COLUMBUS, Ohio — Michael Bradley scored twice to lead the United States to a 2-0 victory over Mexico in a World Cup qualifier Wednesday night.
On a wet and windy night at Crew Stadium — under the threat of a tornado watch — the Americans ran their record to 9-0-2 on U.S. soil against Mexico since 2000.
After both teams played cautiously at the outset, the Americans finally broke through.
DaMarcus Beasley’s corner kick found Landon Donovan at the far side of the 6-yard box, with Donovan heading it back into the scrum. Oguchi Onyewu’s header was stopped by diving Mexico goaltender Oswaldo San-chez, but the rebound came right into the path of Bradley, who kicked it in from 6 yards.
“It was a great corner from Beas, and Landon did a great job heading it back,” Bradley said. “It was not so hard for me to put it in.”
Then, in second-half stoppage time, Bradley took a pass from Donovan and his shot from 28 yards dipped under Sanchez’s arms.
The match was the first of 10 in the final round of qualifying for each team. The United States next plays at El Salvador on March 28 before taking on Trinidad and Tobago on April 1 in Nashville, Tenn.
