The USMNT and México have met once again in a big CONCACAF match. And the Americans ran out once again with a familiar scoreline, winning the game 2-0.

After struggling against Jamaica for 90 plus minutes, the USMNT looked night and day from that match, playing an incredibly intense game against their biggest rival.

Gregg Berhalter decided to go with Haji Wright at top, who wasn’t even in the initial call-up for this camp. After coming off the bench to score twice on Thursday, the big striker earned his start and also kept the Mexican backline pretty busy.

The veteran Tim Ream also came in at the back and although he may not have the athleticism of Miles Robinson, his calming presence was a huge factor in containing México’s attack.

Sergiño Dest, who was suspended for the previous game, was preferred over Joe Scally and although he had some questionable moments defending as always, he was great going forward.

Last but not least, Tyler Adams came into the midfield despite people questioning his fitness, and they were right to do so. This was just his first start in a year. 

Since last March, he’s gone through two surgeries and only had three appearances. He didn’t play more than 40 minutes in any of them.

But last night, not only did he start but he was an enforcer in midfield, and just when we thought the first half would end scoreless, Adams scored an absolute golázo from about 40 yards out.

Because he is on a minute restriction, Johnny Cardoso came in at the second half, and also played pretty well in the deep-lying midfield role.

Man of the Match for may people though was Gio Reyna. He arguably had the game of his life, playing deeper in midfield but wasn’t afraid to get stuck into tackles, constantly tracked back to win the ball, and also contributed to attack.

The 21-year-old then scored an amazing goal in the second half and then pointed to his parents, Claudio Reyna and Danielle Egan Reyna, to celebrate.

He now has four goals and four assists in the last seven USMNT games, and was give the Player of the Tournament award. It's great to see that despite lack of game time at the club level, Reyna is still one of the most important players for the team.

México never really looked to threaten the USMNT, and Matt Turner had a pretty comfortable night. 

They have now gone five games without scoring against the USMNT in a competitive setting, and they have gone through three coaches at that time— Tata Martino, Diego Cocca, and Jimmy Lozano.

Even if it’s becoming clear that the USMNT have better players from top to bottom, it’s a worrying sign for México to keep struggling against their biggest rival no matter who the coach is.

For the USMNT though, this was a big boost ahead of the Copa América, and arguably their best performance since Gregg Berhalter’s second spell in charge which started in September.

“It’s clear who we are, we are a high intensity, high pressing team,” Berhalter said when asked how much the team has improved since his return.

“We are dynamic, we are fast, and we can get behind teams.”

“If you watch our team, they would be things you’d be concerned about if you’re our opponent, and that’s the mark of a good group.”

There are less than three months left until the Copa América, and the USMNT will play two friendlies before the tournament— against Colombia and then Brazil.

The opponents are interesting because the USMNT will most likely face one of them once they reach the quarterfinal stage, and can face the other in the semifinal— given how the draw has been made.

Under Berhalter, the USMNT can go toe to toe with their opposition, even against big teams like they did against England in the World Cup. The question will remain what can they do against a team with a low-block, and what are the ideas if they have most of the possession.

It’s a week of celebration for Berhalter, but he will have a lot of thinking to do afterwards as the performance against Jamaica can’t be repeated again.