Kevin Baxter: Mexico's national soccer team must deal with an age-old problem

And they're not even the best players in that league since 14 of the top 19 goal scorers and four of the five top goalkeepers in Liga MX were born outside Mexico.

That's a problem.

"The time at which they send the players to the European clubs, that makes a difference," Lozano said when asked how the U.S. has separated itself from Mexico. "Today they're in very good leagues, they compete in different [kinds of] games every week."

One of those players is Reyna, who, at 17, became the youngest American to play in the German Bundesliga and, at 21, has already appeared in 125 games in all competitions in Europe.

Less than a year ago, U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter's future with the national team was very much in doubt, largely because of a row involving Reyna and his parents that erupted during the World Cup. In the Nations League, Reyna saved Berhalter twice, assisting on the two extra-time goals that beat Jamaica in the semifinal, then putting the final nail in Mexico's coffin with his second-half goal in the final.

Off the field the Mexican fans were even worse, pelting the U.S. players with beer and other trash after Reyna's goal in the 63rd minute. U.S. captain Christian Pulisic said he had beer thrown at him before the game started.

In the first Nations League final in 2021, Reyna needed medical attention after being struck by a bottle thrown from the stands while he was celebrating Pulisic's game-winning goal in extra time. That game, in Denver, was delayed twice by the officials after fans in the pro-Mexican crowd shouted an anti-gay slur on U.S. goal kicks. Last year's tournament semifinal, which the U.S. won 3-0, was also stopped twice by the chant, as was Sunday's game, which also featured a brawl between supporters of the two teams in the stadium's second deck.

CONCACAF responded once again by clutching its pearls and issuing another toothless statement, saying it "condemns the discriminatory chanting" and "will continue to urge fans to support their teams positively and with respect for the opposition."

Sure. That ought to do it.

What CONCACAF didn't do, at least publicly, was issue any penalties — not that any punishment is likely to make a difference as long as the shameless Mexican soccer federation continues to ignore and deflect the issue.

When Mexico was sanctioned by FIFA for incidents at two games during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the federation challenged the minor fines of $114,000. And that wasn't the first time Mexico has been penalized because of the chant; the federation was fined and fans were banned from games after incidents during qualifying matches for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups as well as a qualifying match for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Mexican soccer is at a crossroads. On the field, it desperately needs to invest in youth development at home while sending its top players abroad. Off the field, it needs to accept responsibility for the behavior of its supporters and to work with CONCACAF and FIFA to encourage them to teach soccer like a game and not a gladiator match.

Only then will the U.S. vs. Mexico be a rivalry again.