Many were left disappointed after the U-23 US men's national team failed last week in their quest to qualify for this summer's Olympic Games in Tokyo, including the LA Galaxy's Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez.
It may come as a surprise that the high-profile Mexico forward would not take the US' failure as discourse for a long-standing rivalry, instead choosing to interpret the rules of rivalry differently.
"I didn't come here to spend holidays," Chicharito told ESPN+ show Futbol Americas. "I came here to, in a way, improve the league. I want to see all the young talent in USA improve like my teammates in Mexico are doing it."
Hernandez's interest in leaving his impact on American soccer is part of the collaborative vision he has of the US-Mexico rivalry. The player said he sees room for both national team programs to learn from each other.
"There's a way Mexico needs to learn from USA, and USA needs to learn from Mexico," he said. "That's why that rivalry is so special because both of them can improve in each way, can teach some things, so both countries in this sport can improve."
Ultimately, he was rooting for the US' success at last month's Olympic qualifying tournament.
"I want both Mexico and USA to qualify for the Olympics," he said. "Why not?"
