hmm i haven’t written a match report of any kind in a while.
the united states got away with this one. only one of their starting eleven bothered to show up, and were it not for some poor goalkeeping, they would have lost a game that alexi lalas, in the studio for ESPN2, had boastfully claimed USA would win comfortably.
USA had a terrible, terrible first half, and still did not show up until about the last quarter of the match. after a bright first five minutes, they lost the ability to hold the ball, and sure enough they conceded early after damarcus beasley carelessly lost the ball in midfield. this led to a quick counterattack down the right that left heath pearce and carlos bocanegra hopelessly out of position. the ball was played inside, where osael romero slipped the ball into eliseo quintanilla’s path. the striker had plenty of time to pick his spot and slot past brad guzan.
the only chance of note for the USA in their dour first half was an effort by ching ruled out for offside just befor halftime. the decision was just about right, though one of el salvador’s defenders almost forgot to spring the offside trap during the free kick.
in the second half, USA continued to labor. the second goal was also from a beasley error; he allowed zelaya to beat him on the byline. zelaya played a wonderful cross onto the head of cristian castillo who nodded across a helpless guzan to make it 2-0.
the gaping deficit roused USA into actually playing football, but the next few minutes were basically a giant drama of el salvadorean injury or time-wasting. still, usa pulled one back after a slick move. brian ching held the ball up and found frankie hejduk rushing down the right wing. hejduk’s cross was nodded in by the substitute jozy altidore, who showed he had not lost his nerve, despite languishing in spain’s second division on loan from villareal.
one injury that was definitely real was that of el salvador’s goalkeeper miguel montes, who up until his injury had not been seriously tested. luckily for USA it was his replacement juan gomez who was at fault for the equaliser. he misjudged a corner, failed to punch, and the ball found its way to the increasingly influential hejduk at the far post. hejduk made no mistake from close range despite the efforts of a host of blue shirts on the line. gomez again flapped at a cross in the final minute of added time; the ball fell to ching, whose overhead kick was cleared off the line.
it’s hard to tell which side will have felt more satisfied with a point.
man of the match: frankie hejduk (USA). best moment: released from his shackles with USA at 2-0 down, he finally pinned cristian castillo back, latching onto brian ching’s pass to create his side’s first goal.