By Ridge Mahoney Senior Editor If the U.S. is knocked out in Sunday’s CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinal, as was the case in the 2000 edition, the mostly MLS squad will suffer another black eye in the aftermath of contraction. That was a business failure; a loss Sunday would be deemed a competitive collapse and a much more serious defeat than in 2000, when the U.S. lost to Colombia on penalties after a 2-2 tie in the Orange Bowl. “I thought we played well in that game,” recalled Coach Bruce Arena. “And we lost on penalties. That’s a crapshoot. You can’t really call it a defeat.” The Americans must again contend with a hostile Southern California crowd Sunday. More than 42,000 fans came to the Rose Bowl last Saturday to see Mexico beat El Salvador, 1-0. Mexico’s quarterfinal match against South Korea precedes the U.S.-El Salvador game. A loss to El Salvador, which hasn’t played in a World Cup since 1982 and failed to reach the final round of CONCACAF qualifying last year, would definitely be classified as a setback. The Salvadorans scraped into the quarterfinals by beating Guatemala, 1-0, Wednesday in the final Group A match. The countries have met seven times in the past decade. They have been spirited, if infrequent, meetings. In the 1996 Gold Cup, the U.S. beat El Salvador, 2-0, at nearby Anaheim Stadium. After the game, dozens of Sam’s Army members were chased through the parking lot by angry Salvadoran fans. Seven months later, in the Los Angeles Coliseum, Salvadoran fans pelted American players with cups and debris when goalscorers Joe-Max Moore and Eric Wynalda taunted them during a 3-1 U.S. win. Moore had tied a U.S. record in 1993 by scoring four goals in a 7-0 rout of El Salvador in the Los Angeles Coliseum. He actually scored five, but one shot slipped through a gap in the net and went undetected by match officials. The nations played twice in 1997 during the final qualifying phase for the 1998 World Cup: a 1-1 tie in San Salvador and a 4-2 win at Foxboro Stadium, in which Brian McBride scored two goals. McBride has started the first two games of the Gold Cup. He was paired with Ante Razov in a 2-1 win over South Korea and with Josh Wolff in the victory over Cuba. “I thought Brian and I played really well today,” said Wolff after the Cuba match. “I was able to be a little bit better on the timing of his flicks, able to get behind him and support him when he won some balls.” McBride put away a penalty kick for the goal against Cuba after DaMarcus Beasley was body-blocked in the penalty area. “We were trying to have Brian and Wolffie play back to our midfield with Landon and Chris [Armas] and have them play over the top to me and Cobi [Jones],” said Beasley of the game plan against Cuba. “The wings were wide open today so we tried to utilize our speed on the outside and get at them.” McBride played only five of 15 national team games in 2001 because of injuries and a recurrence of a mysterious blood clot. “I feel like I’ve been missing out,” said McBride, whose goal was his 15th for the U.S. but his first from the penalty spot. “I can’t control things like injuries but the best thing I can do is continue to play well.” Arena stated finding the right partner for McBride is one of his priorities. Two U.S. attackers are with their English club teams and not available for this tournament: Moore (Everton) and Jovan Kirovski (Crystal Palace). McBride’s Columbus Crew teammate Jeff Cunningham has come off the bench in both games to earn his second and third caps as another attacking option. He set up Beasley for a superb winning goal against South Korea with a clever lob. The coach’s concerns include his players’ health. A virus tore through the team last week and hampered the fitness of several players. After-effects of the virus and playing two games in three days prompted Arena to give his players a day off Wednesday. The coach must also decide about Landon Donovan, who has contributed to all three goals the U.S. has scored at the Gold Cup but left the 1-0 win over Cuba last Monday 10 minutes into the second half because of a calf injury. Donovan did not train Thursday but was on the field Friday. His availability shapes the lineup, since he has played attacking midfielder at the Gold Cup but can also play up front.