Pre-Game Primer

Some quick facts for you to keep in mind as you settle in your chairs for tonight's game:

• Four players on the U.S. roster are carrying yellow cards into Saturday’s match: Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey, Frankie Hejduk, Oguchi Onyewu. Should they receive another caution, it will result in a one match suspension.
• El Salvador has seven players in a similar predicament: Cristian Castillo, Salvador Coreas, Alexander Escobar, Miguel Montes, Alfredo Pacheco, Eliseo Quintanilla and William Romero.
• The match on March 28 will mark the 19th meeting between the United States and El Salvador. The U.S. holds a commanding 13-1-4 record, with 41 goals scored and 10 conceded.
• The United States is 4-0-2 all-time versus El Salvador in World Cup qualifying, including a 1-0-1 record in San Salvador.
• The teams drew 1-1 on June 29, 1997, in their first World Cup qualifier on Salvadoran soil, and the U.S. snatched a 2-0 win on Oct. 9, 2004.
• Four players on the U.S. roster were on the field for that victory: DaMarcus Beasley, Landon Donovan, Hejduk, Eddie Johnson (1) [starters in bold]. Also on the bench that day were Tim Howard and Pablo Mastroeni.
• Donovan is the leading capwinner on the roster with 106 international appearances, and has two goals and six appearances against El Salvador.
• In addition to Donovan, three other players have scored at least once against El Salvador: Beasley (2), Brian Ching, and Johnson. There is not a single player on El Salvador’s roster that has tallied against the United States.
• In fact, the Salvadorans have not scored a goal against the U.S. since a 4-2 loss on Nov. 16, 1997, in Foxborough, Mass., a string of six matches spanning more than 11 years. The last goalscorer? Two-time MLS Cup champion and current technical advisor for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, Raul Diaz Arce.