USA-Mexico Is A Huge Test For New Generation: 'Like A Cup Final'

TEMPE, Arizona — For any international soccer squad (or really a team in any sport at all), hitting the road for games in inhospitable environments is a fact of life. Home-field advantage is real. The flip side of that fact is that it also holds true for opponents. Being the away team is almost always harder. It sure has been for the U.S. men’s national team against Mexico, its fiercest rival. While the USA has gotten the better of El Tri more often than not over the last quarter-century — including a 2-0 win that sent the Americans to the quarterfinals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, it still has never won a competitive match south of the border since the neighbors first met in one there almost 80 years ago. Saturday’s exhibition between the U.S. and Mexico just outside of Phoenix is technically a home game for the Stars and Stripes. As a practical matter, it isn’t. The overwhelming majority of the 60,000-plus fans expected at State Farm Stadium in nearby Glendale are sure to be rooting for the visiting team. "It's going to be an adverse crowd, tough conditions to play in," veteran American defender Antonee Robinson said on Thursday. "But that's something we embrace." They should. It’s been almost two years since Mauricio Pochettino’s side last played outside the United States. Because the USA qualified automatically as co-hosts of the 2026 World Cup, it didn’t have to earn its way there by collecting points in hostile regional outposts such as Port-of-Spain or San Pedro Sula or Mexico City. That won’t be the case ahead of the 2030 World Cup. Concacaf’s marathon two-year-long qualifying tournament begins late next year. Saturday’s contest will help prepare the U.S. for what’s coming. "It’s a good opportunity for us to live that experience, of course," Pochettino said during his pre-game press conference, adding that if the composition of the crowd resembles the 2025 Gold Cup final that the U.S. narrowly lost to Mexico in front of an ocean of green jerseys in Houston, it will be like starting the game "down 1-nil." "To play in a difficult atmosphere, I think that for sure is going to help for the future." The U.S. kicked off this new World Cup cycle with impressive multi-goal wins over South American foes Peru and Chile. Pochettino started a number of young players against both. The initial feeling was that he’d opt for more experienced lineups for the final two tests of this extended four-match window. But the youngsters did well enough — the Americans got goals from teenagers Mathis Albert and Justin Ellis and two from Julian Hall — to suggest that they won't be at all overawed if they’re called on against Mexico and/or Canada. After facing El Tri, the U.S. will wrap things up in St. Paul, Minnesota, with another rivalry game against their neighbors in the north. "Tomorrow is going to be similar to Peru or Chile," Pochettino said Friday. "We are going to always try to find a good balance, a mix between experienced players and non-experienced players at the international level." Still, the intensity of the game against El Tri figures to be unlike anything any of the newcomers have seen before. "Dislike, hate. I mean, it's a rivalry," said Tyler Adams, who Pochettino announced will inherit the captain’s armband from the now-retired Tim Ream. "Whenever we play Mexico — whether it's a qualifier, a friendly, Gold Cup, Nations League — it's always seen as a must-win game," Robinson said. "It feels like a cup final, and we get a lot of boys who've never experienced that at this level who’ll get to see it for the first time." Given what we’ve seen from the new generation so far, they’ll likley be up for the challenge. "There's a lot of games where we've played and it's been mostly Mexico fans. Some teams could fold under that pressure," Robibnsion continued. "But I think we like the kind of adversity that comes with that. We love when we score and we're getting beers thrown at us and things like that. "It's a great feeling."