El Salvador, Guatemala Headline Soccer Doubleheader

The national teams of El Salvador and Guatemala will meet at the Coliseum at 7 tonight in the first game of a soccer doubleheader that concludes with a 9 o’clock match between Mexican clubs Atlas and Morelia.

The games serve as the semifinals of the second Coliseum Cup, won last year by Guadalajara.

Tonight’s winners will meet for the Coliseum Cup title Saturday at 7 p.m., after the third-place match at 5.

El Salvador, a rebuilding team coached by former Brazilian World Cup player Mario “Marinho” Peres, is preparing for a playoff tournament that will yield a spot in the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2000. Guatemala already has qualified for the Gold Cup.

Morelia, a veteran team, will take on a young Atlas team that reached the finals of the Mexican League’s summer championship last month before losing to Toluca on penalty kicks.