2-0

If I was a Mexico fan (and I say a little prayer of thanks every day that I'm not), I would probably begin to hate the number two. Every time the US plays Mexico in a high-pressure match, the US wins by a score of 2-0. February 2001. June 2002. And now, September 2005. Last night, the US struggled through a physical first half, but dominated the second half behind the strong play of DaMarcus Beasley, Oguchi Onyewu and Kasey Keller to earn enough points to guarantee a spot in next summer's World Cup in Germany. It's the earliest the US has ever clinched a spot, and the first time we've ever been the first country in our region (known by the delightful acronym CONCACAF) to clinch. As a fan, after reading all the Mexican smack talk for the past week, seeing them get their just desserts by having to listen to the pro-US crowd celebrate our World Cup berth for 30 minutes after the end of the match while they sulked in the locker room is pretty sweet.

There was also a marked difference in the post game reaction for the two teams. The US players made no secret of how good it felt to beat Mexico so handily, especially Landon Donovan, who had to endure the brunt of most of the Mexicans' verbal attacks all week. Meanwhile, the Mexican players resorted to threatening to boycott playing for the national team if their embattled coach, Ricardo La Volpe, was fired in the wake of this defeat. And in the strangest twist of all, La Volpe decided to insult the US team... after the game! Now, I'm not exactly sure how it works down there in May-hee-co, but no American coach in any sport whose job was in jeopardy would ever disparage the quality of the team he just lost to! So your grandmother could play for the US? Then why not let her play for Mexico? You've just implied that she's better than everyone on your roster last night. Good thinking, Ricky. Clearly, a Mensa membership is not a requirement for the Mexican head coaching job.