Good evening  everybody. We are about two hours away from kickoff of the USA-Mexico World Cup qualifier at Crew Stadium in Columbus.

I'm coming to you from the North End of Crew Stadium, perched above the section that will be home to Sam's Army. Tonight marks the first match of the Hexagonal Round of World Cup qualifying and one of the most highly-anticipated matches of this series.

While it is just the first of 10 qualifying games for each team, the game carries special meaning for Mexico, which comes in off a three-match winless streak in the last round of World Cup qualifying and an exhibiiton loss to Sweden.

The U.S. national team comes into the match looking to extend its unbeaten streak at home against Mexico (8-0-2) and register three points in its first home qualifier.

I will be providing running commentary throughout the match so please feel free to follow along here. As always, feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the match (commentary and projected lineups after the jump):

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FINAL- That's it for me for now. Thank you all for following along tonight and for continuing to support SBI. Good night and enjoy the victory USA fans. As always, share your post-game thoughts below.

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FINAL– USA 2, Mexico 0. That score never gets old. At least not to American fans. Michael Bradley with the game of his young life.

What a gesture, the U.s. players just ran over to the U.S. section and are throwing their jerseys into the crowd. This place is going nuts.

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90th minute- GOAL USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MICHAEL BRADLEY WITH A BLAST!!!!

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90th minute– Leandro has committed about 20 fouls today and stil no yellow card.

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89th minute– Michael Bradley is EVERYWHERE.

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88th minute– Pearce is fading in this game, making some mistakes.

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86th minute– Ricardo Clark in for Sacha Kljestan.

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85th minute– USA knocking it around to ole's. Nice for a while, until Pearce lost the plot.

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82nd minute– Jozy Altidore is coming in, probably for Ching.

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81st minute– USA corner kick.

Anybody notice no Hejduk crosses tonight? Probably why he's had such a good game.

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80th minute– Howard smothers a Salcido cross. Howard has been virtually flawless tonight.

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79th minute– Mexico with a corner kick.

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78th minute– Tonight's attendance is 23,776. Not bad considering the monsoon.

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77th minute– Mexico frustration fouls will now get you a drink.

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74th minute– Another Mexico long ball. Okay, so maybe we should change that one before somebody gets sick from drinking too much.

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73rd minute– Hejduk is trying to shake off the injury and is still playing. Tough guy.

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72nd minute– Omar Bravo on for Gio Dos Santos.

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71st minute– Hejduk is hurt.

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70th minute– Hejduk pulls off the trademark two-footed tackle. What will Mexico do now?

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67th minute– Mexico comes oh so close. Nearly finds the equalizer, then goes down a man. Dos Santos missed a beauty of a chance. apparently he's so used to sitting at Tottenham that he didn't feel the need to get up.

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66th minute– RED CARD. Rafa Marquez is sent off after a crazy sequence. Dos Santos missed at the doorstep and then Marquez goes up for a rough challenge on Howard. He is out, Mexico is down to ten men.

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64th minute– The match has hit a bit of a lull. The Americans can't get complacent.

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61st minute– Mexico long-ball. DRINK.

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59th minute– Mexico with the first semblance of a nice passing sequence and they're ruled offside.

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60th minute– Antonio "Zinha" Naelson on for Medina. Zinha is a bit dangerous.

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57th minute– Mexico hasn't really shown much this half. You wonder where their goal will come from, especially without Castillo.

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54th minute– Michael Bradle is EVERYWHERE. A real coming-out party for the young midfielder.

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52nd minute– Looks like Donovan took a knock from Marquez off the ball. He's okay now. You can bet there was intent there.

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51st minute– New drinking game. Drink every time Mexico sends a long ball to a lone forward.

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49th minute– Ching draws a corner kick.

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48th minute– Nice pass from Bradley to spring Beasley but he can't beat Sanchez to it.

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47th minute– Mexico with a free kick from distance.

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46th minute– This game is far from over.

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HALFTIME– What will Mexico do at halftime? Good question. Sven isn't known as the best halftime motivator, so don't be surprised of the Mexicans come out flat. The first five minutes will tell a lot.

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HALFTIME– Any changes for the Americans? I wouldn't change a thing. The group played well together and moved the ball beautifully. You could potentially see a Torres or Altidore, but as long as its a one-goal game you really should keep this group together.

Here are three questions I have:

• Are the "Michael Bradley only plays because Bob is his father" people finally going to shut up?

• Will the "Frank Hejduk is awful" people finally relax? He's not Dani Alves but he can step up and play well when needed.

• Will Oswaldo Sanchez pull out a foreign object out of his shorts and try to assault a U.S. player if the Americans score a second goal?

