The road to Olympic glory ended abruptly for the Galaxy's Michael Stephens and the U.S. U-23 squad on Monday night.
Following a 2-0 loss to Canada on Saturday, the USA entered the final fixture of Group A play needing a victory over El Salvador to advance to the semifinals of CONCACAF Olympic qualifying.
Terrence Boyd responded to the challenge by scoring in the first minute off a Brek Shea assist. After El Salvador tallied two goals before halftime, the Americans gamely fought back with a second from the German-American striker and one from Joe Corona. Despite a determined and heartfelt performance, El Salvador prevailed on a stoppage time goal by Jaime Alas to tie the score 3-3 and knock the U.S. out of Olympic qualifying.
Lineups
United States
Hamid (Johnson '39); Sarkodie, Opara, Kitchen, Villafana, Diskerud, Okugo, Corona (Stephens 88'), Adu (Gyau 90+'), Boyd, Shea
El Salvador
Cuellar; Molina, García, Mendoza, Chavarria (Ceren '72), Gutiérrez, Alas, Larín, Menjivar, Blanco (Sosa 87'), Cuellar, Flores
