'Sometimes there will be fights' - USMNT-Mexico rivalry enters a new era, but the hostility isn't going anywhere

Just over 24 hours before the USMNT faces Mexico, Tyler Adams was named the team’s newest captain, replacing the recently retired Tim Ream. He’s the “perfect” choice, Pochettino said, due to the leadership and experience he brings to the group. 

Saturday will be Adams’ fifth time facing Mexico. He scored his first USMNT goal in his first: a 2018 friendly. The other three games were all finals, which doesn’t come as a surprise given the teams’ dominance in the region. Adams, then, is better equipped than most to describe this game, one that never gets any easier.

"I remember my first game," Adams recalled on Friday. "I was just running around like a madman. I just wanted to have an impact in any way possible, and, being 18 or 19 years old, you're not necessarily understanding tactically how disciplined you have to be in these games or, emotionally, how controlled you need to be in these games. You just go out there, have fun, and try and be yourself."

For those who have played in the games, it’s hard to contextualize the emotion of it. It’s not friendly; it’s feisty. Controversy is commonplace. Punches and pushes aren’t too unfamiliar, either. 

"Dislike, hate - it's a rivalry," Adams said. "It's however you want to describe a rivalry... It's gone on for a long time. There's a lot of history there, and history creates that rivalry, of course, but you just want that winning advantage, so you do anything you can do to win."

Added Dest, who was famously sent off against Mexico in the CONCACAF Nations League final for a scrap: "It's going to be like a little war on the field, you know? Obviously, these are the toughest games, and you will feel it."

Mexico, of course, were always the powerhouse. It’s why they’ve won 10 Gold Cups to the USMNT’s seven. In 79 matches, Mexico has won 38 while the U.S. has won 24 by comparison. However, in recent years, the USMNT has chipped away. Some would say that began with the famous Dos a Cero at the 2002 World Cup. Others would say it began in 2012 on the day the USMNT walked out of the Azteca with their first win in that hallowed ground.

Former USMNT midfielder Joe Corona knew what that day meant. He'd represented Mexico briefly as a youth international before making the switch. Like millions of Mexican-Americans, he felt love from both sides. Once he put on a USMNT jersey, though, that love stopped.

"I remember when I had those games against Mexico, and we beat them a few times," Corona said to GOAL, "I was playing for Xolos at the time, and when I would go back, even the Xolos fans would give it to me. They would talk smack like during games, and I was their player! I was kind of an idol because I had won a championship with them. It just goes to show how the rivalry can affect you."

In recent years, though, the pendulum has swung back and forth. The USMNT enjoyed a period of dominance in the rivalry during Gregg Berhalter’s tenure. More recently, though, Mexico has gone on a run. They’re the current holders of the Gold Cup and Nations League, while also running the show at the youth level.

Because of those games on the youth level, some of the game's younger stars have had a taste of the rivalry. Does it translate?

Saturday will be Zavier Gozo’s first senior game against Mexico. He has experienced this rivalry, though. It’s not fun, he says; it’s real. 

"Every game against Mexico, you want to absolutely smash them," he tells GOAL. "I don't know how to explain the feeling. There are no friendlies against Mexico. Every game, it's like a brawl. All of us have been saying that we're looking forward to this game. As soon as we got called up, all of us went, 'There's that game against Mexico'. This is one where you want to die for the badge. You want to give it everything."

Of the 18 players in the USMNT squad, just 12 have faced Mexico on the senior level. Several did it for the first time last summer in that Gold Cup finale. 

Still, with both sides turning the page, new narratives have been spun. The USMNT squad is loaded with teenagers, headlined by the youngest and most hyped among them, 17–year-old Cavan Sullivan. Mexico has their own star teenager, too, Gilberto Mora, who broke out in CONCACAF leading up to the World Cup before looking largely comfortable in the tournament itself. That comes in spite of the fact that he won’t be 18 until October. 

It’s feasible, then, that Sullivan, or one of the other eight teenagers in USMNT camp, could be the face of the next generation. Mora already looks set to be the face of his with El Tri. Saturday may be the first, but it’ll likely be the first of many for several rising stars. 

"It could be the next 15 years of two players going up against each other," former USMNT midfielder and current Apple TV analyst Sacha Kljestan said, "which we haven't had since probably Landon [Donovan] against 'Chicharito'."

So how do the young guys handle all of that? Well, Adams says, you could do what he did. It's better than shying away from the moment.

"The thing I'd express to these guys," Adams said, "is that I'd rather you go into a tackle and run everywhere and get around the ball and be feisty and have a little tenacity to your game than sit back and just watch the game go by. All of these players who have the opportunity to play tomorrow? That's what we need from them."

