Mexico Defeats U.S. Under-23 Soccer Team

Mexico once again shattered the dream of an American team participating in the Olympics. This time, it was the U.S. soccer team that, after losing to Mexico, was deprived of participating in the Athens Olympics. Last night, in Guadalajara, in front of over 60,000 fans, Mexico's under-23 national team defeated the U.S. team 4-0. This victory secured Mexico's entry into the Athens Olympics, while the U.S. team lost all chances of qualification. The U.S. team had won all three of its preliminary round matches and was the only team to earn the maximum 9 points in the first round. However, having 9 points did not help, as Mexico won this match. A similar scenario occurred for the U.S. basketball team, the previous Olympic champion, which easily passed the first round of the qualifiers but was defeated in the quarter-finals by the Mexican national basketball team, thus missing out on the Athens Olympics. Mexico scored two goals in two minutes during the first half. Diego Martinez shot from a corner in the 26th minute, and Juan Pablo Garcia headed the ball into the corner of the U.S. goal. Two minutes later, Martinez sent a pass to a teammate towards the U.S. goal, which went into the net, marking Mexico's second goal. The third goal came in the second half, and the fourth goal was scored in extra time. Meanwhile, Costa Rica also secured a ticket to the Athens Olympics by defeating Honduras 2-0 from the North and Central America and Caribbean region.