By Ridge Mahoney in Houston

Eleven months have elapsed, but for those Mexican players who lost to the United States 2-0 in the 2002 World Cup, the angst has not gone away.

ThursdayÆs meeting (ESPN2/Telemundo, 8 p.m. ET) at Reliant Stadium in Houston has been dubbed Revancha En La Cancha (Revenge on the Field) and a frenzied crowd of nearly 70,000 is expected to swath the home of the NFL Texans mostly in red, white and green.

Nine of the 18 MLS players called in by U.S. coach Bruce Arena were on the 2002 squad and six played in the game against Mexico, which has only two returnees — Salvador Carmona and Jesus Arellano — in its squad this week.

''We went into the game very confident,'' says Arellano through an interpreter. ''It hurt us a lot in the Mexican community to have lost to them. They will forgive us for losing, but because it was the United States it hurts a little bit more.''

The United States has won five of the last six meetings, and in only one of those games — a 1-0 Mexican win in World Cup qualifying in Mexico City — has Mexico scored a goal. But success has not brought acceptance, at least in the minds of some American players.

''I don't think it's come to a point where they respect us,'' said midfielder Cobi Jones. ''It's grudging at best. They act like they're in their own little world sometimes and they don't believe it.

''Like Bruce has said you just have to look at the record over the past seven or eight games to see we deserve the respect that we've put ourselves as the dominant team in CONCACAF.

''I don't think they want to come to that conclusion.''

Mexico will play its sixth game under Coach Ricardo LaVolpe, who replaced Javier Aquirre after the World Cup. Mexico has won only once, a 2-0 victory over Bolivia in March. It tied Brazil 0-0 in Guadalajara last week and striker Jared Borgetti was jeered off the field after missing several good chances.

Borgetti is not in the squad and neither is Cuauhtemoc Blanco, whose exclusion has brought some heat upon LaVolpe from fans and the media.

For the all-MLS team selected by Arena he says, ''It's a good mix of youth and experience. Guys like Earnie [Stewart] and Cobi know by the time of the next World Cup they probably won't be around. But they're here because they can help us.

''Of course we want to win but I'll take a win in the World Cup any day.''

Chicago midfielder Chris Armas, whose torn ACL knocked him out of the World Cup, is back in the team for the first time in nearly a year.

''Who knows what the outcome will be but we all love a challenge,'' he says after a brisk team workout Wednesday night. ''It will be a challenge for me, for all of us.''

Whether Armas starts alongside Pablo Mastroeni in midfield is one of the few U.S. lineup questions. Arena says he won't decide until the morning of the game.

Since the World Cup, the United States has won four of five games. Yet recent form and what happened last time are not on the minds of the Americans.

''There are rivalries in other sports but this is so much more than that,'' says Landon Donovan, who scored one of the goals in the World Cup match and made his debut against Mexico three years ago. ''It's our game of the year whenever we get to play Mexico.''

Stewart will have about 15 friends and relatives in the stands. His father grew up in Houston, although he now lives in Holland and will not attend the game. Stewart has done this enough to know any time the United Staes plays Mexico, it's going to be fierce.

''We've had the upper hand a little bit the last few times we've played,'' he says. ''You never look too far back. It's always ærevengeÆ for the last game but that last one was a pretty big one and we won that, so they're looking to take one away.''

Probable U.S. lineup: Tim Howard; Frankie Hejduk, Danny Califf, Eddie Pope, Carlos Bocanegra; Pablo Mastroeni, Chris Armas, DaMarcus Beasley, Clint Mathis; Landon Donovan, Brian McBride.

If Arena chooses to start Chris Klein or Stewart on the right side of midfield, one of the central midfielders will drop out.