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COLUMBUS – Mexico skipper Rafael Marquez scored an 89th-minute winner as the United States crashed to their first World Cup qualifying defeat on home soil in 15 years with a 2-1 loss.
Marquez, 37, headed home a Miguel Layun corner in the dying minutes of a pulsating battle to end the USA’s long record of dominance at Columbus’s Mapfre Stadium, where they had beaten Mexico in the past four World Cup cycles.
Marquez said his winning goal could help the Mexican people forget the “intolerance” of the US Presidential election.
Asked whether the win was particularly sweet after the tensions caused by US president-elect Donald Trump’s controversial remarks about Mexican illegal immigrants, Marquez said: “Maybe now they have a bad time, a time of intolerance and with this win maybe they can forget now a little bit what happened here in the US.”
Marquez’s goal came after the US had clawed their way back into the contest with a Bobby Wood equaliser on 49 minutes after Layun’s 20th-minute goal put Mexico 1-0 up.
Jurgen Klinsmann’s side had looked the likeliest to take all three points but instead it was Marquez who struck to snatch Mexico’s first ever qualifying win over the United States at their Columbus stronghold.
The result gives Mexico the early initiative in the CONCACAF region’s six-team final round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The United States now faces a testing trip to Costa Rica on Tuesday needing to pick themselves up after a shattering loss.
The match took place against the backdrop of the US presidential election won by Donald Trump on Tuesday after a campaign which included rhetoric against Mexican immigrants.
However fans from both sides mingled before kick-off, adamant that politics would not poison the atmosphere. (AFP)
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