The sky did not fall in the Azteca Stadium on Sunday, and for the Mexicans the world – or at least the soccer part of it – is now back to normal. The fear of defeat by the Americans has been banished, and the Mexicans’ 2-1 triumph in the World Cup qualifying game proved a lot easier than expected.

Not least because there was fear on the American side of the ball as well. And why not? The Azteca, a mile and a half above sea level and packed with over 100,000 fans, is a fearsome place for visiting teams. The Americans have never won there – or indeed anywhere in Mexico, where their 71-year record is now 0-22-1. Nonetheless, the U.S. had won five of the last seven contests against the Mexicans, and was riding a 31-game unbeaten streak against its rivals in the Concacaf region.

American coach Bruce Arena chose to start cautiously, with a five-man midfield formation and just one forward. That was logical enough, for the Mexicans were expected to come storming forward right from the start; surviving that initial frenzied onslaught would be the key.

But the Mexicans, too, were wary. They played it cool, kept the pressure on, and pounced on a couple of nicely created chances to score two rapid-fire goals – from Jared Borgetti in the 30th minute, and Antonio Naelson in 32nd.

The wild scenes around the Mexican bench as the second goal went in told the story: The nightmare was over, the gringos were not going to win this one – indeed, with two-thirds of the game still to play, there was the real possibility of more Mexican goals to come.

That didn’t happen, partly because the U.S. staged a mini-rally at the beginning of the second half and pulled a goal back through Eddie Lewis, partly because American goalkeeper Kasey Keller made a pair of excellent saves, but mostly because Mexico casually wasted a string of excellent scoring opportunities.

Arena blamed his team’s poor performance on the altitude, claiming the American players were “completely done at the 30-minute mark.” If so, they recovered pretty well to put on a spirited second half.

The problem was not lack of effort, but poor defensive positioning and incoherent attacking play. Using Eddie Johnson as the sole forward was not a good idea; he caused only minor problems for the Mexican defenders. DaMarcus Beasley showed none of his explosive dribbling ability, and when Landon Donovan did move forward, he usually negated his own attacking skills with sloppy passing.

Late in the game, Arena went for broke as he jettisoned all the hallowed guidelines of cautious coaching and replaced two defenders – Carlos Bocanegra and Steve Cherundolo – with two forwards, Pat Noonan and Brian McBride. The audacious move produced little effect – neither the desperately needed goal for the USA, nor the feared counterattack goal for Mexico.

Mexico was the better team. But then, it nearly always is in the Azteca, regardless of the opponent. In retrospect, its fears of an American victory look absurd – but they are the key to understanding just how unusual Sunday’s game was.

This was a unique weekend for soccer, one that showed just how far the USA has advanced in the world’s game. On Saturday and Sunday, a welter of World Cup qualifying games (77 in all), was played in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Most of the sport’s heavyweights – Brazil, Italy, France, England, Argentina, and the Netherlands were in action.

Yet the one qualifier that stood out for atmosphere and passion, the one that drew the biggest attendance and mattered most intensely to the fans, was the Mexico-USA clash. The torrid atmosphere surrounding the game was all the more remarkable because the result meant little as far as the World Cup goes – both teams will qualify for Germany 2006 without much trouble.

What was at stake, evidently, was pride. In less than a decade, Mexico-USA has developed into one of soccer’s great rivalries. It is a match-up that gives new strength to a faltering tradition in the sport, that of the clasicos, games played with feeling between longtime national rivals, games with a colorful history.

The club clasicos – Liverpool vs. Manchester United, Juventus vs. AC Milan, Boca Juniors vs. River Plate – are as strong as ever, but they thrive on local feelings. The globalization of soccer, meanwhile, has not been kind to international rivalries. Playing weak neighboring countries is no longer considered worth the bother.

The history of the great England-Scotland rivalry tells the story. Their enmity began the tradition of games between national teams back in the 19th century. For both countries, it was the one game in the year that meant everything – until the reality of the outside world came calling.

By the 1980s, it was clear that neither England nor Scotland could claim to be of major importance on the international scale. A decade later, the sad, almost total decline of Scottish soccer rendered the great annual clash a non-event, and it has now disappeared from the calendar.

Italy-Austria used to stir soccer hearts, but that was 50 years ago. Spain-Portugal ought to fill the bill, but it has always lacked that special edge. England-Germany? Maybe, but a crucial factor is lacking: A true clasico enmity needs a common border. Germany-Netherlands comes closer.

In truth, only one of soccer’s venerable rivalries still operates at full emotional power: Argentina-Brazil. The mere thought of these games is enough to set pulses racing, the vision of a jammed stadium – and they are always jammed – exploding with a visceral roar as the teams enter the field, Brazil in their bright yellow shirts, Argentina in their blue and white stripes. Games with history, games drenched with drama and action even before the kickoff.

That scenario is beginning to surround the USA-Mexico clashes. Admittedly, for the moment, this is a rather unilateral clasico; the stadium bulging with passionate fans has yet to be seen north of the border.

No matter. American soccer is now strong enough to be feared by its soccer-mad neighbor. And important enough to be at the center of the soccer world’s attention. A colorful rivalry has been born. For the moment, most of the passion is coming from south of the border, but the growing number of American fans will soon add their own excitement. They’ll get their chance on October 3, when the rivalry continues with another World Cup qualifying clash, this one in Columbus.