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HALFTIME– My observations: These teams have reversed roles. The USA is the team playing good possession soccer, knocking it around well, creating chances and really trying to keep the ball. Mexico is the team trying to boot balls forward,looking for the quick counter, and the one-on-one on the break. Mexico is not playing like the Mexico of old and at this rate I think it's safe to say there are 45 minutes left in Sven's Mexico career unless things change dramatically.

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HALFTIME– "Hello Roman? This is Sven. Is your job still open? What?!? Guus Hiddink? Well, I can still go to Portsmouth. Click."

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HALFTIME– Mexico definitely looks flat right now. That goal was a stunner for them. Bradley capped a great first half with a great goal. Solid team performance all the way around.

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45th minute– Beasley's corner finds Donovan, who heads to Onyewu. Onyewu's header is saved and Bradley pounces on the rebound.

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43rd minute- GOAL USA!!!!!!!!!!! And it's Michael Bradley with the VOLLEY!!

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42nd minute– USA corner kick

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41st minute– Heath Pearce was down, but is up again.

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40th minute– Mexico with a free kick on a Bocanegra foul. Not sure about that call.

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37th minute– Bradley tries a shot from distance and did NOT miss by much.

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37th minute– Tim Howard with another save, making that one look pretty easy.

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35th minute– Israel Martinez is in for Castillo.

Let me say, it's VERY interesting to see Carlos Batres reffing this game. Mexico HATES Batres.

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34th minute– I'll take this opportunity to start some drinking games. Let's start with these:

• Frankie Hejduk stepovers

• Clint Dempsey stepovers

• Oswaldo Sanchez goal  kicks that go out of bounds.

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33rd minute– Nery Castillo is hurt after pulling up lame on the run.

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32nd minute– SANCHEZ SAVE. He stops a close-range blast from Dempsey off a nice pass from Donovan.

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29th minute– Leandro takes down Donovan and is lucky to avoid the yellow card.

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28th minute– Someone just told me that the SBI Banner got some airtime. It's behind the Mexico net for those of you wondering.  Let me know if you see it.

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27th minute– Sanchez botches a goal kick. Apparently the Sam's Army greeting after each kick is getting to him.

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23rd minute– USA is passing the ball really well.

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22nd minute– Donovan JUST misses with his free kick. Wide by inches. WOW.

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21st minute– CHing gets taken down by Galindo. Dangerous free kick for USA.

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20th minute– Castillo gets a head on a Howard kick, but it goes out. USA in control right now, but neither team looks close to scoring right now.

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17th minute– Dempsey and Beasley are back on their normal sides.

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17th minute– Beasley races onto a Kljestan pass, toward goal, but his shot is wide and high.

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16th minute– You know who hasnlt looked bad early on? Frankie Hejduk.

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14th minute– Mexico struggling to string passes together here. Interesting to see Dempsey and Beasley switch sized. Now Beasley is on the right and Dempsey on the left.

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13th minute– Beasley put it in the mixer but Onyewu and Ching couldn't get a shot off.

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12th minute– USA with its first corner kick.

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11th minute– Michael Bradley has been involved early and looks sharp. It's also interesting to see Beasley spending so much time cutting inside.

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8th minute– Donovan nearly made Mexico pay with a long ball tht almst sprung him.

Onyewu is getting whistled for everything early on.

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6th minute– Pardo sends a free kick over. USA needs to relax a bit and get some control of possession.

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4th minute- Sloppiness from the U.S. defense early on. The conditions aren't helping them, but Mexico is definitely trying to press.

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3rd minute– Tim Howard with the clutch save.

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1st minute– And we're off.

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PRE-GAME– Okay folks. I know most of you will be watching the match on TV, but for those of you will keep following the commentary, please let me know you're following along in the comments section.

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PRE-GAME– I'm putting the crowd at 80 percent to 85 percent USA. It's tough to say with so many people wearing colors other than red or green, but based on the sound of things, you can't even hear the Mexico fans. 

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PRE-GAME– It's time for the anthems. This game is going to be played (or at least started).

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PRE-GAME– The teams are set to take the field and the stadium has filled up nicely. The memo to wear read didn't make it to many, or maybe most folks just didn't have red rain coats/jackets.

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PRE-GAME– The lineups are out and they are the same ones I gave you at the start of this post:

USA

——————–Ching——————–

Beasley———-Donovan——–Dempsey

————Bradley——Kljestan———–

Pearce—-Bocanegra—Onyewu—Hejduk

——————-Howard——————–

BENCH– Guzan, Bornstein, Wynne, Califf, Clark, Torres, Altidore.

MEXICO

———————Ochoa———————

Medina ———–Castillo———Dos Santos

—————Pardo—–Leandro————

Salcido—–Galindo—Marquez——Osorio

——————Sanchez———————

BENCH– Ochoa, Leobardo Lopez, Luis Perez, Israel Martinez, Antonio Naelson, Omar Bravo, Guillermo Franco.

