Tonight, the two worlds of Joaquín Rivas will collide in his home country of El Salvador as “La Selecta” plays host to the country in which Rivas lives and plays every day – the United States.
El Salvador has not qualified for the FIFA World Cup since 1982, but Rivas will try to provide the spark “La Selecta” needs to reach that milestone for the first time in nearly 30 years.
“These are the games we all wish to play in and knowing a whole country will be behind us, I get the chills just thinking how amazing that national anthem will sound,” said Rivas.
The FC Tulsa forward is no stranger to the El Salvador Starting XI. In total, Rivas has 14 caps for El Salvador, making 10 starts. Back in July, Rivas proved essential to the overall attacking success over the club’s four matches in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Rivas appeared in all four matches, started three, and netted three goals. Rivas was subbed on against Guatemala and scored late to secure El Salvador the 2-0 win, then netted a brace against Qatar in which he scored both goals within 180 seconds of each other.
Following its matchup with the United States tonight, El Salvador will host Honduras on Sunday, Sept. 5 before heading north to take on Canada on Wednesday, Sept. 8 in Toronto.
"We all know how important taking advantage of home games will be," said Rivas. "We have to play with confidence, especially by keeping the ball as much as we can and also getting our fans connected to the game, because they will be the most important tool to a victory tonight."
For FC Tulsa, Rivas has scored five goals this season and registered one assist in 14 appearances for the club.
Kickoff tonight from Estadio Cuscatlán in San Salvador is slotted for 9:05 p.m. CT.
Tonight, the two worlds of Joaquín Rivas will collide in his home country of El Salvador as “La Selecta” plays host to the country in which Rivas lives and plays every day – the United States.
El Salvador has not qualified for the FIFA World Cup since 1982, but Rivas will try to provide the spark “La Selecta” needs to reach that milestone for the first time in nearly 30 years.
“These are the games we all wish to play in and knowing a whole country will be behind us, I get the chills just thinking how amazing that national anthem will sound,” said Rivas.
The FC Tulsa forward is no stranger to the El Salvador Starting XI. In total, Rivas has 14 caps for El Salvador, making 10 starts. Back in July, Rivas proved essential to the overall attacking success over the club’s four matches in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Rivas appeared in all four matches, started three, and netted three goals. Rivas was subbed on against Guatemala and scored late to secure El Salvador the 2-0 win, then netted a brace against Qatar in which he scored both goals within 180 seconds of each other.
Following its matchup with the United States tonight, El Salvador will host Honduras on Sunday, Sept. 5 before heading north to take on Canada on Wednesday, Sept. 8 in Toronto.
“We all know how important taking advantage of home games will be,” said Rivas. “We have to play with confidence, especially by keeping the ball as much as we can and also getting our fans connected to the game, because they will be the most important tool to a victory tonight.”
For FC Tulsa, Rivas has scored five goals this season and registered one assist in 14 appearances for the club.
Kickoff tonight from Estadio Cuscatlán in San Salvador is slotted for 9:05 p.m. CT.
