BOY, PRINCETON'LL GIVE ANYONE A DEGREE THESE DAYS:

U.S. rallies for 2-all tie with El Salvador in World Cup qualifier (AP, 3/29/09)

Two goals down and 20 minutes from what would have been one of the worst defeats to a regional rival in years, the United States rallied for a dramatic draw. [...]

Ranked just 106th in the world, El Salvador built a 2-0 lead against the No. 17 Americans before a boisterous crowd of 30,500 at Estadio Cuscatlan on goals by Eliseo Quintanilla in the 15th minute and Crisian Castillo in the 72nd. [...]

Altidore entered in the 61st minute and beat backup goalkeeper Juan Jose Gomez, who entered two minutes earlier after cramps felled Miguel Montes for the second time. Altidore scored on a header from 3 yards off a cross from Hejduk, who made an overlapping run and took a feed from Ching, who had taken a headed pass from Clint Dempsey.

"The ball came to the back post, and I was just at the right place at the right time," said Altidore, who scored his three goal in eight international appearances. "I was just trying to put in on frame. When you are that close, you don't have to place it that well."

Hejduk scored his seventh international goal on an open 3-yard header -- his first goal in qualifying since a 1996 match against Guatemala in El Salvador -- after Landon Donovan's corner kick bounded off defender Marvin Gonzalez.

"Typically at that point I don't go up on corner kicks, but it was the dying moments," Hejduk said. "I made a near post run and then ducked to the far post and no one was with me. I don't know what happened, but the ball came to the back post and next thing you know it was on my head."

Apparently our coach isn't aware how wide a soccer field is. With El Salvador clogging the middle for the whole game, just trying to hold down our score in a sure loss, he had us play up the middle for 75 minutes.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 29, 2009 6:03 AM