All Hail Hejduk

Without defensive lynchpins Tim Howard and Oguchi Onyewu, who missed Saturday’s match due to suspension and injury respectively, the US entered El Salvador’s hostile Estadio Cuscatalan with a major hole in their backline. A
hole the Salvadorians exploited with two well-taken goals – one in the 15th minute and one in the 72nd.

Coming back from two-nil down is always a daunting task. Coming back from two-nil down on the road in a qualifying match is a monumental task. But it was a task that 34-year-old
veteran Frankie Hejduk was more than willing to take on. The relentless right back turned up the intensity just when El Salvador relaxed into cruise control. Darting from his own box all the way to the offensive third, Frankie one-timed a perfect cross onto his teammate’s head to pull a goal back in the 77th. Then in the 88th, the scrappy defender out-muscled a horde of Salvadorians in the box to finish a header of his own and earn the US a hard-fought point.

The MNT, who have four points from two qualifying matches, now return to US soil to play Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday, April 1. If the guys learned anything from Saturday’s match, it’s just how difficult points are to come by in the final round of qualifying. So you can be sure they’ll have their A game come kickoff time in Nashville – 6:45 pm CT (ESPN2 and Galavision).

So whether you’re at the match or watching it with friends, let it be known that you DON’T TREAD ON THE RED!