Watch Highlights: US Tops El Salvador 2-0 In Sloppy Gold Cup Quarterfinal

The U.S. Men’s National Team has reached the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals for the eighth straight such tournament following a shaky and ugly 2-0 victory over El Salvador in Philadelphia on Wednesday night.

US-El Salvador CONCACAF Gold Cup SCORES

The quarterfinal was marked by 45 fouls — 19 of which the U.S. committed — and generally careless playing from both teams.

The Americans’ head coach Bruce Arena heavily criticized both his squad and the opposing side for their mediocre performances, particularly in the first half-hour of the game.

“I thought we had a difficult time tonight,” said Arena. “Our timing wasn’t good, we didn’t do well with the physicality. The game had no rhythm with all the fouls, and players falling on the ground.”

“But we weren’t good on top of it. It took us 30 minutes to play a little bit. Then we got a little bit more assertive, and took up good positions on the field, and capitalized on a couple of their mistakes. It was a sloppy game overall.”

Arena changed all 11 starters for the second consecutive game after adding six new players to the lineup earlier this week. The coach has led the USMNT to a 12-game undefeated streak (seven victories, five ties) since taking over in November. Arena’s run surpasses former U.S. manager Bob Bradley’s 11-game unbeaten run (ten victories, one tie) in 2007.

Omar Gonzalez opened scoring with a header from a few yards out in the center of the penalty box in the 41st minute. The 6-foot-5, 28-year-old defender — who plays for Pachuca in the Mexican league — connected on a free kick Michael Bradley took from about 35 yards out on the left side to beat goalkeeper Derby Carrillo with his second international goal in as many games.

Six minutes later, Eric Lichaj doubled the Americans’ lead by shooting through the onrushing Carrillo’s legs from about six yards out after taking a feed from Clint Dempsey on the left side of the box and beating sliding defender Ivan Mancia. The score marked the 28-year-old Nottingham Forest (English league) defender’s first international goal in 14 appearances with the USMNT.

Following his game-winner that came just two minutes before halftime, Lichaj raced to the corner flag and performed a belly slide to celebrate, a move that FOX Sports — which aired the game — duly poked fun at on Twitter:

There was also a very strange moment in the second half of the game. During a corner kick in the 57th minute, U.S. forward Jozy Altidore and El Salvador defender Henry Romero were jockeying for position directly in front of Carrillo when Romero bit the Toronto FC striker on the left shoulder from behind and reached around to twist his left nipple. After the bite, Altidore seemed unperturbed but he quickly crouched low after the nipple-twister to grab his chest and turned to bump Romero. Carrillo seemed just as shocked as Altidore said he was after the dirty double-foul.

However, Altidore later joked about how upset his wife was because of how Romero touched him.

“My girl’s mad at me,” the American forward said. “She’s mad at me. She’s mad at Romero, ’cause she’s like: ‘Only I can bite you, only I can grab your nipples.'”

Altidore remained in the game after that incident.

Gonzalez, meanwhile, claimed he was also bitten on the shoulder by Darwin Cerin in the 81st minute.

“I was a bit shocked,” Gonzalez said.

Arena said he wasn’t surprised.

Romero could be disciplined for his actions, as other players have been for similar offenses. Uruguay’s Luis Suarez was handed a four-month suspension for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini during the 2014 World Cup.

Article by Pablo Mena

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