By Ivan Orozco

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey - Mexico coach Javier "El Vaso" Aguirre walked past the press box at Soldier Field in Chicago last week holding a book in his left hand.

He was making his way to a luxury box where he would watch his team beat Costa Rica in penalty kicks in the second semifinal of the night. It was Aguirre's final game of his three-match suspension.

"I'm reading The De Vinci Code so I can learn dirty English," Aguirre said to a reporter who asked what the Mexican coach was reading as he walked by.
It was the fictional story Aguirre probably read while the United States faced Honduras in the first semifinal.

And Aguirre was all about stories the last month.

He referred to the Gold Cup as the first story. It was the story that featured a young group of players as the main characters working to fight off the pressure that came from the fans and Mexican media after recent unfavorable results.

And the second story: El Tri's anticipated World Cup qualifying match August 12 at Estadio Azteca against the United States.

But the American team Aguirre expects to face that day will be much different from the squad Mexico beat 5-0 in the Gold Cup final Sunday.

Aguirre said he was relieved to lead El Tri to its fifth Gold Cup title and its first win against the United States outside of Mexico since 1999. He said the result Sunday relieves some pressure, for now.

"I can tell you that tomorrow is another story," Aguirre said. "We go into the World Cup qualifiers with six points and with an urgency to win at home. We grew, but the story ends here. We should not take it with us. Let's soak in the good things we had here but we can't live off the past."

It will be back to work for Aguirre as he prepares for what could be his toughest challenge since hired for a second stint with El Tri in April.

"The pressure exists today and it always will," Aguirre said. "(Sunday) I will sleep well and tomorrow, the pressure begins again. Living with pressure is not necessarily a bad thing. It keeps you on your toes. We know the U.S. will change a few names but they're going to continue to be orderly and their style does not change."

Mexico's style might not also change but its players will.

The first step for Aguirre is to begin choosing players to fill his 18-man roster for the match against the United States.

Aguirre dodged the question about when he'll know who will be on his list but there are speculations that the European-based players will be the base of the team.

Aguirre didn't go into details about what other Gold Cup players could get a shot for the next match.

Of those who started during the Gold Cup, at least four will probably have a slot on the roster. That includes goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, captain Gerardo Torrado, Carlos Vela and Giovani dos Santos.

The Americans will probably do the same by bringing in mostly European-based players. And coach Bob Bradley is hoping Sunday's defeat can quickly be forgotten.

"There is no doubt that you want competitors and we are competitors," Bradley said. "When you have a game that feels like this at the end you don't forget it. It's something that will always be on the inside, talk about, be honest about and hopefully we can use it in a way that we're better from it today."

Aguirre will also try to forget some things about the Gold Cup.

Topping his list of things to leave behind is his incident with Panama player Ricardo Phillips in Houston where he kicked the player near Mexico's bench, resulting in his suspension.

"I had an unpleasant experience for 10 seconds," Aguirre said. "And those are 10 seconds of my life that I regret. But the group lifted me. It endured my leadership. I can say that we are both strong, the team and I. That's our story."