Leave it to Mexico to take the shine off the U.S.'s 3-1 home win against Ecuador last weekend. Dylan Hernandez of the Monterey Herald was on hand to watch the Mexicans come from behind to beat Ecuador, 4-2, in Oakland, in front of a capacity crowd of 47,416 fans at McAfee Coliseum. Hernandez describes the kind of home atmosphere the U.S. could only dream about, as the Americans labored to draw Guatemala in front of a paltry 11,000 fans at Pizza Hut Park. The game, promoted by MLS's Soccer United Marketing and Earthquakes Soccer LLC, the company headed by A's owner Lew Wolff that hopes to bring soccer back to San Jose, was sold out two weeks ago.
 
It was a very spirited performance from El Tri, too. Recalling Sunday's match against the U.S., the Ecuador keeper -- this time Cristian Mora -- again had to pull the ball out of his net in the first minute after Francisco Palencia's quick shot caught him completely off-balance after just 29 seconds. Ecuador then took control, responding once again just before halftime after a powerful breakaway from Carlos Tenorio. Eleven minutes into the second half, Ecuador a left-post header from Felix Borja put the South Americans into the lead. Then El Tri composed itself, thanks to a captain's goal-a fantastic free kick-from Barcelona's Rafael Marquez in the 73rd minute. A brilliant individual run down the right from Adolfo Bautista put Mexico in the lead for a good. His square pass found Omar Bravo for an easy tap in the 84th. Man of the match Bautista then sealed the win in the 90th minute with a shot from about 10 yards. Read the original story...