Now this was an enjoyable match to watch. I mean, that's the thing about soccer. You can have a low scoring match and still have it be fun, like this one. You can also have a low scoring match that's just a total crap fest, like in KC tonight. At any rate, this one didn't keep the high scoring tradition of Group A as laid out on match day 1, but it was exciting to the final whistle.
If you were to watch the whole match, you'd have to say Costa Rica was the better team. Saborio got them started in the 3rd minute, putting a shot on target to force a save. The Ticos continued to assault the El Salvador goal, and Sabo himself had some real nice looks. They just couldn't quite find the back of the net in the first half.
El Salvador had their chances too. While they were holding on at the defensive end, they got some nice looks off of counters and set pieces. Zelaya was the biggest trouble men for them, and he pestered the Costa Rican defense all day. However, he himself couldn't really find the target until the 45th minute. After a foul, he set up a free kick just outside the 18. He put a nice bit of curl on it, and bent it in just past the keepers fingers to send El Salvador to the break up 0-1.
The trend kind of continued in the second half. Costa Rica would build the pressure, then El Salvador would get a chance or two. You could really tell that Costa Rica was going all out for the equalizer though.
The match got a little chippy, and that put Marrufo in a bad mood. As MLS fans know so well, you don't give Jair a reason to go to his pocket, he loves his pocket, and he started to dispense the yellows freely.
Despite all the pressure from the Ticos, El Salvador had a couple of chances to seal it. In the 76th, Romero had a shot at an empty net and missed it. Quintanilla had a couple of chances late, in the 89th and stoppage time, but he couldn't finish either.
Lightning struck for Costa Rica in the final minute of stoppage time. Randall Brenes had come on as a sub in the 80th minute. Deep into to stoppage time he got his chance and took it. He put a low shot in far post to equalize at 1-1, which was the full time result.
After the match, the El Salvador coach whined about the amount of stoppage time. I don't know why. There were subs and yellow cards galore. It seemed about right to me. Besides, they had chances to finish the match and didn't take them. Plus, you play to the whistle, period. The result has Costa Rica in the driver's seat for 2nd in group A, but El Salvador plays Cuba next, and the Ticos play Mexico. It's not over yet.
Plus they (Salvies) did their time wasting antics especially late in the 4+ minutes of added time, just before the equalizer. Found it funny that had they not did that Ticos probably wouldn't have had more time added on for this time waste.
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