(Greg Sullivan, The Tennessean, 03.27.12)

NASHVILLE — The U.S. soccer team’s Olympic chances had looked very bleak in the second half of Monday’s game with El Salvador.

Then they looked in prime position to advance.

Finally: Heartbreak for the Americans.

Jaime Alas scored a goal in [stoppage] time past U.S. goalie Sean Johnson to tie the score and kept the Salvadorans’ hopes alive to qualify for just their second Olympics as the game ended in a 3-3 draw. El Salvador’s only Olympic appearance was 1968.

El Salvador advances to Kansas City and will face either Honduras or Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday. With a win on Saturday, the Salvadorans will qualify for the London Olympics.

Before the [stoppage] time, the Americans seemed to be just a game away from qualifying.

With a loss or tie, however, the U.S. would have been eliminated after Canada picked up a point with a draw against Cuba in Monday’s early game. The Americans would have been the top team out of Nashville with a win. Instead, El Salvador finished first and Canada took second.

Joe Corona, a Californian whose mother is from El Salvador, scored a go-ahead goal with a header in the 68th minute for the U.S. Just three minutes before Corona’s goal, Terrence Boyd scored his second goal of the game past a diving goalie and the U.S. came to life in front of an announced crowd of 7,889.

The Salvadorans got two quick scores to take a 2-1 lead on a Andres Flores goal in the 37th minute. Lester Blanco tied the score with a goal in the 35th minute and led by one goal for 30 minutes.

The Americans were the favored team heading into Nashville’s qualifying and mostly looked strong in an easy 6-0 win over Cuba on Thursday. However, Saturday’s 2-0 upset loss to Canada combined with Canada’s 1-1 draw with Cuba in Monday’s early game put the U.S. in a must-win situation.