Donovan leads United States to 5-1 win over El Salvador

BALTIMORE - Landon Donovan played a role in all of the goals for the United States in a 5-1 CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinal win over El Salvador at a sold-out M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday. The victory sent the Americans on to Wednesday's semifinals at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, where they will face Honduras, 1-0, winners over Costa Rica (7 p.m., Fox Soccer Channel/UniMás).

It took just over 20 minutes for Donovan to help get the U.S. on the board, feeding a sharp pass to Clarence Goodson for a close-range finish.

Seven minutes later, Donovan started the play that created the second goal. He gave a short pass to Chris Wondolowski, who fed Joe Corona at the top of the 18-yard box. After some fancy footwork sent a Salvadoran defender sliding to the ground, Corona fired a low shot home.

The many El Salvador fans in the stadium fell silent, while the outnumbered American fans around them celebrated loudly.

But over the course of the game, the crowd turned in the Americans' favor, as the U.S. turned on the style.

"My experience with these games is [that fans] show up with [blue] El Salvador jerseys on, and once we score a few goals, they rip them off and have USA jerseys on," Donovan said. "I think in the end they just wanted to see a good game."

The wide swaths of blue were roused back to life in the 39th minute by El Salvador's star forward Rodolfo Zelaya. He danced past three American defenders in the 18-yard box before being charged into by DaMarcus Beasley, and referee Enrico Wijngaarde awarded a penalty kick. Zelaya converted it himself with a chip shot that fooled American goalkeeper Nick Rimando.

It was the only blemish on a strong performance by Rimando. He made four saves in the game, including an impressive double-stop in the 26th minute.

The U.S. regained momentum in the 60th minute. Barely 30 seconds after entering the game as a substitute, Eddie Johnson met a Donovan corner kick with a ferocious header to make the score 3-1, all but ending El Salvador's upset hopes.

Donovan added a goal to his assist haul in the 78th minute. With a trademark burst of speed up the middle, he latched on to a flick from Johnson and rounded Salvadoran keeper Dagoberto Portillo for an easy finish.

It was the 54th career national team goal for Donovan, the Americans' all-time leading scorer. He slid to the turf with his arms raised to the sky, soaking in the crowd's cheers amid a sudden downpour.

And Donovan wasn't done. In the 84th minute, he set up Mix Diskerud for the game's final goal, his 54th national team assist.

"Landon again proved today how valuable he is, and how he can make a difference," U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said.