Ah, the good old days. Twelve years ago on this date, the United States beat Mexico in the freezing cold at Columbus Crew Stadium and started a tradition.
“It was one of those games where we finally started to turn things around,” midfielder Earnie Stewart told USSoccer.com. “All of a sudden we went to a new phase. When we played at home against Mexico, we pretty much took over and started winning those games. Columbus was one of those first games where we actually had the attitude that we were playing at home and we could definitely win this game.”
Stewart and Josh Wolff got the goals for the Americans, who would go on to qualify for the 2002 World Cup and reach the quarterfinals after beating -- yes -- Mexico by a score of -- yes -- 2-0.
The highlights from 2001:
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And if, for some reason, you have the next 90 or so minutes free, here’s the full game:
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It’s better than watching the match in Honduras again.