Peru captain and centre-forward Paolo Guerrero decided not to play for his country in the recent friendlies because his club, Internacional of Brazil, feature in the final of the domestic cup.

And so he spent a frustrating night ploughing a lone furrow upfield as his side were beaten 1-0 in the first leg of the final away to Athletico Paranaense. He could instead have spent a glorious Tuesday night being part of the Peru side who beat Brazil 1-0 in Los Angeles.

The absence of Guerrero makes this...

SAN ANTONIO -- Mexico's 4-0 loss against Argentina on Sunday ended El Tri unbeaten run in 2019, but despite the thrashing, players are hoping to learn from the experience.

Mexico started brightly, but mistakes capitalized on by clinical hat-trick hero Lautaro Martinez saw Argentina head into the break four goals ahead, with the game at times looking like it would get even more ugly for El Tri, bringing back memories of the 7-0 loss to Chile in Copa America Centenario in 2016.

"It wasn't that bad,"...

SAN ANTONIO -- This international break compacted the Mexico national team's longstanding existential dilemma into the space of a few days.

First up, last Friday, there was a confident and impressive 3-0 victory against a United States side in transition. Beating your rival always brings a boost, but especially when it was so convincing, highlighting an apparent gap between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in CONCACAF.

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ST. LOUIS, Missouri -- Another game, another opportunity for the United States men's national team to continue building toward "Berhalter-ball."

This time out, the forward progress was more apparent in the scoreline. Four days after falling 3-0 to Mexico in New Jersey, Gregg Berhalter's squad tied Uruguay 1-1 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, thanks to Jordan Morris' late goal off a deflected clearance attempt.

"Overall, I think it was a good step for this group to be able to play a game like this,"...