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PRE-GAME– about half the seats are empty right now because a lot of fans are standing on the concourse, waiting for the weather to get better. Not Sam's Army. They're in their section singing away and it's a pretty impressive sea of red.

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PRE-GAME– The crazy weather is back and I really wonder if this game is going to make it. You can see Mexico fans and USA fans standing around watching the crazy winds and driving rain wondering if the stadium will get blown away. Okay, so maybe that won't happen, but it's crazy right now. I feel like I'm in the movie Twister.

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PRE-GAME– In case you missed it, Chicago, Salt Lake City and Washington D.C. were awarded the final three home USA matches of the Hexagonal Round. And yes SBI Mafia members, those three cities should sound familiar. Get your travel plans ready for USA vs. Honduras in Chicago, USA vs. El Salvador at Rio Tinto Stadium and USA-Costa Rica at RFK Stadium.

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PRE-GAME– Here's my question. If Jose Francisco Torres comes off the bench and scores the game-winning goal will Pachuca keep him or will Mexican fans force him out of the league? I'm only half kidding.

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PRE-GAME– The U.S. national team just took the field for warm-ups and a loud chorus of "U-S-A" greeted them. The crowd is pumped and has started a "We Love you, We Love You, We Love You" chant.

Mexico takes the field and here come the BOOS.

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PRE-GAME– The sky just went VERY dark and I think it's safe to say the second round of storms is on the way. U.S. fans don't care, they're chanting "Oh When the Yanks Go Marching In."

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PRE-GAME– Mexico's goalkeepers are on the field and Oswaldo Sanchez is jogging around the field. He looks like the classic heel in wrestling.

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PRE-GAME– Tim Howard and Brad Guzan take the field to a chorus of applause from the U.S. fans. 

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PRE-GAME– The field is holding up well and the puddles are gone (for now). That could change when the second band of bad weather comes through.

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PRE-GAME– Some Mexico fans break out a pretty snazzy Mexico flag. Good-sized but about a fifth of the size of the U.S. flag Sam's Army has waiting to unveil.

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PRE-GAME– Sam's Army is breaking out the "Dos a Cero" chant. There's really no comeback for that one from Mexico fans.

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PRE-GAME– I have a feeling some folks in Seattle and Salt Lake City are saying "We told you that you should have played USA-Mexico at our place." I couldn't really argue with either, but then again, there are a lot of fans already here who don't are about the weather. They're having fun and doing a good job making themselves heard.

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PRE-GAME– The folks from USSoccer.com just lost power in case you're wondering what's going on with them.

Sam's Army is here and they are LOUD. The overhang of the stage at Crew Stadium will help amplify an already loud group.

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PRE-GAME– The fans are starting to make their way inside, have been for about 30 minutes. A sprinkling of green so far.

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PRE-GAME– The weather has let up a bit, at least the heavy rain has. Winds are still on and off. The press tent I'm residing in for the match may or may not collapse on top of us.

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PRE-GAME– I've just been told by a reliable source the starting lineup I listed earlier for the United States will be the lineup tonight. No surprises.

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PRE-GAME– And there comes the thunder. Listen folks, I love coming to Columbus, have been here more than a dozen times, but right now I'm kind of wishing this game had been played somewhere else. Here's hoping to better weather soon.

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PRE-GAME– There was talk about Crew Stadium having a fast field. Not tonight my friends. We are in for a slow and ugly game with the ball unlikely to roll very far on a water-logged pitch.

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PRE-GAME– The weather conditions are extremely bad here. We just had some showers and extremely powerful winds blast through here. Visible puddles are starting to form on the field and the grounds crew is trying to get the water off the field as we speak. One word to describe the weather? Miserable.

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PRE-GAME– No official word on lineups yet but I've heard that it is a safe bet that we will see this starting XI for the U.S. national team:

——————–Ching——————–

Beasley———-Donovan——–Dempsey

————Bradley——Kljestan———–

Pearce—-Bocanegra—Onyewu—Hejduk

——————-Howard——————–

No word on the Mexico lineup yet, but this is what I am hearing we will see from 'El Tri':

———————Ochoa———————

Medina ———–Castillo———Dos Santos

—————Pardo—–Leandro————

Salcido—–Galindo—Marquez——Osorio

——————Sanchez———————

No, that's not Guillermo Ochoa at forward, but Carlos Ochoa, the 30-year-old former resident of Los Angeles.

The match-ups to watch in this one are Medina-Hejduk, Pardo-Leandro vs. Donovan and the key one for Mexico, Castillo vs. Onyewu-Bocanegra.