United States 2 - El Salvador 1

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -- U.S. Soccer fans left the lovely little Rio Tinto Stadium tonight with a collective, "Whew! That was close."

Landon Donovan showed why he continues to be the most important man in a U.S. shirt, supplying two invaluable assists on the night he became the all-time U.S. leader in qualifier appearances. At just 27 years old.

(Sooner or later, all the Donovan bashers -- and they are legion -- will simply have to give the man his due.)

Who else played well in the 2-1 win over El Salvador? Carlos Bocanegra was a a cop on the beat in the back, shepherding a rear guard that was too young and too inexperienced -- and got punished once for it.

Charlie Davies made a lot happen with energy and fearless drive. Tim Howard didn't do anything wrong.

Otherwise, there were a bunch of "just OK" nights for the U.S. players, along with a couple that were bad to the point of being alarming. Jonathan Bornstein may have played his way off the national team pool. My complete game recap and player ratings are here at ESPN Soccernet. Your thoughts? Who was rated too high or too low? Please share.