It's tough to step up and admit a mistake in a match as meaningful as Wednesday's World Cup qualifier in Mexico City, but that's basically what U.S. defender Carlos Bocanegra did after the game, according to goal.com. "Me and Landon [Donovan] maybe got a little confused at the end. Maybe should've stayed inside and pushed [Efrain Juarez] wide, but those split-second decisions sometimes cost you," said the U.S. captain, admirably accepting at least partial blame in what was more of a fluke play, a bad bounce, an unlucky deflection.
"There was a moment when Landon hesitated because I think he thought Carlos was going to hold inside more. Carlos got sucked out a little bit towards [Giovanni] Dos Santos and that left a gap," said U.S. coach Bob Bradley, who recounted it so well that you have a feeling he might be reliving it in his nightmares these next few nights. "When Landon hesitated, that created a space for Juarez to dribble through. Jay DeMerit came over and got a good tackle, and obviously the ball went right to [Miguel] Sabah [who scored the gamewinner]."
Call it the curse of Azteca, or acknowledge it as "a fair score" as Bradley did. Either way, having been so close to a quality result and coming away with zero points is best summed up with Bradley's honest and obvious assessment that "the feeling inside is one of great disappointment."