Looking for soccer support, U.S. faces Mexico in Ohio

CINCINNATI — In choosing new TQL Stadium for Friday night’s World Cup qualifier against Mexico, the U.S. Soccer Federation selected a city with a 3 percent Hispanic population in a state that ranks 42nd among the 50 in that demographic.

“When you’re talking about a World Cup qualifier, it’s really important to have a pro-U.S. crowd, and whether that’s Latinos in the stands or not, we want a pro-U.S. crowd,” U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter said. “And it’s not always easy to ensure it. I think we learned from mistakes in the past.”

Berhalter, a U.S. defender from 1994-2006, recalled playing against Honduras and Guatemala at Washington’s RFK Stadium when the visitors had majority support. In 2017, partisans were mixed for the U.S. and Costa Rica at a World Cup qualifier at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., won by the Ticos 2-0 and contributing to the Americans’ failure to reach the World Cup.

Ninth-ranked Mexico leads North and Central America and the Caribbean with 14 points and the No. 13 U.S. is second with 11 points heading into Friday’s game, which marks the halfway point of qualifying.

With Berhalter as coach, the U.S. has drawn three overwhelmingly pro-American crowds.

The U.S. has played Mexico twice this year, winning 3-2 in the CONCACAF Nations League final at Denver in June on Christian Pulisic’s 114th-minute penalty kick. With a roster of mostly backups, the Americans defeated El Tri 1-0 in the CONCACAF Gold Cup at Las Vegas, Nev., on Aug. 1 behind Miles Robinson’s 117th minute goal.

“I don’t take losses as something personal,” Mexico coach Tata Martino said. “When you start handling this as something personal, you start making bad decisions. It’s a huge game, I know its importance and it happens to be in the qualifiers.”