Pressure’s on Mexico when it tackles U.S.

Bold statements and predictions can come back to haunt you.

Yet when you are the most successful soccer player in the history of Mexico, it might feel as though you are obligated to make them.

Expectations are high and maybe even unrealistic. When you are Hugo Sánchez you are part idol, savior and icon.

When Sánchez became Mexico’s coach, his first order of business was to get over this nonsense of the United States beating Mexico.

At the time the United States was 6-0-1 against the Tricolor on American soil and was playing with a less experienced squad. It was time for Sánchez to make a statement.

Sánchez brought in seasoned veterans such as Pavel Pardo, Jared Borgetti, Rafa Márquez and Ricardo Osorio to go for the knock-out punch last February in Glendale, Ariz.

But Mexico lost to the Americans again, this time 2-0 before a pro-Mexico crowd of 65,000. Mexico played the better soccer, not necessarily the smarter soccer.

Sánchez’s second shot at beating the United States came last summer in the CONCACAF….……check the rest of Glenn Davis’s article at chron.com