Dos A Cero. For those of you who don’t know Spanish, that means 2-0. That has been the score line of matches between the United States and Mexico on nine occasions when the Americans have emerged victorious. The last time the United States met Mexico was in April of 2015 when Jordan Morris, the sophomore who still plays college soccer for the Stanford Cardinal, scored the first goal in an eventual 2-0 win. That game had a large Mexican crowd as it was played at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The first game between the Yanks and El Tri was on May 24th, 1934 when the U.S. beat Mexico 4-2. The two North American rivals have played a total of 65 times, with El Tri owning a 33-19-14 (W-L-D) record. The rivalry between the Yanks and Mexicans intensified when the two teams met up in the Round of 16 at the 2002 World Cup when the United States won by the now legendary score line of “dos a cero”.
In spite of the success which the U.S. has had against Mexico in recent years, they didn't get their first win south of the border until August 15th, 2012. On that night at the Estadio Azteca, Mexico’s legendary home stadium, the Americans won 1-0. In addition to that victory, the string of Dos A Cero victories has continued, with the most recent coming on September 10th, 2013 at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. The victory sent the Yanks to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil the following summer.
The largest win in the series history was a 6-0 victory by Mexico on September 4th, 1946.The Mexicans own a 23-1-2 (W-L-D) record when playing the US south of the border. When the two teams play north of the border, the Mexicans have a worse record, 7-13-9 (W-L-D). Since the year 2000, the United States has a 13-5-5 record over their rivals.
One of the most controversial players in the rivalry's history is Rafael Marquez, who in the 88th minute of the Round of 16 match in 2002 was sent off with a straight red card after head butting Cobi Jones of the United States. Additionally, in a qualifier for the 2010 World Cup he received a red card for going studs up when going at USA goalie Tim Howard.
There have been quite a few controversial incidents in this rivalry. In 2004, a few days before the two sides met the Mexican press reported that Landon Donovan urinated on the practice field, so at the end of the game when the Mexicans beat the Americans 4-0 in Guadalajara, Mexico, the Mexican fans were heard chanting “Osama, Osama, Osama” in reference to Osama Bin Laden. On February 7th, 2007 after a Landon Donovan goal, Mexican goalie Oswaldo Sanchez attempted to trip Eddie Johnson who was running to celebrate with Donovan. Johnson was not tripped, and Sanchez was not disciplined.