El Salvador play out scoreless draw with Guatemala in LA
El Salvador played their first warm-up game prior to the start of the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament, but couldn’t score at a sold-out Banc of California Stadium.
El Salvador are having a positive year after qualifying for the final round of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers for Qatar 2022 and for the Gold Cup next month. ‘La Selecta’ have two warm-up games prior to the start of the event next month and their first rival was Guatemala.
Sold-out crowd in Los Angeles
El Salvador and Guatemala were not able to score after the end of the 90 minutes in the international friendly played at Banc of California Stadium on Saturday night. The match was very intense from the beginning and Guatemala had a few opportunities in the first 45 minutes that were denied by goalkeeper Mario González.
In the second half ‘La Selecta’ returned with more character and intensity and were able to level the match. This time the goalkeeper from Guatemala blocked all the attempts on goal from El Salvador’s offense and the game ended 0-0 at the end of the 90 minutes.
“This was a tough game against Guatemala and I am happy with everyone’s performance today [Saturday] ahead of the Gold Cup tournament. We are doing a good job and now we have to prepare for our next friendly game against Qatar,” said Salvadoran midfielder Alexander Larín at the end of the game.
El Salvador will play against Qatar on 4 July at the Stadion Aldo Drosina in the Croat city Pula in their last warm-up game prior to the start of the Gold Cup. ‘La Selecta’ will remain in Los Angeles, California to hold a few practice sessions and then travel to Croatia on Tuesday.