USMNT vs El Salvador Live Blog

Full Time
Down 2-0 you can't really complain about the draw. We stay top of the table, though I lost 55 cents on Centsports.com. Grades for each player
Guzan 6: Didn't do anything spectacular, didn't do anything atrocious. But Guzan doesn't have the presence back there of Howard, Friedel or Keller.
Pearce 5: Didn't get into the attack at all
(BRILLIANT HEINEKEN AD JUST SHOWED)
Bocanegra 5: A lot of wasted offensive passes
Califf 6: He's certainly not Gooch and at the end just kept chucking long balls in, with lots of time left. However his long ball was the reason they tied the game.
Hejduk 8: In a game that you should have won and you end up with a draw, nobody can get a 10 but Frankie was involved in both goals and he is your right back. Though he did get beat on the second goal, though that was one heck of a cross.
Beasley 5: Never went at anyone, never changed speeds, didn't really attack much. I think he got caught in a bad spot when Jozy came on for Pearce as he needed to drop back a bit.
Bradley 6: Just like against Mexico, Bradley was "in the picture" all the time. You know how they talk about a football player getting on the film at the end of a play. Bradley runs all over, not always with great purpose, but he is always in on 50/50 balls and works hard.
Dempsey 5: Got stuck taking to many touches way to many times.
Donovan 3: Is his loan at Bayern over? Did the Galaxy have a game tonight? Because he certainly wasn't anywhere on this pitch.
Ching 3: Squandered to chances to win the game. And didn't do anything good. When is Bradley going to realize that this is not the Big Ten. We don't need big physical bodies that can't put the ball in and/or through the net.
Altidore 8: Just think if he had been playing at Xerez how good he would be. Maybe Bradley will play start him. Scores a great goal and almost sets up a winner unfortunately he was passing to Ching.
Torres 5: He didn't get much chance to do anything. In his short amount of time he stepped on the pitch and we gave up a goal. He played the ball on the game tying corner. If he is supposed to be the next great midfieler we are going to need to start brewing some midfielders.
Edu N/A: Unlike the idiots at ESPN who will give Edu a 5 and say something stupid. I will not give him a grade he came on for 90 seconds due to a freak accident.


90+7
Ching goes for a bicycle kick instead of turning and facing the goal which he had time to do as the keeper was on the ground. Squanders his second opportunity to win the game. See 90+6

90+6
Brian Ching blows the game winner by kicking it right at the keeper. See 86th minute.

90+5
Edu for Bradley on a blood injury without enough time to fix. Guzan just tried to give anyone wearing red tonight a heart attack.

90+4
Bocanegra dribbling up the field with no pressure and throws it away on a terrible pass to Beasley. We've got about 4 minutes up stoppage time left, depending on what's going on with Bradley

90+2
US Corner kick from Torres lefty outswinger, Bocanegra or Dempsey couldn't quite tell goes for the bike after Gomez (keeper) scrambles around his 6.

90th minute
How much stoppage are we going to have should be no less than 5 minutes. They just showed it 7 minutes. That is a crapload of time for a goal.

87th minute
Corner after Danny Califf throws his third Hail Mary of the last 4 minutes. And my boy Frankie Hejduk puts it in. Anyone who says he's to old, doesn't watch him play enough. The hardest working guy on the field. The US should be looking at 3 points, this keeper is shaking, they have all the momentum and El Salvador is doing exactly what teams can't do. Play not to lose.

86th minute
Hey look, Brian Ching can't catch up to a ball lofted in for him. See 77th minute.

85th minute
This team doesn't have much depth in the midfield. In terms of shape and guys on the bench. Torres is not showing me anything here.

82nd minute
Ladies and Gentleman I present the gay-elected politician in El Salvador... his name is MILK. He will continue to be in power for the next 8 minutes + stoppage time.

77th minute
JOZY! JOZY! JOZY!
Dear Mr. Bradley
Brian Ching is useless, please play Jozy Altidore more often.
Sincerely,
Kyle

75th minute
SLV keeper is done, this is our chance to get some chances. This guy has to be nervous.

71st minute
US needs to score soon. Torres comes in and has a -1 goal differential without being on the pitch for 15 seconds. Guzan is not ready for the World Cup or a qualifier.

58th minute
Free kick play it like a corner, Beasley to hit a left footed in swinger. Over the bar. Good opportunity, and now the El Salvador keeper is hurt. Can't see much in the replay, they are treating it like cramps. But I don't think he's staying on. And Jozy Altidore is coming on!!! They bring out a defender. Will this look like a straight 3-4-3, or does someone drop back. We are approaching 4 minutes from the time of the free kick and the keeper still isn't up yet.

56th minute
Michael Bradley yellow card, first American to get his name in the scorebook. Well Done!

50th minute
Ching on his own and can't do anything with it. What good is a striker that can't take on a defender?

Halftime
After a little excursion in our reptile room, I'm back. I've got to say the US is playing like shite. Luckily El Salvador hasn't been that good either. The goal was nice, but that's all they've really done. They need to come out better in the second half.

23rd minute
Another good opportunity for the US spoiled. They've got a free kick here with a chance. This blogging thing is not as fun as I had hoped. There is to much action to keep typing. I'm done until halftime, unless something cool happens.

17th minute
Corner kick for the US and the female yells Go Gringos. I don't know what she's talking about (nor does she), but gringos, sounds like something hispanic. So I said no more of that.

15th minute
US standing around and jumping in and watching the guy dribble around GOAL to El Salvador. You could see that one coming from the time they started the run. US has owned possession and run of play, very unfortunate.

13th minute
I'm giving Ching the benefit of the doubt on that pass, but he just stood there and waited for the ball. I love when the announcers start talking about how good someone looks 13 minutes into the game. Dellacamera and Harkes saying that Bradley and Kljestan are doing a great job in the midfield because theya re touching the ball.

11th minute
El Salvador earns the games first corner. I'm not huge on Guzan so lets hope that nothing to close comes in on a corner.

8th minute
Great chance for the US, though the player who put in the cross certainly looked offside and then Kljestan (I think) miss hit the finish.

4th minute
First no call of the game... and it's a good one. Ching took a horrific 23 yard shot, shot #1 down earlier. Dempsey also got one off, that was saved.

9:08 PM
A couple friends came over to watch the game with me (YAY! I'm not alone), and the female insists on making brownies, so I have to show her where everything is in the house. But here we go... Bradley goes with pretty much the same lineup as Mexico except Califf comes in for Onyewu and Howard on yellow card suspension (which I maintain that he did on purpose) is replaced by Guzan.

Ching Donovan

Beasley Bradley Kljestan Dempsey

Pearce Bocanegra Califf Hejduk

Guzan

And the Ching drinking game begins shortly. USA in white. El Salvador in blue.

9:02 PM
Pregame begins, lots of blue!
7:49 PM
I owe you guys a blog. It's been a long time and while I'm working on my Miami trip memoirs, I felt it would be a nice token to give you a live World Cup Qualifier blog. I've always wanted to do a live blog (and actually do it live, not type it and then post it). I figure rather than tweeting or status updating, I'll do it in my blog. I'm finally watching Heroes... from Monday the 23rd, so I'll be back shortly.