Easier said than done, though, particularly from the crop of American teenagers. In the first two games of the window against Peru and Chile, there were sections of hostile fans. On Saturday, the USMNT will effectively be the road team, which introduces these players to one of American soccer's most unique dynamics.

Both sets of fans have their victory songs. “El Rey” is Mexico’s, the one that remains burned inside Pochettino’s mind. The USMNT now has “Country Roads”. Who knows which will play on Saturday?

Before that, though, there will be little surprise regarding the atmosphere. The game is in Phoenix, close enough to the U.S.-Mexico border, but there are few places in the U.S. that wouldn’t become an away game against Mexico. At his pregame press conference, Pochettino joked that he hoped the crowd would be 50-50. Approaching his third game against Mexico and second on U.S. soil, he's aware of how unlikely that is.

Breaking down the “why” is complicated. There will be Americans in the stands. Mexicans, too. Most notably, there will be no shortage of Mexican-Americans, whose loyalties are complicated. 

"I think it's not easy," Corona says. "I step in their shoes, and I don't blame them for maybe supporting both countries because I identified with both cultures. Maybe that's the reason behind it. Of course, because of the rivalry and just the history overall with Mexico and the U.S., I believe that just makes it hard to accept that there are fans out there rooting for both countries at the same time.

"At the end of the day, as long as they're honest and they support, we're here for them. We're here for the fanbase."

For the USMNT, the challenge will be to ignore the likely noise. It could, perhaps, be good though. With World Cup qualifying on the way, the USMNT’s youngest will have to get familiar with it ahead of potential games in the Azteca, the Gold Cup and Nations League. Because of the complexities of the last cycle with the home World Cup, the USMNT and Mexico haven't played as many competitive games as usual, particularly against one another. That changes soon.

"There was a glimpse of the fire that teams can bring at the end of the Chile game," defender Antonee Robinson said, referring to a late-game dustup that served as something of an appetizer for what's to come. "We've just been saying to the young boys that you're going to expect that and a lot more when we play against Mexico. The crowd can be a big factor. It's probably going to be a lot more Mexican fans than we'd expect to be there.

"We know how much this game means to both teams, and the boys getting to experience that in their first camp is going to be interesting to see. I hope they all embrace it, enjoy it, and are ready to put the fight in."

The young stars have been told what to expect. They’ve also grown up on the rivalry and, in particular, grown up at a time when it’s been back and forth. They know what it looks like to beat Mexico in big games just as much as they know what it's like to see the USMNT falter at the hands of their rivals.

They’ve also grown up in a time of unprecedented collaboration that at least partially defines the future of the rivalry. 

While the USMNT and Mexico headed towards their feud in Phoenix, Corona was with Club America in San Diego. The club, which is celebrating its 110th anniversary, was playing a friendly against Cruz Azul. 

America is one of Mexico’s biggest brands. It’s one of American soccer’s, too. The club is estimated to have 44 million fans across the U.S. and Mexico. The fact that both are lumped together in that measurement is significant.

"I remember when I would travel," Corona said, "we would land in the U.S., and there would be thousands of people at the airport waiting for us with yellow shirts. They were diehard fans. It shows how big the club is...The fanbase is not only composed of Mexicans or Mexicans in the U.S.; it's also Americans. For me, that's very impactful." 

More than ever, fans stateside have the opportunity to see and support their clubs. From friendlies like this week’s to the Leagues Cup, Liga MX giants are spending significant time stateside. The league’s top stars were in Charlotte for the All-Star Game. Even World Cups are a joint effort between CONCACAF rivals. U.S. Soccer and the FMF are more friendly than ever, but what does that friendship mean?

"I think it's definitely a sign of where the sport is going in both countries," Corona said, "and it wouldn't surprise me to maybe see a huge league where we have both countries participating on a weekly basis. But for the national team? The rivalry is always going to exist. "

So where is all of this headed? Is this a blood feud or a brotherhood? As the global soccer landscape shifts, the U.S. and Mexico are increasingly intertwined, with their leagues, federations and major events tied together. In many ways, the two soccer nations may need each other more than ever.

That growing partnership doesn’t have to diminish the rivalry. If anything, the increased crossover between the countries only creates more opportunities for the two sides to collide, whether at the club, youth or senior international level.

None of that will matter on Saturday, though. There are no friends when the whistle blows and, while the relationship around the rivalry may continue to change, the rivalry itself isn't going anywhere. As Dest says, sometimes there will be fights, and sometimes there won't.