A hearty congratulations to El Tri

Definitely not the result I wanted (as detailed by my previous posts on this site!), but a well-deserved result for Mexico at Azteca yesterday.

Very enjoyable game by two well-matched sides. Among the few things I noticed while watching on mun2:

() Phil Schoen again showed me that he is the best soccer play-by-play guy in the US. If you don't have GolTV, get it now. I know it's a physical impossibility, but if it were up to me, Schoen would broadcast every single soccer game I can ever watch. He's that good. Marcelo Balboa, on the other hand, who I generally am OK with, did not have a good game. Listening to him, I was starting to get altitude sickness. Enough already.

() Very pleasantly surprised to see Stuart Holden hit the field. Even more exited to see him play well. His cross to Davies was a thing of beauty. If Charlie's noggin connects, we're talking about a different game, that's for sure.

() I thought Aguirre's move to sub out Blanco very early in the second half was a stroke of genius. After going the full 90 here on Sunday and then coming back and playing very well in the first half (assisting on the goal), it's clear he was going to be a liability as the game went on. Nice move there.

() I thought Brian Ching had a substandard game, but then again, it's not like he got much in the way of delivery.

() We all know Mexico was going to dominate possession, but the US' constant clearances to nobody was very irritating. The handful of times the US put together 3-4 passes in succession, they looked dangerous. The whole rest of the time, it was frustrating in its ineffectualness. Boys, see those other guys in the white shirts? Yes, pass to them. (Here's your chum.)

() Someone else posted this (somewhere), and it's a minor point, but I kind of wish Bob Bradley would wear a suit on the sidelines. He looks like a college coach out there. Maybe that's just me.

() Best news about the whole thing, with Honduras' 4-0 thrashing of leader Costa Rica, The US is still in second place in the Hexagonal. Standings here. Brian Zygo mentioned that he would like to see Mexico play the CONMEBOL fifth-place team in a qualifier. And while that might be throwing cold water on El Tri fans after yesterday, I have only one thing to say: Better them that us.