USA vs. Mexico: A Friendly Rivalry, Emphasis on Friendly, Resumes at the Alamodome

The USMNT takes on Mexico tonight in a made-for-TV friendly at the Alamodome, starting at 8:30 p.m. on Fox Sports 1. The U.S. is undefeated vs. Mexico in its last five encounters with two wins and three draws. Mexico’s last win in the series came in the 2011 Gold Cup final — Bob Bradley’s final match as U.S. coach.

Friendly reminder: This match is a friendly, despite the long-standing rivalry between the two CONCACAF giants it means little if anything aside from bragging rights — and some money in the coffers for both federations thanks to 65,000 people buying tickets. Wednesday’s friendly might mean even less, since it falls outside of a sanctioned FIFA date where clubs must release players. Mexico’s roster includes 15 players with single-digit caps, including five potential debutantes. The U.S. is without Jozy Altidore and its only non-North American-based club players are DeAndre Yedlin and Julian Green.

#Narrative: In four games so far in 2015, the U.S. defense allowed seven goals. More problematic is that five of those goals are in the second half, including three after the 80th minute. Friendlies often lead to odd subsitution patterns, but it’s a negative trend for Jurgen Klinsmann’s team. A composed final 15 minutes vs. Mexico would do a lot to quiet this chatter. MLS is about a month into the season, so I honestly have no idea how this may or may not have an effect on the players fitness levels at this juncture.

Getting run: Predicting Klinsmann’s XI starters is a fool’s errand, often. The only safe guesses are Michael Bradley, who’ll wear the captain’s armband, and Klinsi favorite Brek Shea. Others who warrant an extended look include Lee Nguyen, Greg Garza, Ventura Alvarado, Gyasi Zardes, Miguel Ibarra, Jordan Rhodes and Juan Agudelo. Perhaps we will also see the Matt Besler/Omar Gonzalez central defensive pairing for the first time in 2015. Nick Rimando — nominally the No. 2 keeper on the overall depth chart behind Brad Guzan, while Tim Howard remains on sabbatical from international play — is a solid veteran, by all accounts a great guy and the U.S. continually plays well when he starts, however a friendly seems like a reasonable place to let either 24-year-old Bill Hamid or 26-year-old William Yarbrough have a go. Rimando turns 36 in June.

Two-for-One: Back in 2007 the USMNT played in both the Copa America and the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Although the Copa America is more prestigious internationally, Bradley — wisely in retrospect — put more emphasis on the Gold Cup, in turn sending a B/C team to the Copa. Mexico faces a similar situation this summer, playing in both tournaments. It’ll be interesting how Herrera plays it, knowing that winning the Gold Cup is a ticket to the 2017 Confederations Cup. Conservatively Mexico will need a pool of at least 35 for both tournaments. Considering the Copa begins in early June, there is a lot more incentive for the new faces on Mexico to impress immediately.

Pain in the grass: As is the case often when exhibition soccer games are staged at American football venues, a temporary grass field has been laid over concrete at the Alamodome. If everyone gets through a sloppy, choppy match unscathed everyone will get on with their lives, but if anyone prominent picks up a knock of any kind, the turf will be blamed. The real blame should fall in that case on the federations for scheduling this match, regardless of the rivalry. Mexico already complained and refused to train on it earlier in the week.