Hello and welcome to the L.A. Times weekly soccer newsletter. I’m Kevin Baxter, the Times’ soccer beat writer, and this week I’m in Nashville, where the U.S. men’s national team continues its challenging post-World Cup schedule Tuesday with a friendly against Mexico.
The U.S.-Mexico rivalry is one of the most intense in international soccer, although that may be tempered a bit this year with both teams in the midst of massive rebuilding efforts under interim coaches. But the fact that the match will be played on the 17th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks didn’t escape the notice of the U.