Mexico vs. Brazil: A Preview of Things to Come?
When Mexico beat Brazil 2-0 in a friendly back in June, many people may have written it off as a fluke, especially since the match took place in Dallas, almost a home game for the green, white, and red. But Mexico has now erased all doubt that it can produce a formidable side, grinding out a hard-fought 2-1 win today in the London 2012 gold medal final against a side very similar to the one they faced two months ago.
You might want to get used to these two teams, because we’re likely to see many of these players in the late stages of the World Cup in 2014—to be held, of all places, in Brazil, considered to be the birthplace of “dancing” football.
In addition to stamping out doubt about their place among the world’s elite, Mexico also completed a CONCACAF sweep of soccer gold in London, proving that North Americans not only love to watch but also to play quality football.
I’m sure nobody would make the fatuous claim that due to this triumph soccer will “arrive” in Mexico, so with a large portion of the population of the United States being Mexican and Central American, or at least having cultural ties to said region, to say something similar about America seems to me to be equally silly. Add in the US women’s gold (their third in a row, ah hem) and the claim that Americans haven’t adopted soccer just looks naive at best, insidious at worst.
But will the (North, Central, and South) Americans be able to carry this momentum into the World Cup? With the likes of Spain, Germany, and other European giants looking to crash the party (not to mention the deep soccer roots of the African continent), it won’t be easy to shift power back to this hemisphere.
I think it’s safe to say that Mexico and Brazil still have all of their work ahead of them. But their young players, as we’ve seen in London, look strong both technically and physically, and this scrappy, nose-bloodying style might give them the slight edge needed to end Spain’s hegemony. Or at least, a guy can hope.
