Sometimes the simplest chants have the greatest effect. 
Dos a cero, dos a cero, .. repeat ad infinitem… it's not lyrical or witty, but when the USA have beaten their neighbours 2 - 0 at home in the Columbus Crew stadium in Columbus Oho for the last three encounters … then it starts to become pretty powerful.
This time the USA did it again, unbelievably, 2 - 0 for the 4th time - same score, same stadium, same opposition. Remarkable. And so was the atmosphere.
Unlike most British football stadia, the Crew home is in the middle of state land and is surrounded by massive car-parks. Put this together with the American tradition of tailgating and there was a carnival atmosphere for hours beforehand. Think of Twickenham's west car park but ten times the size, a lot more bbq and without the barbours. Flags, horns, shirts and and nearly all brandishing scarves, given out by the organisers on entry, everywhere. Fans are happy even before the kick-off.
Inside the stadium the crowd was dominated by the USA fans which was up on the last couple of occasions where there had been a stronger presence of Mexico supporters. A key point here is that they're Mexico supporters, not necessarily Mexicans. There are some fascinating social and sporting dynamics around US citizens who support Mexico on the basis of their Mexican heritage - and the same goes for other latino audience segments. All of which leads to some interesting challenges for the MLS league and teams when addressing a football fanbase with mixed loyalties - and a resonance for the Britons of the Tebbit "cricket test" issues.
When 90% of the 20,000 capacity stadium are scarf-waving Americans, you can imagine what the rendition of the national anthem was like. 'Rousing' or 'Empassioned' would be a good start on a long list of adjectives.
Sponsors were happy too - lots of fans in and around the stadium for a long while beforehand, with lots of fan engagement opportunities. I counted 3 planes dragging messages (one with a hashtag) and two blimps circling overhead - one of which had a massive LED screen on the underside.
Getting a phone signal wasn't impossible. The Crew stadium isn't as much of a faraday cage as most British grounds. I didn't pick up wifi, but there was a lot of instagramming, selfies, tweeting and posting from people around me.
And then there was the game. Mexico have had all sorts of internal trouble, but the USA was without key players through injury and suspension. The rise of MLS soccer was reaffirmed by the fact that 6 of the 11 men on the field play for clubs in the MLS - and even better that the two goal scorers were both MLS natives. Highlights here.
The organisers put on a fantastic day - another example of great event experience at football games across the pond.
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