Nailed it exactly. EDIT: Though I'll say that my own preference is for the Germany 1-0 USA game just because of all the emotion behind it, you can't crack the top 3 on a loss. Not when we've had as many great wins as we have this decade. BTW, just on the outside looking in are USA 2-1 Mexico (2007 GC final) and USA 2-1 Honduras (2001 WCQ), with USA 3-2 Honduras getting an honorable mention.
Top 5 US-Mex 2-0 WC2002(sweet) US-Mex 2-0 WCQ 2005(intersting score that keeps coming up huh?) US-Ger 0-1 WC2002 (bitter disappointment,yes-but so proud of them that day) US-Spain 2-0 CC2009 (sweet) US-Bra 2-0 1st half,CCF 2009 (utter shock,more profoundly shocking than Portugal 02) Bottom 5: US-CR 0-2 2001 WCQ (this over '09-we were so,so poor) US-Eng 0-2 2008 Friendly (just embarrassing how poor we were w/o Donovan at that time) US-Cze 0-3 2006 WC (awful) US-Gha 1-2 2006 WC (unfortunate,but poor play as well) US-BRA 0-3 2nd half 2009 CCF (why didn't they award the trophy at halftime?) Dishonorable Mention: The b team quitting in the Gold Cup.
Half of your best accomplishments where against Mexico, and none of your worst games where against Mexico, not even a 5-0 loss ?
Your post saves me from having to provide a technical analysis of why I thought the U.S. team's play that day was outstanding. I will just say that for most of my life I have followed this team closely and I never felt more proud to be a fan of the USMNT than I did on that day. Our boys left it all on the field. This was the biggest game the U.S. played in the 2000's (arguably the biggest game in USMNT history), and in our biggest game we played our best soccer. I put this match over Portugal-USA because that was a first round match, over USA-Mex 2002, and over all the great Confed Cup performances because, well, it was just the Confed Cup.
Well, hard to limit them to 5, but I agree with the school of thought that WC games should count for more. Best: 1. 2002 WC: USA 3: Portugal 2. Stunned! 2. 2002 WC: USA 2: Mexico 0. 3. 2006 WC: USA 1: Italy 1. We h ave life! 4. 2009 CC: USA 2: Spain 0. 5. 2007 GC: USA 2: Mexico 1. Played good footy to beat Mexico, coming from behind. First time I'd seen that. Honorable Mention: a. 2002 WC: USA 0: Germany 1. Look, we lost. Can't be in the top 5. b. 2009 CC: USA 2: Brazil 3. Well, the first half, anyway. But it was a loss. c. Any of the 2-0 WCQ wins in Columbus, especially the first one. d. 2007 CC: USA 3: Egypt 0. Throw in Brazil pounding Italy, and it was a great day. Worst: 1. 2006 WC: USA 1: Ghana 2. The magnificent performance against Italy for naught. 2. 2009 WCQ: USA 1: Costa Rica 3. Ugh. Qualification in doubt. 3. 2001 WCQ: USA 2: Honduras 3. Ditto. 4. 2006 WC: USA 0: Czech Republic 3. Ugly, but we still had life. 5. 2009 GC: USA 0: Mexico 5. I know it was the B team, but still. 5-0? Honorable Mention: 6. 2009 WCQ: USA 1: Mexico 2. Stay classy El Tri. 7. Anytime we lose to Mexico. Particularly in 2006 WCQ where we basically gave up the ghost at Azteca. Didn't think we played that bad vs. the Czechs (if only Reyna's post had gone in) and I kind of expected to get pounded by Brazil at the CC. No way Germany makes the list for me, I thought we played very well. Also, the 02 WC loss v. Poland doesn't even come close for two reasons. One, we progressed to the second round the same day. Two, if Donovan's goal had counted, it was a different game.
The 5-0 loss would have easily topped my list, had it been the actual US national team playing. It's like being hung up about that 4-0 U-23 loss. At any rate, I was mostly thinking about games where we played at our worst, and I don't think we were ever at our worst vs. Mexico. We reserve that level of suckitude for Costa Rica.
Funny you mention that, the first MNT soccer game (as a non soccer casual fan) I watched was the USA v Iran matchup. That game turned me off to soccer for years until I saw USA v Italy in the 06 world cup
Two more low points that struck me over the years were the 4:1 drubbing in Dortmund (a B-line up but it was a slaughter) and a 0:1 loss to Morocco at the 2006 Send-Off series.
Yes, I agree. I would have certainly listed it had it taken place in the 2000's. Pet Peeve: Though I've held off until know, the decade actually started in 2001 (not 2000) and runs through 2010.
Best: 5. 2-1 W Mexico, 2007 GC Final 4. 1-0 L Germany, 2002 WC Quarterfinal 3. 3-2 W Portugal, 2002 WC 1st Round 2. 2-0 W Spain, 2009 CC Semifinal 1. 2-0 W Mexico, 2002 WC Round of 16 Others: 1-1 draw with Italy (2006 WC), all the 2-0 WCQ wins over Mexico, the two road wins against Honduras in WCQs (2001 and 2009) Worst: 5. 2-1 L @ Costa Rica, 2000 WCQ 4. 3-0 L Czech Republic, 2006 WC 3. 2-1 L Ghana, 2006 WC 2. 3-2 L Brazil, 2009 CC Final 1. 1-0 L Germany, 2002 WC I put Germany in both because of how well we played. I always remember that had we won that game, we play South Korea in the semifinal. We had about a 50/50 shot at making it to the final! Others: 5-0 loss to Mexico (2009 GC Final), 3-0 loss to Brazil (2009 CC), 3-1 loss @ Costa Rica (2009 WCQ), and the 3-2 loss to Honduras at home (2001 WCQ)
Best: 1. 3-2 W Portugal 2. 2-0 W Mexico (02 WC) 3. 2-0 W Spain 4. 1-1 Italy 5. 1-0 L Germany Worst: 1. 3-0 L Czech Republic 2. 2-1 L Ghana 3. 3-0 L Brazil (09 CC) 4. 3-1 L Costa Rica (09 WCQ) 5. 3-2 L Brazil (09 CC) Gold Cup finals would probably figure in at number six in both categories.