San Jose Earthquakes striker Cornell Glen breathed new life into Trinidad & Tobago's FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign with the lone goal in a 1-0 victory against visiting El Salvador at Hasley Crawford Stadium in Port-of-Spain Wednesday night.
Glen struck on seven minutes, putting a low shot from 14 yards out inside the side netting to give the Soca Warriors the lead.
Glen played the first 83 minutes before being replaced by Jason Scotland. Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Chris Birchall came on in the 63rd minute for Clyde Leon for Trinidad & Tobago, which secured its first win of the final hexagonal stage. The Soca Warriors are now tied with El Salvador with five points.
San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Arturo Alvarez, who was capped for United States youth teams, made his Salvadorian debut, coming off the bench for the start of the second half for Osaei Romero.
New York Red Bulls fullback Alfredo Pacheco was an unused substitute for the Cuscatlecos, which suffered a devastating defeat ahead of matches against the United States at Rio Tinto Stadium, a home match against group-leading Costa Rica, a match at Mexico and a home game against Honduras.
Chicago Fire midfielder Cuauhtémoc Blanco wore the captain's armband and started for Mexico, which rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to beat the United States 2-1, at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City Wednesday afternoon.
Blanco played the first 55 minutes, before being replaced by Carlos Vela as El Tri secured a crucial victory against their archrivals. Mexico temporarily moved into third place with nine points from six matches.
Los Angeles Galaxy star Landon Donovan, Houston Dynamo forward Brian Ching and Houston holding midfielder Ricardo Clark started for the USA, while Dynamo midfielder Stuart Holden made his World Cup qualifying debut for the U.S., which is tied for second in the group with 10 points from six matches.
Toronto FC midfielder Amado Guevara captained Honduras to one of its greatest victories, a 4-0 thrashing of Costa Rica at Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula. The central midfielder played the entire 90 minutes for the Catrachos in the 50th edition of the Clasico Centroamericano.
Carlos Costly struck once in each half, Carlos Pavon scored in the 50th minute and Melvin Valladares added a 90th-minute goal for Honduras, which jumped into a second-place tie with the United States with a historic victory against Costa Rica, which remains atop the group with 12 points, two points ahead of Honduras and the United States.
While it was an international date off from World Cup qualifying in Europe, Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder David Beckham joined England for their friendly against the Netherlands in Amsterdam. Beckham played the first half as the Three Lions fell behind 2-0, but Jermain Defoe scored twice after the break to leave the teams in a 2-2 draw.
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
