Winners
BRIAN McBRIDE proved once again he's El Salvador's worst nightmare as he opened the scoring in the USA's 2-0 win with a well-placed 14-yard shot, giving him seven goals in six games against the Salvadorans. EDDIE JOHNSON celebrated his first cap with a tap-in goal after a fine service from Landon Donovan. The win gave the Americans a three-point lead atop Group A in the semifinal round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying and put them in position to clinch a final-round spot in their penultimate game, Wednesday against Panama in Washington, D.C.
PAULO WANCHOPE notched a hat trick as Costa Rica's put on a dazzling performance in a 5-0 win over Guatemala, which was riding an 11-game unbeaten streak. The Ticos' win puts them in a second-place tie with Honduras and within a point of first-place Guatemala. Canada is last in Group B with two points. Wanchope was considered one of the greatest talents to ever come out of Central America, but his career in England was wrecked by injuries and he recently moved to Spanish club Malaga.
JOSE PEKERMAN, in his first game as coach of Argentina, celebrated a 4-2 win over Uruguay. Luciano Figueroa, who plays for Mexico's Cruz Azul, scored twice in the win that keeps the Argentines within one point of first-place Brazil, which beat Venezuela, 5-2, as Kaka and Ronaldo both scored a pair.
Losers
PORTUGAL, runner-up at Euro 2004, were humiliated by the the part-time players of Liechtenstein in a 2-2 tie. Liechtenstein, which has population of 33,000 and is ranked 151st in the world by FIFA, conceded nine goals while losing its first two qualifying games.
ZLATKO KRANJCAR, coach of Croatia, returned home from his team's disappointing 2-2 tie with Bulgaria to find it had been robbed during the game. ''While Croatian players could only watch their advantage melting [against Bulgaria], Kranjcar's assets at home were also disappearing,'' wrote Croatian newspaper Vecernji List. ''From now on, I will have to raise security measures at home during important matches,'' the coach said.
CROWD VIOLENCE. Violence marred weekend action in Africa, where three people died in a crush for tickets before Sunday's match between Guinea and Morocco in Conakry and three more were killed after Togo's win over Mali in Lome. There were also outbreaks of violence in Benin, Liberia and Malawi.
ITALY. The Azzurri suffered a humiliating 1-0 loss to Slovenia Saturday in World Cup qualifying, prompting Coach Marcello Lippi to say, ''I'm bitter, sad, annoyed, angry — take your pick because you can't lose a game like that.''