US Men Tie El Salvador

Hejduk's Late Goal Grabs a Point for Americans

March 30, 2009

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — 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 on Saturday.

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.

"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.

The goals scored by El Salvador were the team’s first against the U.S. since former Revolution striker 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.

The U.S. played the match without first choice goalkeeper Tim Howard, who was serving a yellow card suspension. Onyewu was also a scratch after spraining his knee in training last Wednesday. He could have played with the injury, but was held out with the hope of being 100 percent fit for Wednesday’s match vs. Trinidad & Tobago.

Scoring Summary:
SLV – Eliseo Quintanilla (Osael Romero) 15th minute
SLV – Cristian Castillo (Rodolfo Zelaya) 72
USA – Jozy Altidore (Frankie Hejduk) 77
USA – Frankie Hejduk 88

Lineups:
USA: 18-Brad Guzan; 2-Frankie Hejduk, 14-Danny Califf, 3-Carlos Bocanegra (capt.), 15-Heath Pearce (9-Jozy Altidore, 61); 16-Sacha Kljestan (6-José Francisco Torres, 72), 12-Michael Bradley (13-Maurice Edu, 95+), 10-Landon Donovan, 7-DaMarcus Beasley; 11-Brian Ching, 8-Clint Dempsey

SLV: 18-Miguel Montes (1-Juan Jose Gomez, 75), 12-Manuel Salazar, 3-Marvin González, 2-Mardoqueo Henríquez, 15-Alfredo Pacheco, 6-Julio Martínez, 7-Ramon Sánchez, 17-Cristian Castillo, 8-Osael Romero, 10-Eliseo Quintanilla (4-Dennis Alas, 82), 11-Rodolfo Zelaya (16-Carlos Ayala, 80)

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