Yes, it only took Mexico less than 120 seconds to tie this thing at the start of the second half. Tim Howard was going nuts yelling at his awful D which allowed the Mexican player to get inside position off a corner for an easy tap-in.

10:36 ET: Now Howard collided with a Mexican and then gave him an elbow. I like this guy! He’s intense. Don’t take their cheap play Tim!

10:39 ET: Man, Mexico is owning this half. They had another goal wiped out due to an offside. I still don’t know why Clint Dempsey’s third goal got waved off. Was it offside? It didn’t seem to be. Was it a foul for using his hands to ward off the defender? Maybe. It took away a great individual effort.

10:45 ET: They’re over 17 minutes into this second half and it’s still knotted at two apiece.

Freddy Adu is also playing for a Team USA roster with an average age slightly better than 24. My god is this Telemundo announcer a nut. He goes berserk over the simplest stuff pronunciating words to draw you in. It’s insaaanne.

This sure beats all the Johan Santana-sessed Los Mets fans who already have their World Series tickets printed over a stupid press conference.

10:49 ET: The US needs to do a better job in their end. They’re giving up way too many quality chances. Fyi…Landon Donovan was a beast in the first half. I think he setup both of their goals. The first was a brilliant play by the forward in which he kept a ball alive by kicking it up for a perfect centering pass for an eventual header off the far post and in.

They’ve now played over 76 minutes out of the 90. Considering some of the chippy play where there have been several collisions, cheap fouls and a couple of yellows, it’s made it even more entertaining for soccer fans. I’m not going to say I’m one of those yet but if there’s a game which draws my interest, I’ll check it out. This one has.

10:53 ET: The refs call a bs foul on I think Donovan because the Mexico player went down trying to obviously emulate Mario Lemieux in his heyday. They got a free kick and thankfully missed wide right much to the Telemundo nutty announcer’s incredible dismay. He reallly goes insane.

The first U.S goal was scored by Onyehu or something like that. I can’t remember the exact spelling. Sorry.

27:26 played in the second half.

Mexico 2  USA 2

10:57 ET: USA had a corner and this announcer even got excited about that. Nothing materialized off it as Mexico’s D was solid playing it away. Now another yellow card on an American player. This Houston crowd is getting antsy. They dislike the call and boo instead of whistle and scream stuff we can’t understand like other countries do.

31:15 into the second half

That btw is another difference between the Spanish broadcast channel and the lameass ESPN American feed. The American feed shows the total time played which would be at 87:00 now. Spanish stations break it in half going from 1 to 45.

Howard’s been pretty busy in this game and made a bunch of sprawling saves. He even collided with one of his own defenders injuring them.

11:02 ET: A USA kick is thwarted. Listening to this broadcast makes me crave a couple of more brews. A Guinness or Dos Equis would be pretty good right now and make it even more enjoyable. I love imported beer. It’s perfect for the occasion.

36:20 played

Still tied at two

11:06 ET: There are a couple of banged up players including one Mexican who looks like he might be subbed for. There have been quite a few substitutions in this critical half. The injury was sustained off a weird play in which he fell down while an American player landed awkwardly on his left hand which he’s still holding in some pain.

There’s only 4:30 left in regulation. Figure 2-3 minutes for injury time as there have been several stoppages.

I think the 18 year-old American’s name is Maurice Edu. He subbed in before. So he is out there getting valuable experience.

Mexico has the ball inside USA territory and is pressuring. A centering pass for a cutter sails too far giving the Americans the ball back. Now they’re on the attack. Donovan almost performs some magic but can’t quite keep a ball in at the right corner in the Mexican end.

Here comes Mexico. The Mexican fans want a foul and get it with another yellow. The player was denied by Corrales who got out his hand. This is going to be tough for the U.S. to defend with over a minute left.

11:13 ET: 90 minutes have been played as another Mexico sub enters. Yet another foul on Team USA who are in extra time now. Figure there to be about 90 seconds remaining.

Can someone break the tie? Mexico plays one in front but Howard hustles out to deny the chance covering the ball up. Under a minute to go.

This has been a pretty competitive game. Pretty physical. There wasn’t much D played in the first half but this half has been better played IMHO.

11:17 ET: A yellow is handed out to a Mexican player now. The U.S. needs to do something quick here. Donovan has it on the left side. He has been good in this one but his centering pass goes off a Mexican player’s head and that’s it.

Final score:

Mexico 2  USA 2

A very good soccer game indeed. I definitely enjoyed it. They’re interviewing some Mexican player now on the field where the Texans play. Pavel Pardo. This kind of reminds me of when I once interviewed MLS All-Stars at Keane College including star Preki who I needed a translator for. I still got the tape. I also interviewed Alexi Lalas and Tony Meola to name a couple. That was really a fun time.

I’d have to say Donovan was the best USA forward and Howard owned in net making a lot of great stops and playing feisty.

Well, that does it for this liveblog. Hope whoever checked it out liked it.