The United States secured only their third draw ever at the Estadio Azteca last night with a gritty defensive performance and an incredible long-distance strike from Michael Bradley in the 6th minute.
Bruce Arena's squad was made up of both veterans and a few inexperienced youngsters after the US defeated Trinidad and Tobago in Colorado just three days prior. It was the veterans that sealed the deal for the US.
The defense was stout, with the only Mexico goal coming as a result of young midfielder Kellyn Acosta's inability to block Carlos Vela's shot after he dribbled from the corner of the 18 to the middle, trailed by DaMarcus Beasley. Geoff Cameron made timely stops time and again; Beasley put in a valiant effort despite being banged around all night; Tim Ream was solid; DeAndre Yedlin was all over the field and did a fantastic job containing the speedy Hirving Lozano.
Mexico dominated possession, partly due to the Americans' inability to build from the back, partly due to Bobby Wood's inability to effectively hold up possession in transition. Wood is clearly a second choice forward at this point, and seems to only be getting the minutes he does because of his style of play (much like Brian Ching before him).
There were signs of potential with Bradley's goal and another beautiful volley that rang the post, and Christian Pulisic's confident dribbling. This team still doesn't look like one that is going to do much damage even if it does qualify for Russia next year. They're lacking the wing play they relied on in past World Cups and, aside from Pulisic, don't have any young attacking players coming through the ranks to replace the loss of Donovan and the aging Clint Dempsey.
What do you think the future holds for US Soccer?
Photo credit: US Soccer