The 2011 CONCACAF Under-17 Championships were down to the quarterfinals, which is most important because it is the round in which the winners qualify for the U-17 World Cup this June in Mexico. For the United States, qualification for the World Cup wasn't just on the line, but also their run as the only country to have qualified for every U-17 World Cup since the biennial tournament began in 1985.
USA Defeats El Salvador In Extra Time To Qualify For U-17 World Cup
The United States had little trouble in the group stage of the tournament hosted by Jamaica. The U.S. went right through the group stage by defeating Cuba 3-1 and Panama 1-0, but if they lost to El Salvador in Tuesday’s quarterfinal, they would be eliminated from the tournament and forced to watch the World Cup from home. El Salvador finished second in their group, but it was only a two-team group after Haiti withdrew from the tournament so there wasn’t a ton to be taken from that finish.
A lively start by the Yanks put El Salvador on the back foot and it paid off quickly when San Diego native Alejandro Guido got on the end of a cross by Joe Amon and headed the ball past the keeper for a 1-0 U.S. lead just four minutes in.
While the early goal wasn’t unexpected for the heavy favorites, El Salvador came firing right back and had equalized just five minutes later. Jose Pena got in behind the U.S. defense and in all alone on the keeper had no problem finishing to even the match at a goal apiece.
As the opening ten minutes would indicate, the match was open and provided each team chances, but both had issues finding a spark in the final third to get the all-important go-ahead goal. The U.S. had the better bit of possession and pressured El Salvador for long stretches, never more so than right after halftime, but El Salvador held strong. In fact, the El Salvadorians even came close to turning the match on its head with a quick counter in the 62nd minute, but Houston Dynamo academy player Fernando Pina came off his line to deny El Salvador 1v1.
Despite continued pressure, the U.S. could not find a winner and with the match still even after 90 minutes, the two teams prepared for extra time. Not long after extra time began the U.S. found their own success on the counter attack. Marc Pelosi, who had been a terror on the wing all match, took the ball quickly on the counter and raced downfield before crossing for Mario Rodriguez, Los Angeles native, who finished for what would prove to be the game-winning goal.
Any chance El Salvador had of getting back in the match was put away, fitting by Pelosi, in the 113th minute. This time it was Guido playing the role of helper and when he beat his man at the edge of the box, he spotted Pelosi who only had to put it away into the empty net to put a bow on the match.
While the outcome of the match was already decided, the fireworks were not. The bad blood from the rough match spilled over into a scrum that saw Pina kick an El Salvador player to get sent off, as did Pena and an El Salvador player so the match finished with the U.S. playing with nine and El Salvador 10.
El Salvador added a penalty just before the final whistle to make the scoreline 3-2, but it was too late by then and the U.S. had secured a place in the 2011 U-17 World Cup to be hosted by Mexico. The U.S. will be without several players due to red cards or yellow card accumulation in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Championships, but the goal of the tournament was to qualify for the World Cup, which they have done.
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