Robinson readying young U.S. for Mexico: Not a friendly - ESPN

PHOENIX — United States defender Antonee Robinson said no one is going into Saturday's friendly against Mexico «thinking this is a friendly» and that he has told the younger players on the roster to expect an even higher level of feistiness than they saw at the end of Tuesday's 4-2 win over Chile.

Robinson captained the U.S. for the first time in the win over Chile and hopes for a similar result against El Tri, which has won the past two games in the rivalry, including the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup final.

«I feel like ever since I first played against Mexico, it's always been the same,» Robinson said before Thursday's training session. «It doesn't matter whether it's a qualifier or a friendly, Nations League, Gold Cup, it's always a fierce competition. You want to win. It feels really personal, and you want to be the winner of that. I'd say a derby in that kind of sense.

»And that's what we're going to look to bring now. No one's walking into this thinking it's a friendly."

Robinson's sentiments were echoed by teammate Sergiño Dest, who was sent off in the 2023 Concacaf Nations League semifinal in which the USMNT triumphed 3-0.

«I feel like it's the real culture and the real passion of football,» Dest said about matches against Mexico. «The rivalries between teams in general are always amazing to see. And this is one of them as well. Playing with America against Mexico is one of the best games here. And yeah, it's going to be a tough game. Sometimes, there will be fights, sometimes there won't.

»But we play on home soil, so we got to show our passion as well to them and that we're a great team, and they can be aggressive like that against us because we have a great brotherhood."

For many players on the U.S. team, this will