EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — With a fifth Gold Cup trophy in its possession, the Mexican soccer team turns its attention to more worldly matters.

So does the United States.

After finally earning a win against the Americans on U.S. soil with a 5-0 romp Sunday that gave them their first such victory in a decade, the Mexicans will carry surging confidence into an Aug. 12 World Cup qualifier against their archrivals from the north.

It's a critical home game at Azteca Stadium for Mexico, which stands only fourth in CONCACAF qualifying. The United States is second, and only the top three automatically advance.

"This is a huge step for us in the process," said game MVP Giovani Dos Santos, who scored a goal and drew a penalty kick. "It gives us a lot of confidence. We've been working very hard and taking a lot of criticism. But we made the best out of it. We put a lot of heart into this."

They also put a lot of balls into the net in the second half before an overwhelmingly pro-Mexico crowd of 79,156 at Giants Stadium. Captain Gerardo Torrado scored on the penalty kick in the 56th minute, then the inexperienced U.S. squad came unglued while El Tri soared.

"The win injects us with some motivation, confidence and maturity," Dos Santos said.

But his coach, Javier Aguirre, tried to downplay any relevance to Aug. 12, when both sides will have different rosters. U.S. coach Bob Bradley coached the Americans to a runner-up finish in the Confederations Cup in South Africa last month, then gave most of the players a pass for the Gold Cup. Those regulars will be at Azteca.

"The Gold Cup is over and now it's a different story," Aguirre said. "We leave, we celebrate and we are happy. But I don't want to mix two different things."

The Mexicans were 0-9-2 since a March 1999 victory at San Diego. But as the green-clad fans rocked Giants Stadium, Dos Santos and Carlos Vela scored 5 minutes apart despite several brilliant saves by Troy Perkins. Indeed, it seemed the goalkeeper was the only American on the field during the 11-minute blitz.