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Mon, Mar 30th 2009, 12:30

US Salvages tie with late comeback in World Cup Qualifier

Defender Frankie Hejduk scored a header from three yards out in the 88th minute as the U.S. came from two goals down to tie El Salvador 2-2 in a wild match at Estadio Cuscatlán in San Salvador.

The tie gives the U.S. four points through two games of the final round of FIFA World Cup qualifying, putting them in sole possession of first place in the hexagonal table.

The focus for the U.S. shifts immediately to Trinidad & Tobago, whom the U.S. will host Wednesday, April 1, at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn., at 6:45 p.m. CT. Coverage by ESPN2 and Galavision begins at 6:30 p.m. CT and fans can also follow the action live on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker. Ticket sales for that match have surpassed the 16,000 mark, and fans can purchase tickets at ussoccer.com.

“El Salvador played with a tremendous about of energy, and it was our challenge to match it,” said U.S. head coach Bob Bradley. “When we found ourselves behind it took a great effort from our players to fight back and come away with a point. We prepared for this game knowing that El Salvador would be difficult. We found ourselves behind, and that was not part of the plan, and at that point the team spirit and mentality paid off.”

After surrendering goals in the 15th and 72nd minutes, the U.S. rallied when El Salvador was forced to change goalkeepers after starter Miguel Montes went down for the second time with cramps in his legs. Two minutes after reserve goalkeeper Juan Jose Gomez came on, the U.S. struck for the first time in the 77th minute.

The setup for the first goal started deep on the left wing, where DaMarcus Beasley played a long ball that Clint Dempsey flicked forward to Brian Ching at the top of the 18-yard box. Ching looked outside and found Hejduk on a trademark overlapping run. Hedjuk was just outside the penalty area when he ripped a cross to the far post, and Jozy Altidore headed it into the net to cut the El Salvador lead to 2-1 with his second career qualifying goal.

The U.S. continued to press, as they did for much of the final 20 minutes, and leveled the score off a set piece in the 88th minute. Danny Califf, getting the start in place of Oguchi Onyewu who was out with a sprained knee, pumped a long ball from the center circle, and a Salvadoran defender headed it away from Altidore and out for a corner. Beasley played the ensuing corner to the near post, where Gomez came charging out, but defender Marvin Gonzalez cut him off and popped the ball to the far post. The 5 foot 8 inch Hejduk was there and held his ground to head it between a pair of defenders and into the net from three yards out.

Hejduk’s goal was his second-ever in a FIFA World Cup qualifier and first in more than 12 years. Although he now has seven career goals, his last in a qualifier came in his first career start on Dec. 21, 1996, in a 2-2 tie with Guatemala, which also was played in San Salvador. The drought of 12 years and 97 days is the longest span in U.S. history, with Tab Ramos previously going eight years and 130 days between qualifying goals between 1989 and 1997.

The goals scored by El Salvador were the first against the U.S. since Raul Diaz Arce tallied twice on Nov. 16, 1997, in a 4-2 U.S. victory in Foxborough, Mass. The U.S. is now 4-0-3 in qualifying and 13-1-5 overall against El Salvador.

With two shots in the first two minutes, the U.S. was playing well and holding most of the possession early on, but El Salvador struck first 15 minutes in against the run of play. Eliseo Quintanilla took control of a bad touch from Beasley in the U.S. third to start the counterattack. He played the ball to Osael Romero, who found Rodolfo Zelaya open on the right wing. Zelaya played a one-two with Quintanilla to get into a small space in front of the U.S. midfielders and cut a pass that got past the foot of a sliding Carlos Bocanegra and found Romero at the top of the 18-yard box. Quintanilla made a slashing run into the space Bocanegra vacated, and Romero played a first time ball into Quintanilla’s path that the former D.C. United midfielder touched to settle behind the U.S. defense and blasted home inside the far post past Guzan.

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