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USA, Mexico resume soccer rivalry in a Rose Bowl showdown

Soccer

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) Jurgen Klinsmann realizes the Rose Bowl might feel like enemy turf when his U.S. men's soccer team takes the fabled field Saturday night.

That's because the Americans are hosting Mexico in a one-game playoff between the last two Gold Cup champions. El Tri might be the most popular sports team in the Los Angeles area outside the Lakers, and the sold-out stands are guaranteed to be filled with a majority of green-clad fans roaring for the home team's painful defeat.

The prospect doesn't bother the U.S. players or their coach, who knows that the evening is seen by many as a referendum on his four-year tenure.