreira strolled down to the net where the shoot-out would play out.

Each team misfired once in the first two rounds but the remaining shooters showed ice in their veins (Ochoa did get his fingers on Costa Rica’s fifth shot, but it was all tied up 4-4 after five rounds). Newly minted Liga MX champions Orbelín Pineda (third shot) and Luis Romo (fifth shot) were exceptionally cool, each calmly pumping home their spot kick.

Sub Jesús Gallardo started off the first sudden death round with a low, hard shot just right-of-center that Moreira deflected but couldn’t stop. So, Mexico led 5-4 as Allan Cruz took aim with his team’s sixth shot. Just as the Costa Rican fired, Ochoa, guessing correctly, lunged to his right and, fully extended, parried the shot wide of the left post.

This was the second consecutive time Costa Rica lost an official Concacaf match to Mexico on penalty kicks. El Tri defeated the Ticos (by the same 5-4 score) after the two squads tied 1-1 in the 2019 Gold Cup quarterfinals.