Familiarity breeds respect for Mexico

Updated: Saturday June 15, 2002 06:46 a.m. ET

SEOUL (Reuters) -- United States coach Bruce Arena and his players voiced respect borne of familiarity with Mexico, but said Monday's showdown for a place in the World Cup quarter-finals wouldn't necessarily be neighbourly.

"It's a friendly rivalry before the game and after the game, but it's not too friendly on the field," goalkeeper Brad Friedel told reporters in the South Korean capital Seoul.

"We're fortunate to be paired up with someone we know very, very well."

Mexico and the U.S. side have met twice in the World Cup qualifiers, with a home win apiece, but have never played each other in the finals.

Midfielder Claudio Reyna said the U.S. team had drawn level with their neighbours to the south which he called "the benchmark in our region ... the team that everyone has been chasing."

"We're definitely the ones that are right there and have shown year in and year out that we've caught up to them," said Reyna.

The Mexicans have played the U.S. 46 times -- winning 28, losing nine and drawing nine

The U.S. side have bested Mexico in four of their five meetings in the last two years, but that was no licence to relax before Monday's game in the South Korean city of Chonju, said Arena.

"We've watched them in the World Cup and they've been outstanding," Arena said. He said Mexico had controlled the games during the first round in group G even though they didn't score many goals - just four on the way to winning seven points.

RELIEF FROM MEXICAN CROWDS?

The U.S. team sneaked into the second round by the back door despite losing 3-1 to Poland. They were helped by co-hosts South Korea, who beat Portugal 1-0 on Friday in their final match to finish top of group D and eliminate the Portuguese.

Arena dismissed suggestions that the United States were lucky to face Mexico rather than group G's second-placed side, Italy.

"We got the team that won the group and that was five minutes away from beating Italy. I don't think we've lucked out," Arena said. Defender Tony Sanneh endorsed his coach's view.

"They have momentum, they did well in the last World Cup and they don't back down for anybody," Sanneh said.

Arena and his players said they were happy not to face Mexico on the North American continent, where there are large numbers of Mexican supporters on both sides of the border.

"We play each other frequently and wherever we play, Mexico has the advantage in terms of the home crowd," he said.

There were large numbers of Mexican fans in the stands in Japan during Mexico's group matches.

"If it's not more than 50 percent of the stadium, we're still ahead of the game from what we're usually used to," he joked.

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