El Salvador Upsets Costa Rica

Costa Rica came into the tournament as one of the dark horses, despite their history of struggles in this competition. El Salvador had played Los Ticos twice already this year and lost on both occasions. The third time would turn out to be the charm though. The match was played in Carson, California, in front of an overwhelmingly pro El Salvador crowd. El Salvador took a first half lead via a tight angle shot from Osael Romero. They held on until the 64th minute when Granados equalized from close range. Costa Rica piled on the pressure as they looked for the winner. The game turned on its head in the 86th minute when Romero scored his second goal after a mishit cross from the Costa Rican defense. El Salvador went on to win the game 2-1 and joined Canada at the top of group A with 3 points.