Mexico had the majority of the play, but I can only think of one or two truly dangerous opportunities for them. Most of Howard's "saves" were very routine and not difficult for him.
The US needs to learn how to finish off a low cross. Beasley, McBride and Stewart all had low crosses in front of the net that they had horrible first touches on. Beasley shoulda volleyed his instead of trying to trap it. McBride whiffed with a knee, and Stewart didn't field his cleanly at all. All 3 were very dangerous crosses and not one was turned on net, and only Stewart's was even remotely challenged. Beasley and McBride flat out screwed the pooch on theirs. Difference today was Mexico put their chances on goal (albeit very weakly save for two solid shots) while the USA couldn't convert most of their quality crosses and through play into shots.
McBride and Klein were both unlucky to not have scored on other chances. McBride's persistance paid off in a shot that missed wide by a few inches. Klein had a nice header on a cross from Cobi Jones in the late going that went over the bar.
Typical USA-Mex game though. Mexico keeps the majority of the possession without really generating many dangerous attempts (tho the shots and shots on goal stats get pumped up) while the USA counterattacks and puts together the more dangerous chances. This time they just missed, while in Korea, they went in.
I thought Donovan played well in keeping some possession at times, even though he had to track back to dump the ball off to a defender. He had a fantastic pass that set Beasley up, but his shot missed well wide. Mathis played pretty well in the first half with some nice passes. McBride won quite a few balls in the air in addition to a couple of chances on goal. Hejduk, Armas and Maestroeni worked hard. The defense played well for the most part too.
#9 and #21 played very well for Mexico. They generated most of the quality chances for their side.
