U.S. attack finds second-half stride against El Salvador at Cuscatlan, but settles for tie They came looking for three points and walked away with one. In Steve Sampson’s words a tie would be “acceptable but not desirable,” but the sentiment after the U.S. national team tied El Salvador in front of 28,000 noisy Salvadoran fans at Cuscatlan Stadium June 29, was that Sampson’s starting lineup left a lot to be desired. Previous matches had raised questions about the U.S. attack. Who, for example was the ideal foil for Eric Wynalda. What most people had failed to ask was: What happens when the Finisher gets banged up? So it was with the El Salvador game. Wynalda suffered a groin pull against Israel, stayed in Miami with the team, but failed to make the trip to Central America. Other strikers vied for a start before Sampson chose David Wagner and Jovan Kirovski. Roy Lassiter, the team’s one out-and-out box player, sat on the bench, guaranteed some playing time if nothing was going on up front. Nothing was. The U.S. labored through a dismal, disjointed first half, barely able to string three passes together. Lazy balls floated between Marcelo Balboa and Alexi Lalas across the middle. Thankfully for the U.S. they went unpunished. There was a marked lack of understanding between the wide defenders Eddie Pope and Jeff Agoos and their midfield colleagues, Ernie Stewart and Cobi Jones. Where the width of Cuscatlan could have been exploited and the Salvadoran defense stretched, Jones and Stewart moved inside, bunching up the midfield. The creative spark came not from Claudio Reyna ù benched because of a perceived lack of match fitness and a host of vague reasons that can loosely be described as other distractions ù but from the midfield tandem of John Harkes and Mike Sorber. Both provided heaps of effort, but neither was ever likely to provide the cultured passes of Reyna. Besides, when a ball did make it into the opposing half, there was seldom a player there to receive it. In fact, on a few occasions the ball ended up being passed back for Friedel to punt forward. Kirovski ended up dropping back into midfield, too deep to make an impact, while Wagner’s display bordered on the pitiful. Slotted into the lineup for his ability to hold the ball and his ability to distribute the ball to his colleagues, Wagner spent the early going on the receiving end of some rough treatment by Luis Oscar Lazo, Wilfredo Sanabria and naturalized Serb Vladan Vicevic. “I was not happy with the first half,” said Sampson. “A lot of that was due to the fact that Ernie and Cobi were tucking in and not staying wide. “That was a key adjustment we made at halftime.” Asked if that was the last time Wagner, who struggled to stay upright, would see time in a U.S. jersey, Sampson said: “That’s a good question. We’ll have to wait and see how he does with his new team [FC Guetersloh of the German Second Division] … I would have started Kirovski with Eric, had he been fit.”

Salvadorans lack punch

But the Salvadorans were not without their own problems. Milovan Djoric sat in the stands ù the front row behind the team’s bench to be exact, popping over the fence for one hysterical second-half exchange. William Renderos was paired with Raul Diaz Arce in attack. Mauricio Cienfuegos played behind the front two, with Ronald Cerritos and Elias Montes taking up the wide positions. Renderos worked hard but his understanding with Diaz Arce was lacking, while Cienfuegos, shepherded by Sorber out of danger, pulled some nice midfield moves but didn’t create a good scoring chance in open play. “We need another striker,” said Djoric, who plans to find an unnamed Polish striker, who plays in Belgium. “Raul [Diaz Arce] is good for a goal a game. We just need someone else to supply another.” Set plays were another matter, though. In the 20th minute, Pope brought down Cienfuegos just outside the penalty area. Cienfuegos took the resultant free kick himself. The ball sailed toward the top corner and hit the crossbar. Jorge Rodriguez headed the rebound straight at Friedel and the U.S. keeper batted the ball out if danger. “I got a little touch,” said Friedel. “I hope to think that was enough to push it out of danger.” For the U.S., the main offensive threat came from Lalas on the visiting team’s set pieces. Popping up at the near post on corners and throw-ins, Lalas succeeded in flicking the ball with the back of his head and confusing El Salvador’s defense, but there was no one either in the middle or at the far post to deliver the final blow.

Harkes out for Costa Rica

Blows of another kind cost Harkes a yellow card, his second of the Hexagonal, and a place in the lineup against Costa Rica Sept. 7. In the 27th minute, while the U.S. was waiting to take a throw-in, the U.S. captain got into a shoving match with Alexander Amaya. “[Amaya] headbutts me in the back of the head and then spits at me as he runs past,” said Harkes. “I caught him on the chin with my elbow and the linesman saw it. “I’m very disappointed not to be available for the next match.” But Harkes can gain some consolation from his part in the U.S. goal, which came in the 52nd minute. Roy Lassiter was sent in for Wagner at the start of the second half and Stewart and Jones switched flanks. There was an instant improvement. Harkes took a quick throw to Stewart midway inside the Salvadoran half. Stewart played the ball back and Harkes lofted a diagonal ball to the far post, where Lassiter ghosted in to fire a low left-footed volley past keeper Raul Garcia. “Roy adds great speed and a quick finish,” said Sampson. “He has mobility and caused all sorts of problems.” “[Sampson] said he needed me as a substitute to change the rhythm of the game,” said Lassiter. “I understood it and accepted it.” Lassiter’s trademark airplane celebration was met by dead silence from the Salvadoran fans, who had kept up a steady drumbeat and piercing whistles throughout the game. But the quiet was only temporary as the home team equalized nine minutes later. As the ball went out of play from an Elias Montes shot, Bolivian referee Rene Ortube initially signaled for a goal kick then changed his mind after extended Salvadoran protests. Cienfuegos took a short corner to Lazo, who ran between Lalas and Pope before playing the ball across the goalmouth. The ball rolled invitingly to Diaz Arce, who missed with his left foot, but connected with his right. Wrongfooted, Friedel could only bat the ball into the net. “We let [Lazo] come inside and he found Diaz Arce,” said Friedel. “He mis-hit it with his left foot and then the ball bobbled onto his right. By that time I’d already committed myself.” But the equalizer failed to spur on the Salvadorans. Quite the opposite, in fact. “At times it seemed they were using two sweepers out there,” said Harkes.

U.S. needs to go for jugular

Much of that had to do with the arrival of Reyna in the 70th minute. The Wolfsburg-bound midfielder was joined seven minutes later by Mason, who came on for a flagging Stewart and added some extra speed on the flank. Reyna’s 73rd-minute pass found Harkes, whose shot was parried by Garcia. Jones picked up the loose ball and saw his shot flash across the goalmouth. Two minutes later. Reyna played a ball to Agoos. Agoos found Jones, who shot weakly at Garcia. Five minutes from time, a Harkes cross from the right flank flew through Garcia’s hands only for Pope to head wide. And shortly before the final whistle good work by Sorber and Reyna was capped by a Lassiter shot that hit the crossbar. “We’re not satisfied ù we wanted three points,” said Friedel. “But any time you get a tie on the road, you can’t take it lightly. “El Salvador has given eight points up at home. We want as many teams out of the picture, although that’s easier said than done.” One U.S Soccer official was more succinct. “We need to learn how to go for the jugular,” he said. Had Lassiter and Reyna started, that might have been the case. But with points on the road from two of their three matches and Costa Rica’s form currently in a tailspin after the Copa America, the U.S. still looks set to snare one of the three CONCACAF berths. You just wish they looked better doing it. by Soccer America Senior Editor Duncan Irving