The USA brushed Mexico aside to win the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, 2-1. For once the Mexicans were out of excuses, as the US deservedly won the match, even coming back from a goal down.

Previous USA-Mexico games had been accompanied by rigorous bouts of "we were the better team" from the Mexicans (only when they lost of course), and... truth be told... they were justified in many of these claims. But last night the USA for once took the initative and were rewarded, although this was by no means an easy victory.

Although Andres Guardado and Nery Castillo were both incredibly dangerous on the day as individuals, Mexico never really looked cohesive enough as a team. The US were quite fluid and passed better, and as I said earlier, took the initative more. The Mexicans seemed to be playing as the US had for many of their previous encounters, closing down, trying to win the ball back and launch counter-attacks at every opportunity. The US for all their efforts, had gotten nothing, and they went into-half time even more under pressure after having gone a goal down in the 44th minute.

The lethargic, error-prone Onyewu was once again culpable. Having received the help of the officials in saving his face after gifting a wrongly disallowed equaliser to the Canadians, he failed to pick up the lurking Guardado, who poked the ball into the net to give the Mexicans the lead.

But the US came out strong and focussed in the second-half. Ricardo Clark replaced the dull Mastroeni, and did a great job hustling and bustling, and imposing himself on the midfield. To his credit, the misfiring Benny Feilhaber pulled himself together, and starting pinging passes around and running the show. Many US fans regard him as someone with the potential to be a genuinely top-class playmaker, something the team needs to complement the roaming wizardy of Landon Donovan. He is inconsistent though, but today he really shone, and capped his performance of with something really special (but more on that later).

The US got their reward in the 60th minute though. Brian Ching was tripped in the box, in what was a technically legitimate, but also very "soft" penalty. Ching had done nothing all game, and this was his decisive contributon. Landon Donovan stepped up, and as he so often does, put the ball in the back of the net. 1-1 to the US.

And then came Feilhaber's coupe de grace. With just over 15 minutes left to go, a clearance looped up in the air and just out of the Mexican penalty area. Feilhaber was lurking outside, and as the ball fell, he adjusted himself to deliver one of the most sweetly-struck, unstoppable volleys that you will ever see. It was an absolutely top class goal, and the kind that you dream you will score as the winning goal in a cup-final.

And that was it really. It knocked the stuffing out of the Mexicans, and the US could have gone ahead further, but DaMarcus Beasley and Ching both hit the woodwork.

And that was that. 2-1, congratulations to the States. I suspect the Mexicans were saving themselves for the Copa America a little bit, but who knows, maybe there will be a re-match in a month's time (however unlikely that is). Cuauhtemoc Blanco gave a fair assessment of the game... that the US had deserved their victory, but the Mexicans had wasted whatever chances they had.

And here's Feilhaber's goal: