On a Young U.S. Team, DeAndre Yedlin's Experience vs. Mexico Is a Differentiator

Competitive U.S.-Mexico matches tend to take on a unique set of traits, and the 28-year-old right back has seen it all in his seven years with the senior national team.

Amid a sea of young, precocious players in U.S. men's national team camp, all of whom are preparing for what's traditionally among the most intense games the U.S. ever plays, DeAndre Yedlin stands out.

At 28, Yedlin is the elder statesman on this group of otherwise extremely green talents. Sean Johnson (32) and Sebastian Lletget (29) and Walker Zimmerman (28, but has Yedlin by a couple months) may be older, but no player in the current group has experienced the U.S.-Mexico rivalry quite like he has.

Yedlin has a camp-leading 69 caps, seven of which have come against Mexico. He's played against El Tri in friendlies, the one-off 2015 Concacaf Cup final, a Concacaf Nations League final and two World Cup qualifying matches. He's faced Mexico under four U.S. managers (Jurgen Klinsmann, Bruce Arena, Dave Sarachan, Gregg Berhalter). He's played at the Azteca, the Rose Bowl and in Columbus, in front of pro-U.S. crowds and pro-Mexico crowds. Suffice it to say, nothing about Friday night's matchup between the top two teams in Concacaf's World Cup qualifying Octagonal at FC Cincinnati's TQL Stadium should catch him off guard.

'The main thing when it comes to the U.S.-Mexico games especially is the fact that it's just a dogfight," Yedlin said Wednesday. "Obviously they're our main rivals, so there's always going to be that bit of motivation. It's also the fact that we're both very good teams. It's always a fight, it's never the prettiest game, but it usually is quite entertaining.

"We have a good team to be able to match up with them and hopefully we can get three points on Friday."

Yedlin's task, should he start, will be among the most important on the field. Between Jesus "Tecatito" Corona and Hirving "Chucky" Lozano, Mexico features danger on the wings. Yedlin knows this as well as anyone. It was less than a minute into the Nations League final in June that Yedlin found himself 1-v-1 with Corona on the sideline and recovered (with slight help from Weston McKennie) to win their duel, only for his backward pass to Mark McKenzie to be followed by the giveaway that gifted Corona a goal.

"They have dangerous players all over the field," Yedlin said. "We know that, and that's why they're a great team. We want to play our game and be on the ball. We can talk about their wingers and this and that, but we have great players as well that can be very dangerous. I don't think it's anything we haven't faced before, but we do know we have to be cautious with them and try to keep them at bay."

With Sergiño Dest out injured, Yedlin's presumptive role for the U.S. becomes more important. He may have been a more sound and safe choice for this game even if Dest were healthy, given the ups and downs the versatile Barcelona fullback has had with the U.S. when it comes to his defending. But with Dest not available, Reggie Cannon just beginning to get back to becoming a regular again at Boavista (he started the Gold Cup final vs. Mexico) and Borussia Monchengladbach breakout talent Joe Scally in his first senior U.S. camp ("He's a great player, you can already see from training with him and just a little bit of time we've had together," Yedlin said), it sure would be sensible for Yedlin to take the reins on the right.

No matter how the U.S. lines up vs. Mexico, whether it's with three center backs and wingbacks like it did in the Nations League final or with a more standard four like it did in the Gold Cup final, Yedlin is well-versed and capable. As one of three U.S. players carrying a yellow card into the match, the Galatasaray defender will have to be wary of how he defends, for fear of being suspended for a subsequent game, but he's no longer the bright-eyed youngster being thrown into the cauldron—like some of his current teammates—as he was when he first faced Mexico in 2014, on his fast track to making that U.S. World Cup squad.

Experience matters in high-intensity situations like these. The U.S. may sit second in the Octagonal, where the top-three finishers automatically qualify for the 2022 World Cup and the fourth-place finisher goes to an intercontinental playoff (the U.S. is three points behind Mexico and three points clear of fourth-place Panama), but as it has found out through the first six games of qualifying, outlooks can change quite quickly. A home loss vs. Mexico, and suddenly a trip to an improved and reinforced Jamaica side next week becomes more daunting and getting all three points there becomes more urgent. Looking down the line, the U.S. still has three of its toughest games to play among its final seven qualifiers, with trips to Canada, Mexico and Costa Rica looming. While the excitement surrounding the U.S.'s youth movement is understandable and warranted, it's the steady hand of the veteran that could wind up becoming most valuable in Friday's rivalry bout. 

"This is an important game, I don't think it's any secret," Yedlin said. "I think people would probably put us and Mexico as the two teams battling for first place in Concacaf, probably add Canada in there as well. ... With Mexico it's always important to try to take points away from them because they are a very good team and they can be very dangerous."