The United States scored four goals against Mexico for the first time in 61 years, routing North America's dominant team 4-0 Sunday in the U.S. Cup '95 tournament.
Roy Wegerle, Thomas Dooley, John Harkes and Claudio Reyna scored for the United States, which beat the Mexicans for just the seventh time in 43 games. Reyna, getting back to form after a year of injuries, also assisted on two goals and was the dominant player on the field.Goalkeeper Kasey Keller, making his first international appearance since May 1992, got the shutout before 38,615 at RFK Stadium, the largest soccer crowd in the United States since last summer's World Cup.
Mexico hadn't allowed four goals to the Americans since the 1934 World Cup, when the United States won 4-2 in Rome.
It also marked the first time the Americans beat Mexico in consecutive games. Last June 4, Wegerle scored in a 1-0 victory in the Americans' World Cup tuneup.
Mexico's roster was filled with many of its World Cup veterans, and the Americans had virtually all their top players. The two nations figure to dominate the North and Central American and Caribbean region in 1998 World Cup qualifying, which probably will begin in September 1996.
Wegerle's goal came in the third minute, when Reyna played the ball ahead and the South African-born forward got behind defender Marcelino Bernal.
Reyna, playing his first international game as a center-forward, created the second goal. He headed the ball down to Dooley, a naturalized American from Germany, and he beat Mexico goalkeeper Jorge Campos in the 26th minute.
Eleven minutes later, Eric Wynalda beat defender Jorge Rodriguez when the ball bounced off the Mexican. Wynalda then took a shot that Campos saved, but the ball bounced out to Harkes, who scored for the second straight game, his sixth goal in 54 appearances for the U.S. team.
Reyna missed out on the World Cup when he tore his right hamstring nine days before the U.S. opener, and then was sidelined for most of the 1994-95 season with a dislocated shoulder.
Keller, who starts for Millwall in England, was the backup to Tony Meola in the 1990 World Cup but was bypassed by Bora Milutinovic, who used him just once in his four years as coach.
Notes: Milutinovic attended his first game since he was fired April 14. ... Tab Ramos played the final 21 minutes, his first international game since last July 4, when Brazilian defender Leonardo fractured his skull in a World Cup game. ... It was Wegerle's third goal in 24 appearances, Dooley's fifth in 47. ... Of the seven U.S. wins over Mexico, two came in Olympic qualifiers that Mexico actually won. The Mexicans later were penalized for using ineligible players and the Americans were awarded 2-0 victories.