In the end, nothing could separate the U.S. men's national team and Mexico. Uriel Antuna scored on one end, Jesus Ferreira on the other. That was that in a 1-1 draw.
And on we move from the first Continental Clasico, a game that offered very little, becoming a somewhat-forgettable latest chapter in this historic rivalry.
Wednesday's match was always going to be a unique one: a midweek friendly between CONCACAF's two powers, both without many of their key stars. There were plenty of familiar faces, of course, with World Cup veterans on both sides, but the teams were skeletons of their best selves.
It was a match largely devoid of an attacking spark, with the teams combining for just three touches in the opponent's penalty area in the first 45 minutes. Both teams were, generally, out of ideas in the attacking end and, if not for a catastrophic mistake from Aaron Long and Kellyn Acosta to jolt things to life, it seemed it could have finished scoreless.
Thanks to Antuna's finish, it didn't. The Mexican forward's goal lifted his confidence, but it also spurred the USMNT on. Jesus Ferreira finished the only good attacking sequence of the night for the Stars and Stripes, getting a hand from Sergino Dest and Jordan Morris in the build-up to make his case in a match where few others made theirs. The FC Dallas star is one player that will feel better after this one, but not many of his teammates will say the same.
Thankfully, these two teams will face off at least one more time this year with much, much bigger stakes. Their Nations League clash in June will provide a much better look at where these two programs stand than this friendly.
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