Guatemala Rises at El Salvador’s Expense

Guatemala and El Salvador played more than 86 minutes of physical, hard-fouling Central American soccer before a goal was scored Wednesday night at the Coliseum.

But the game ended with a flurry, a flourish and a 2-0 victory for Guatemala in the semifinals of the Coliseum Cup.

Guatemala will play the winner of the late game between Mexican club teams Atlas and Morelia for the Coliseum Cup title Saturday at 7 p.m.

Guatemala broke through with a goal by veteran Juan Carlos Plata in the 87th minute after teammate Mario Acevedo lost the ball in a crowd of defenders about 15 yards in front of the goal, then stole it back and sent a hard shot toward goalkeeper Sergio Munoz.

Munoz stretched to get his hands on Acevedo’s shot, but that left him helplessly out of position to stop Plata, who was wide open for the the rebound on the left side of the net.

With the game in injury time, El Salvador gave its fans a moment of jubilation before its apparent game-tying goal was disallowed because El Salvador was offside.

Guatemala secured its victory moments later when captain Julio Rodas, another of Guatemala’s many veterans, scored off the counterattack.

It was a difficult result for El Salvador, a nation that has played in two World Cups but now finds itself trying to regain its stature while Guatemala rises.

The El Salvadorans will play the loser of the Atlas-Morelia game--which was locked in a scoreless tie after the first half Wednesday--for third place Saturday at 5 p.m.

Atlas has been nicknamed “Campeon sin Corona” or Champion without a Crown, since its loss to Toluca on penalty kicks in the Mexican League finals last month.

Morelia is noted for its coach, Tomas Boy, team captain of Mexico’s 1986 World Cup team.