Landon Donovan Powers USMNT over El Salvador

By: NathanHJ | September 6th, 2009

There are numerous recaps of the game to be found on the interwebs so I’m not going to attempt to compete with them. Steve Davis is here, Grahame Jones is here, Goal.com is here…

But I will note that Landon Donovan had the two assists on the USA’s goals vs. El Salvador at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, UT. I think it is safe to say that Landon Donovan is having the best two-year stretch of his career and could definitely make a switch to a solid European club during the January transfer window. He also set a record for US appearances in World Cut Qualifiers

The win puts the USA in second place in the CONCACAF hexagonal, behind Honduras on goal differential and one point ahead of Costa Rica and Mexico. Wednesday’s game in Port-of-Spain is not a must-win, but is probably the easiest chance for three points in the last three games, which feature an away match in Honduras (with Honduras not just playing for first, but for the pride of a small country dealing with internal strife) and a home match to Costa Rica. If Donovan stays hot, Los Gringos should walk away with a result in Trinidad & Tobago.

Here are the highlights from yesterday.

Here are post-game interviews with Jozy Altidore and Landon Donovan. Despite comments by Tommy and Chris I’m struggling to find the arrogant, elitist “me me me” Landon here. (Okay, this was supposed to display the ESPN interviews, but for some reason The Offside and ESPN aren’t getting along, so here’s a link: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4449884)

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Category: Player News

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DAVE

The Beckham to AC Milan nonsense is about to start again. Just go now we'll do fine without you!
David

I don't think even the announcers knew. It seems he called some kind of foul but I have no idea what. Seemed like a terrible call.
Diane

I still can't figure out why Jozy's goal was called back (maybe I tune out the announcers too much). It's a tough balance trying to get enough of the crowd and still be able to shut out the chatterboxes when necessary, which is often.
Dustin

Dana, the Spainish usually annoys me more than it helps that I can't tell what they're saying. The most fun I had was during this past Olympics where they put ALL of the games online with absolutely no commentary whatsoever. So I got to watch them to only the sounds of the crowd, I loved every second of it.
dana

Nope Laurie, I don't have ESPN 360, but I'm looking into changing cable companies instead.

Dustin,
If you don't know much Spanish, you might try watching the game on Telemundo, next time. It was a nice change, not having the talking heads interpreting all the action. : )
Dustin

That referee in the US vs El Salvador game really upset me. What bothered me most was Harkes harping on it constantly, we have EYES Harkes so Shut UP.
David

Unrelated news: Franklin and Buddle took part in training last week! And Birchall apparently has a hamstring injury, which could explain why he hasn't been playing.

http://thelagalaxy.blogspot.co...
David

Landon was excellent. He is in great form right now. Like most I am both happy and saddened that he likely will and should leave for Europe in January. The only thing that I think could hold him back is MLS' transfer demand. I'm guessing they want at least $10 million for him.
Laurie

Dana, do you get ESPN 360? Online is better than nothing.
dana

Thanks for posting the highlights, Nathan. Since I missed the first half of the game I didn't get to see the goals until now.
I liked the interviews with Josie and Landon and I think they both did a great job representing American soccer.

What bugs me about this World Cup qualifying is that ESPN televised it on ESPN Classic, which my cable company doesn't carry!